Athletico 100 years: Paulo Miranda, the player-manager

Paulo Miranda He has been an athlete since he received a red-black shirt from his father in the 1980s. With it, Paulinho shone in the fields of the Xaxim neighborhood, but only after work, as he and his brother collected paper and recyclable material on the streets of the south zone from Curitiba. At age 11, he was discovered at a school tournament and taken to Pinheiros.

At the Pinheirense base, he stood out and reached the Brazilian youth team. He lived at the Boqueirão headquarters until 1989, when Paraná Clube was created. The ambidextrous midfielder, who covered the entire field, became the favorite of the new fans until, in January 1997, destiny took him to his favorite club for the first time.

In an unexpected negotiation, Paulo Miranda and his childhood friend Perdigão were announced on Athletico after being sold to Servette in Switzerland. The red and black fans celebrated the “hat” on their rivals. By coincidence, the debut was against Paraná Clube, on an open night at Pinheirão and Paulo Miranda shone. At the same stadium, weeks later, Paulo Miranda scored an iconic goal against Vasco, in the Copa do Brasil.

The following year, he was one of the technical leaders in winning the 1998 Paraná title, a milestone for the fans and the highlight of his time at Athletico. At the end of the year, he was sold for four times the amount the club had paid and his athletic history was already one of the most beautiful.

However, there is a second act in its trajectory. In 2016, he returned to the club as an assistant for the youth teams. With time and good work, he gained the management’s trust until he was called to occupy the position of sports manager, a position created especially for him by president Mário Celso Petraglia.

As manager of the Atletico locker room, Paulo Miranda actively participated in winning the two South American Cups in 2018 and 2021, and the 2019 Copa do Brasil. On the day of the Copa Libertadores final in 2022, he was in charge of taking the cup into the stadium. lawn, something that the athletic boy from Xaxim could only dream of doing.