First coach, Minelli recalled his affection for Paraná and “split” between directors

Rubens Minelli, one of the greatest coaches in the history of Brazilian football, died this Thursday (23), aged 94.

And the first coach in the entire history of Paraná Cluba team founded on December 19, 1989. Minelli would also enter the history of Tricolor, with the fourth state championship, between 1994 and 97, in his second spell at the club

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Minelli established a relationship of affection, jokes, good memories, but also of some difficulties with the newly created club, the result of the merger between the traditional Pinheiros and Colorado, as he recalled in an interview with Gazeta do Povo, in December 2009.

“It wasn’t easy”, admitted Minelli, about a merger signed on paper, but in practice still deeply marked by different political currents originating from the forming clubs.

“The only thing that didn’t work out at the beginning of the work was the disunity of the directors. Pinheiros had financial strength, but no fans. Colorado, on the contrary, had a fragile membership, but a good number of fans”, he said .

“But the marriage didn’t work out. I couldn’t play in blue shorts, red socks… They used everything. There was no goodwill between the two parties”, he added. Check out other speeches by Rubens Minelli below.

Pinheiros x Colorado

“Once, they put a red sign on the social chairs and this caused a revolt among the residents of Pinheirense, with a lot of noise. I then asked them to paint it blue and leave the letters only in the original color. What a stupid thing! So, our work began : pure antagonism.”

Arrival in Paraná

“It was crazy. There were two teams, 57 players, three doctors, four masseurs, five wardrobes. It was really crazy. I didn’t know anyone, so I decided to do something unusual: I got Colorado’s coaching staff and asked them to tell me who were the 15 best at Pinheiros. Then, I did the opposite. That way, I avoided sponsorship. It worked, because no one who was left out ended up standing out at another club.”

Affection for the Tricolor

“I will never forget this period of my professional career. Due to these coincidences of fate, the merger was made official on my birthday (12/19). So, that makes a mark, you see!”

Period at rival Athletico

“When I went to work as a manager at Atlético, they asked me: ‘So, Minelli, where is better: here or in Paraná?’ I replied straight away: ‘In Paraná, of course!’. Everyone looked at me scared. Then I explained that my birthday at the club was a party like that, with dinner for 1,200 people. With lots of tributes for me.”