Ex-Cruzeiro, Autuori forwards agreement with Serie B club < In Attack

Just over a week after leaving Cruzeiro, Paulo Autuori has agreed to work at a club in Series B of the Brazilian Championship. This is Coritiba. Just like at Raposa, the 67-year-old professional will serve as technical director.

Autuori will arrive in Curitiba to recreate the duo with William Thomas, current football executive at Sociedade Anônima do Futebol (SAF) of Coxa. They worked together at Athletico-PR, Santos, Internacional and Atlético Nacional, in Colombia.

If he agrees with Coritiba in the coming days, the director will also reunite with assistant James Freitas, who currently holds the position of interim coach. The last meeting between the two as partners was at Furacão, in 2022. At the time, the assistant was fired and, then, Autuori asked to leave the role.

The information about the negotiations between Coritiba and Autuori was anticipated by Ge.

Coritiba is also in the market looking for a coach, as Guto Ferreira was fired last Friday (3/5). He left his position shortly after the 1-0 defeat to Sport, at Couto Pereira, in the third round of Series B.

Paulo Autuori at Cruzeiro

Autuori left Cruzeiro shortly after the 3-1 celestial triumph over Vitória, at Mineirão, in Belo Horizonte, in the fourth round of the Brasileirão, on April 28. In a quick statement, the director claimed loyalty to the people, referring to Ronaldo Fenômeno’s SAF project.

He would not be part of football management under Pedro Lourenço, who bought 90% of the shares in SAF Cruzeirense from Ronaldo, and that is why he left the club. Autuori was replaced by Edu Dracena in the new Raposa project.

Paulo has been at Cruzeiro since August 2023, when he was announced as a member of the technical committee in the role of director. It was up to him to assist with field strategies and guide the coaches’ work in accordance with the premises established by the ‘Ronaldo management’.

At the end of last year, Autuori went to the bench and played a double with Fernando Seabra. The work helped Cruzeiro stay in Series A of the Brazilian Championship.

In the final six rounds of the Brasileiro edition, Autuori and Seabra achieved two wins and four draws, ensuring Cruzeiro’s stay in the elite (14th place, with 47 points) and classification for the Copa Sudamericana this year.