Albania coach Sylvinho regarded as much as Arsene Wenger as his inspiration, whereas he hailed Pep Guardiola as a “genuis”.
Sylvinho didn’t have a lot success throughout spells answerable for Lyon in France and Corinthians in his homeland of Brazil, however has excelled in his first job as a nationwide crew supervisor.
He took over Albania’s nationwide crew firstly of 2023, and guided them to the Euro 2024 qualification. It’s simply the second time the Balkan nation have progressed to the finals of UEFA’s flagship competitors, and his efforts noticed him rewarded with the Golden Ornament of the Eagle by Albania’s prime minister.
Sylvinho misplaced simply certainly one of his opening eight video games as Albania coach, with that defeat coming in his first match in opposition to Poland, although his aspect did slip to a 3-0 pleasant defeat to Chile on Friday.
His success, although, ought to maybe not come as a shock given who the 49-year-old performed below throughout his time at Arsenal after which Barcelona.
Sylvinho mentioned to Stats Carry out: “Outdoors Brazil, my first supervisor was Arsene Wenger. I learnt lots from him, he was an individual of a really excessive degree by way of administration, schooling, soccer and imaginative and prescient.
“I had the prospect to work with [Frank] Rijkaard at Barcelona, he’s an important supervisor too. I completed the 2008-2009 season with a treble and [Pep] Guardiola was the coach.
“He was one other coach I learnt lots from. He’s a genius. He’s completely different. And also you be taught lots from him too.”
Earlier than shifting to Europe, Sylvinho hung out with Corinthians, the place he developed below Nelsinho Baptista and Vanderlei Luxemburgo.
Sylvinho added: “Nelsinho Baptista was a coach I labored with for some time at Corinthians. He was a really aggressive coach, with an important sense of humour and a really severe line-up, as was his complete profession.
” In 1998, we had been Brazilian champions and made a leap ahead technically as a crew, and I additionally noticed myself in probably the greatest moments of my time as an expert footballer.
“Vanderlei Luxemburgo was our coach. We had a really technical crew, very well-adjusted on the pitch, and really well-coordinated.”