Zico

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Although Zico attempted to instill a free-flowing, attacking mentality to the team, his regime got off to an uneven start, which included a 4-1 loss to Argentina in 2003. Japan had a respectable showing at that year's Confederations Cup but struggled again in the beginning of 2004, only narrowly beating Oman in the first stage of qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup and several players were suspended after a drinking incident.cite news
title = Japanese players dropped over alleged drinking incident
url = http://www.ussoccerplayers.com/latest_soccer_news/416326.html
author =
publisher = Associated Press
date = 2004-03-19
accessdate =] Although Japan had not lost in its nine previous matches, he was rumored to be on the verge of resigning and a small group of fans marched in the streets of Tokyo demanding his firing.cite news
title = Under-fire Zico gets boost from supporters
url = http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/040306/6/sk3.html
author =
publisher = Agence France-Presse
date = 2004-03-06
accessdate =]

He stayed on, however, and won the 2004 Asian Cup despite intimidation from Chinese fans and a team that featured just one European-based player, Shunsuke Nakamura.cite news
title = Hand of Nakata gives Japan Asian Cup victory
url = http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/040807/6/1yfk.html
author =
publisher = Agence France-Presse
date = 2004-08-07
accessdate =] He then helped Japan qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup with just one loss.

Despite the rocky start, injuries to key players and even a bizarre offer from Garforth Town,cite news
title = Samba stars to join Garforth Town
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/funny_old_game/3957519.stm
author =
publisher = BBC
date = 2004-10-27
accessdate = 2005-10-29] Zico has led Japan to its third World Cup finals appearance and the third Asian Cup title in four tries. His Japanese team is heavily influenced by Brazil's short passing style, but he has been flexible enough to switch between 4-4-2 and 3-5-2 formations. In addition, he has had a respectable record on European soil, beating Czech Republic and Greece and drawing with England, Brazil and most recently Germany.

However, Japan failed to win a single match at the Finals, losing twice (to Australia and Brazil) and drawing once (to Croatia), and scoring just two goals while conceding seven. He resigned from Japan at the end of the World Cup campaign.

In July 2006, signed a two-year deal with Fenerbahçe.cite news
title = Fenerbahçe sign Zico as coach
url = http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldFootballNews&storyID=2006-07-04T144440Z_01_L04655526_RTRIDST_0_SPORT-SOCCER-FENERBAHCE.XML
author =
publisher = Reuters
date = 2006-07-04
accessdate = 2006-07-04] He won the league title in 2007 and won Turkish Super Cup on the first year of his job. Under his command Fenerbahçe has qualified from UEFA Champions League 2007-08 groups stage for the first time of club's history and beat Sevilla FC to become a quarter-finalist in 2007-08 season. So far, he also is the team's most successful manager in the history of the European arena.

Zico was given a new nickname by Fenerbahçe fans: "Kral Arthur" (meaning "King Arthur" in Turkish). For the team's nickname "King Arthur and his Knights". In a chat hosted by uefa.com he pointed out that it is unlikely he will sign a contract extension with Fenerbahçe. This was confirmed on 10 June 2008 when he resigned as Fenerbahce manager.

On the 8th of September 2008, Zico revealed that he would be interested taking over the vacant managers position at Newcastle United following the resignation of Kevin Keegan. He is quoted saying "The Newcastle job is one that I would be very interested in taking. It would be a privilege and an honour, I've always wanted to experience the Premier League as I believe I could enjoy much success coaching in England." He also commented that he isn't bothered about the structure of the board at Newcastle United, "I am used to working alongside technical directors so this isn't an issue for me. It's normal for me to work in those conditions."

He is currently coaching FC Bunyodkor in Uzbekistan.

Honours as a manager

* 2004 Asian Cup - Cup Winner with flagicon|Japan Japan
* 2007 Turkish Super League - National Champions with flagicon|Turkey Fenerbahçe
* 2007 Turkish Super Cup - Cup Winner with flagicon|Turkey Fenerbahçe

Trivia

* Zico has appeared on the cover of the Japanese releases of "Winning Eleven" video games between 2003 and 2006 ("Winning Eleven 7" - "Winning Eleven 10").
* Kiatisuk Senamuang, the most capped player in Thailand national football team, has been named "Zico" adapted from his since-born nickname, "Ko".
*He was featured in the FIFA 07 Classic XI team.
*Zico has a Super Famicom named after him called "Zico Soccer".
*He has assembled a veteran team in Turkey which has as members Roberto Carlos's father Oscar Silva, Zico's brother and Fenerbahçe Assistant Manager Edu and Fenerbahçe Conditioner Moraci Vasconcelos Sant'anna (who has won 3 world cups as coach of Brazil).
*He lists 1981 Copa Libertadores final vs Cobreloa, and winning the 2004 AFC Asian Cup as his most memorable moments as a player and as a coach, respectively. [cite news|url=http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=568540.html#zico+im+living+passion|title=Zico: I'm living out my passion|publisher=Fifa.com World Football|date=August 13, 2007|accessdate=2007-08-27]
*When he was still a kid in the youth team of Flamengo, he was chosen to receive the shoes from the famous Flamengo midfield player Carlinhos in his farewell match. Some years later, Carlinhos would become Zico's coach in the campaign of his fourth and last Brazilian Championship title, in 1987. [cite web|url=http://jbonline.terra.com.br/jb/esporte/zico/biografia.html |title=Biografia|publisher=Jornal do Brasil Online|accessdate=2007-09-28]
*He, his brother Edu and his son Thiago Coimbra all played for Rio de Janeiro club Flamengo.
*His son, Thiago Coimbra currently plays for Portuguese Liga Vitalis team Portimonense S.C..

References and notes

External links

* [http://www.museudofutebol.org.br/historia/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=168%3Aconheca-os-anjos&catid=56%3Aanjos-barrocos&Itemid=393&lang=pt Brazilian Football Museum Hall of Fame]
* [http://www.ziconarede.com.br/znrpub/ig_index_news.htm Zico’s official website] - includes news, blog and profile.
* [http://www.diler.com.br/zico/ Zico: The Movie]
* [http://www.tff.org.tr/Default.aspx?pageID=219&antID=11254 Profil on TFF.org]
* [http://www.iffhs.de/?b4a390f03be4ac07cda17b45fdcdc3bfcdc0aec28d6d12 Zico: Goals First Division]