The Mengao fired the Portuguese coach after the 3-0 defeat that allowed Fluminense to conquer the Campeonato Carioca.
Flamengo, the most popular club in Brazil, fired Portuguese coach Vítor Pereira, two days after losing the final of the Carioca tournament - from the state of Rio de Janeiro - to their archrival Fluminense, in the latest setback of a weak start to the season.
"The management thanks him and wishes him luck in his career," tweeted Mengao, which will debut in the Brasileirao - the national championship of Brazil - on Sunday against Coritiba at the Maracanã stadium in Rio.
Pereira, 54, completed just four months in charge of the reigning Copa Libertadores champion: he was officially appointed in December and arrived in Rio at the beginning of January.
Upon his dismissal, the cariocas will have to pay him 15 million reais (about 2.9 million dollars), corresponding to the remaining months of his contract, according to the Globo Esporte portal.
The Portuguese coach failed to mold the pieces that make up one of the best squads in America, highlighted by Brazilian internationals Everton Ribeiro, Pedro, and "Gabigol," as well as Uruguayan Giorgian de Arrascaeta and Chilean Arturo Vidal.
Under his leadership, the team failed to win four titles: the Supercopa de Brasil against Palmeiras in January, the Club World Cup (eliminated in the semifinals by Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal), and the Recopa Sudamericana against Independiente del Valle (ECU) in February.
The latest defeat was a crushing 4-1 (4-3 on aggregate) against Fluminense, their local rival, on Sunday in the second leg of the Carioca final.
Jesus or Sampaoli?
The rojinegra fans had already questioned him for the team's weak performance, which debuted in the Libertadores group stage last Wednesday with a 2-1 defeat against newcomer Aucas in Ecuador.
During the Carioca championship final at the Maracanã, they once again expressed their dissatisfaction with boos and disapproving chants.
Pereira's arrival at Flamengo was as turbulent as his departure: he left Corinthians in Sao Paulo at the end of last season, claiming family reasons that allegedly forced him to leave Brazil.
But a month later, he reached an agreement with 'Fla', which unexpectedly did not renew the contract of Dorival Júnior, the coach in the Libertadores and Copa do Brasil - League Cup - titles in 2022.
The dismissal highlights the instability in the technical direction of the popular carioca team, which, along with Palmeiras, has dominated South American football in recent years.
Since July 2020, when Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus left for Benfica, 'Fla' has had six coaches: Spanish Domènec Torrent, Rogério Ceni, Renato Gaúcho, Portuguese Paulo Sousa, Dorival Júnior, and Pereira.
According to the Brazilian press, the management is looking to bring back Jesus, currently at Fenerbahçe in Turkey, who won five titles in 13 months of work in Rio, including the Brasileirao and the 2019 Libertadores.
Also, according to the media, they are considering the possibility of Argentine Jorge Sampaoli, recently dismissed from Sevilla (ESP). AFP
