Dorival Silvestre Júnior (; born 25 April 1962) is a Brazilian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

and former player. He is the current head coach of

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians () is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author, Sosthenes, and is addressed to the Christian church in C ...

. A

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, Júnior notably played for

Palmeiras The Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional association football, football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes (district of São Paulo), Perdizes. Palmeiras is ...

. After retiring, he began his coaching career in 2002 with Ferroviária, but only gained national notoriety in 2010 when coaching

Neymar Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (; born 5 February 1992), also known as Neymar Júnior or simply Neymar, is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a left winger, attacking midfielder or Forward (association foo ...

's Santos. He later led

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...

to a

2022 Copa Libertadores The 2022 Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores was the 63rd edition of the CONMEBOL Libertadores (also referred to as the ''Copa Libertadores''), South America's premier club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. On 14 May 2020, CONMEBOL announced th ...

win and

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

to their first-ever

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil () is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and it is the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de Portugal, ...

title in

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, before being named head coach of the Brazil national team in January 2024.

Playing career

Known only as Júnior during his playing days, he was born in

Araraquara Araraquara ( ) is a city in the state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo in Brazil. The population is 250,314 (2022 est.) in an area of . It is also known as "the abode of the sun," because of its impressive sunset and because of its hot atmospher ...

, and made his debuts as a senior with hometown's Ferroviária in 1982. Two years later, after a brief stint at

Marília Marília () is a Brazilian municipality in the midwestern region of the state of São Paulo. Its distance from the state capital São Paulo is by highway, by railway and in a straight line. It is located at an altitude of 675 meters. The popul ...

(club he also represented in the youth setup), he moved to Guarani. In 1985, Júnior began playing in the state of Santa Catarina, first for

Avaí Avaí is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population is 5,436 (2020 est.) in an area of 540 km2. Media In telecommunications, the city was served by Companhia Telefônica Brasileira until 1973, when it began to be serve ...

and later for

Joinville Joinville () is the largest city in Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina, in the Southern Brazil, Southern Region of Brazil. It is the third largest municipality in the southern region of Brazil, after the much larger state capitals of Curitib ...

. In 1988, he went back to his native state, representing São José, but during the same year he moved to

Coritiba Coritiba Foot Ball Club, commonly known as Coritiba and colloquially referred to as heCoxa, is a Brazilian football club from Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná. Founded in 1909 by German immigrants, it is the olde ...

. In 1989 Júnior joined

, remaining with the club until 1992. In the following year he was sold to Grêmio, and subsequently joined Juventude in 1994. Júnior had subsequent spells at

Araçatuba Araçatuba is a city located in the northwest of São Paulo state, Brazil. The city has 198,129 inhabitants (IBGE/2020) and spans . The city name comes from the Tupi language and means "abundance of araçá" (a fruit, Psidium cattleianum). Araç ...

, Matonense and

Botafogo-SP Botafogo Futebol Clube, commonly referred to as Botafogo-SP or Botafogo de Ribeirão Preto is a Brazilian association football club in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo. They currently play in the Série B, the second tier of Brazilian football, as ...

, retiring with the latter.

Coaching career

Early career

After retiring, Júnior immediately started working as an assistant of Luiz Carlos Ferreira at Matonense in 1999. He followed ''Ferreirão'' to the likes of

Inter de Limeira Inter may refer to: Association football clubs * Inter Milan, an Italian club * SC Internacional, a Brazilian club * Inter Miami CF, an American club * Inter Playa del Carmen, a Mexican club * FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club * FC Inter Turku, a F ...

, Atlético Sorocaba, Guarani,

Paulista Paulista is a municipality in Pernambuco, Brazil, with a population of 334,376 as of 2020. It has the highest Human Development Index (HDI) of the Recife metropolitan area. It is the birthplace of footballer Rivaldo and is also famous for its be ...

and

Santo André Santo ('saint' in various languages) may refer to: People * Santo (given name) * Santo (surname) * El Santo, Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta (1917–1984), Mexican wrestler and actor * Bob Santo or Santo, stage name of Ghanaian comedian John Evans Kwad ...

, always as his assistant.

Ferroviária

In April 2002, while an assistant coach at Figueirense, Júnior was named head coach of his first club Ferroviária. He left in May of that year to return to Figueirense, as a director of football.

Figueirense

In September 2003, Júnior was named head coach of ''Figueira'' in the place of Ferreira. He won the 2004

Campeonato Catarinense The Campeonato Catarinense is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. It is run by the Santa Catarina Football Federation (FCF). History The Catarinense has had different names throughout ...

with the side, but was sacked on 20 December of that year.

Fortaleza

Three days after leaving Figueirense, Júnior was appointed

Fortaleza Fortaleza ( ; ; ) is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeastern Brazil. It is Brazil's 4th largest city—Fortaleza surpassed Salvador, Bahia, Salvador in 2022 census with a population of slightly over 2.4 mi ...

head coach, replacing

Zetti Armelino Donizetti Quagliato, best known as Zetti (born 10 January 1965), is a Brazilian football pundit, manager and former goalkeeper. He was a member of Brazil's victorious 1994 FIFA World Cup squad. Playing career Club Zetti played with S� ...

. He was dismissed on 30 March, after a 2–2 draw against rivals

Ceará Ceará (, ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. It is the List of Brazilian states by population, eighth-largest Brazilian State by ...

Criciúma and Juventude

In May 2005, Júnior took over

Criciúma Criciúma () is a city in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. At , it is located 180 km south of Florianópolis, the state capital and around 900 km south of São Paulo. The city is the center of Brazil's flooring and home material ...

, but left the club on 8 July after accepting an offer from Juventude. He was dismissed from the latter on 29 July, after just four matches.

Sport Recife

On 8 November 2005, Júnior agreed to become Sport Recife's head coach for the upcoming season. He won the 2006

Campeonato Pernambucano The Campeonato Pernambucano is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco. It is run by the Pernambuco Football Federation (FPF). History The first edition of the Campeonato Pernambucano was played i ...

, but was relieved from his duties on 15 August, being subsequently replaced by Givanildo Oliveira.

Avaí and São Caetano

On 6 September 2006, Júnior was appointed

head coach. He left the club on 17 October to take over São Caetano, but was unable to avoid relegation from the top tier.

Cruzeiro

On 8 May 2007, after impressing with the ''Azulão'' during that year's

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the São Paulo State Football Federation (FPF), ...

, when the club reached the finals, Júnior was named Cruzeiro head coach. On 3 December, despite finishing fifth, he was fired.

Coritiba

On 4 January 2008, Júnior was presented as head coach of another club he represented as a player, Coritiba. On 13 November, he announced he would depart the club at the end of the campaign.

Vasco da Gama

After not renewing contract with ''Coxa'', Júnior was appointed at the helm of

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

on 12 December 2008. He led the club to a promotion from the 2009 Série B, but still announced his departure on 27 November 2009, after failing to agree new terms.

Santos

On 5 December 2009, Júnior was named head coach of Santos. He led the club to the

2010 Campeonato Paulista The 2010 Campeonato Paulista de Futebol Profissional da Primeira Divisão - Série A1 was the 109th season of São Paulo's top professional football league. Santos were crowned champions after a 5–5 tie on aggregate score against Santo André ...

and

2010 Copa do Brasil The 2010 Copa do Brasil was the 22nd edition of the Copa do Brasil, starting on February 10 and ended on August 4. It was contested by 64 clubs, either qualified through their respective state championships (54) or by the Brazilian Football Confed ...

titles (with an historical 10–0 win over Naviraiense in the latter tournament) with an extremely offensive football, with

Paulo Henrique Ganso Paulo Henrique Chagas de Lima (born 12 October 1989), known as Paulo Henrique Ganso or just Ganso (lit. "goose"), is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays for Fluminense FC, Fluminense as an attacking midfielder. ...

and

Robinho Robson de Souza (; born 25 January 1984), known as Robinho (), is a Brazilian former professional association football, footballer and convicted rapist who played as a Forward (association football), forward. In 1997, at 12 years of age, Robin ...

as its key units.

Altercation with Neymar and dismissal

On 15 September 2010, Júnior had an altercation with Neymar during a 4–2 home win over

Atlético Goianiense Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

; after suffering a penalty, Neymar demanded to take the spot kick, but was told by Júnior that Marcel was the one who would take it. Despite Marcel's goal, the discussion between the player and the coach remained, with Neymar later refusing to pass the ball to Marcel in the match. On 21 September 2010, it was reported that Júnior would keep Neymar out of the upcoming match against

as a punishment for his indiscipline actions. Just hours later, however, he was dismissed.

Atlético Mineiro

On 25 September 2010, just four days after leaving Santos, Júnior took over

Atlético Mineiro Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

, replacing

Vanderlei Luxemburgo Vanderlei Luxemburgo da Silva (born 10 May 1952) is a retired former Brazilian professional football coach and player. A left wingback, Luxemburgo represented Flamengo, Internacional and Botafogo before retiring in 1980. He subsequently be ...

. He managed to avoid relegation with the club, but was sacked the following 7 August, after being knocked out of the

2011 Copa do Brasil The 2011 Copa do Brasil (officially known as the 2011 Copa Kia do Brasil for sponsorship reasons) was the 23rd edition of the Copa do Brasil, Brazil's national football cup tournament. It began on February 16 and ended on June 8. This edition's c ...

and losing the 2011 Campeonato Mineiro.

Internacional

On 12 August 2011, Júnior was named at the helm of Internacional. He won the 2012 Campeonato Gaúcho, and despite struggling with the absence of key players

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

and

Leandro Damião Leandro Damião da Silva dos Santos (; born 22 July 1989), known as Leandro Damião or simply Damião, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Coritiba. He has been capped at international level by Brazil. Club care ...

to the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, he was dismissed on 20 July 2012.

Flamengo

Five days after leaving Inter, Júnior took over

. He signed a contract until the end of 2013. On 16 March 2013, he left the club after rejecting a wage cut.

Vasco da Gama return

On 10 July 2013, Júnior agreed to return to Vasco. He was sacked on 28 October, with the club in the relegation zone.

Fluminense

On 11 November 2013, Júnior was appointed head coach of Fluminense. With the club in the relegation zone, he avoided the drop due to Portuguesa's irregular lineup of Héverton. On 10 December 2013, Júnior left ''Flu''.

Palmeiras

On 3 September 2014, Júnior agreed to become

' head coach, with a contract until the end of the year. He narrowly avoided relegation with the club, and was sacked on 8 December.

Santos return

Júnior returned to Santos on 9 July 2015, replacing

Marcelo Fernandes Marcelo Faria Fernandes (; born 20 April 1974) is a Brazilian football coach and former player who played as a central defender. He is the current head coach of Guarani. Playing career Born in Santos, São Paulo Santos (, ''Saints''), of ...

. In his first year, he took the club out of the relegation zone to finish seventh, while also reaching the finals of the 2015 Copa do Brasil. Júnior led ''Peixe'' to the second position in the

2016 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The 2016 was the 60th season of the Série A, the top level of professional football in Brazil, and the 13th edition in a double round-robin since its establishment in 2003. The season began on 15 May 2016 and ended on 11 December 2016. Fixtures ...

, aside from winning the 2016 Campeonato Paulista. On 4 June 2017, after a 1–0 away defeat to rivals

and with the club in a poor form overall (only three points out of twelve), he was sacked.

São Paulo

On 5 July 2017, Júnior took over

, signing a contract until the end of 2018. He was sacked the following 9 March, after a defeat to rivals Palmeiras.

Flamengo return

Júnior returned to Flamengo on 28 September 2018, for the remaining 12 matches of the season. He left in December, after his contract expired.

Athletico Paranaense

On 27 December 2019, Júnior was appointed head coach of fellow top tier side Athletico Paranaense. The following 28 August, he was dismissed by the club after suffering four consecutive defeats, despite him being sidelined in three of those defeats after testing positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

Ceará

On 28 March 2022, after more than one year without coaching, Júnior took over

also in the top tier. He led the club to six straight wins in the 2022 Copa Sudamericana group stage, becoming the first club to do so.

Third spell at Flamengo

On 10 June 2022, Júnior left Ceará to return to Flamengo, replacing sacked

Paulo Sousa Paulo Manuel Carvalho de Sousa (; born 30 August 1970) is a Portuguese football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. He is the current manager of UAE Pro League club Shabab Al Ahli. Starting his career ...

. He led the side to the

and

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

titles, but left on 25 November, after not renewing his contract.

São Paulo return

On 20 April 2023, Júnior returned to São Paulo, replacing sacked

Rogério Ceni Rogério Ceni (; born 22 January 1973) is a Brazilian professional Association football, football Coach (sport), coach and former player who is in charge of Esporte Clube Bahia, Bahia. He is considered one of the all-time greatest Brazilian Goalk ...

. He helped the club to win their first-ever Copa do Brasil, after a 2–1 aggregate win over former side Flamengo. On 7 January 2024, São Paulo released an official note stating that Júnior had left the club to take over the Brazil national team.

Brazil national team

On 10 January 2024, the

Brazilian Football Confederation The Brazilian Football Confederation (, CBF) is the governing body of football in Brazil. It was founded on Monday, 8 June 1914, as , and renamed Confederação Brasileira de Desportos in 1916. The football confederation, as known today, sepa ...

confirmed Júnior as head coach of the Brazil national team. On 28 March 2025, he was sacked from the role. The decision was announced three days after Brazil suffered a 4–1 defeat to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, the joint-record for Brazil's largest losing margin in the history of the World Cup qualifiers (tied with a 3–0 defeat to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

in 2000). Júnior was in charge of the ''Seleção'' for sixteen matches, with seven wins, seven draws and two defeats.

Corinthians

On 28 April 2025, Júnior was announced as head coach of

, signing a contract until December 2026.

Personal life

Júnior is the nephew of the former Brazilian player Dudu. His son, Lucas Silvestre, is also his assistant since 2010. In September 2019, Júnior was diagnosed with

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

, which he had removed in the following month.

Career statistics

Coaching statistics

Honours

Player

Joinville *

: 1987 Grêmio *

Campeonato Gaúcho The Campeonato Gaúcho (English: Gaúcho Championship), officially named as Campeonato Gaúcho de Futebol Série A and commonly known as the Gauchão or the Gauchão Ipiranga (company), Ipiranga for sponsorship reasons, is the top-flight profess ...

: 1993 Juventude *

Campeonato Brasileiro Série B The Campeonato Brasileiro Série B (commonly referred to as the Brasileirão Série B, the Série B or the Brazilian Série B to distinguish it from the Italian and the Ecuadorian Serie B), and currently officially called Brasileirão Série B ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

Manager

Figueirense *

: 2004 Sport Recife *

: 2006 Coritiba *

Campeonato Paranaense The Campeonato Paranaense is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Paraná. It is run by the Paraná Football Federation (FPF). List of champions Notes * In 1924 Internacional and América merged in ...

: 2008 Vasco da Gama *

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Santos *

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Internacional *

Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana (), also known as Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club Association football, football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1988. It ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Athletico Paranaense *

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Flamengo *Copa do Brasil:

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

São Paulo *Copa do Brasil:

References

External links

*
Terceiro Tempo profile

Grande Área profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Junior, Dorival 1962 births Living people Footballers from Araraquara Footballers from São Paulo (state) Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Associação Ferroviária de Esportes players Guarani FC players Avaí FC players Joinville Esporte Clube players São José Esporte Clube players Coritiba Foot Ball Club players SE Palmeiras players Grêmio FBPA players Esporte Clube Juventude players Associação Esportiva Araçatuba players Sociedade Esportiva Matonense players Botafogo Futebol Clube (SP) players Brazilian football managers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A managers Campeonato Brasileiro Série B managers Figueirense FC managers Fortaleza Esporte Clube managers Criciúma Esporte Clube managers Esporte Clube Juventude managers Sport Club do Recife managers Avaí FC managers Associação Desportiva São Caetano managers Cruzeiro Esporte Clube managers Coritiba Foot Ball Club managers CR Vasco da Gama managers Santos FC managers Clube Atlético Mineiro managers Sport Club Internacional managers CR Flamengo managers Fluminense FC managers SE Palmeiras managers São Paulo FC managers Club Athletico Paranaense managers Ceará Sporting Club managers Brazil national football team managers Sport Club Corinthians Paulista managers 2024 Copa América managers Copa Libertadores–winning managers 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen