04/12/2005
Brazilian coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo

Factbox on Vanderlei Luxemburgo who was sacked as Real Madrid coach on Sunday.

1952 - Born in Nova Iguacu, near Rio de Janeiro, on May 10.

1986 - After an unremarkable playing career as a fullback, mainly spent at Flamengo and Internacional, Luxemburgo begins coaching career as an assistant at minor Rio de Janeiro club Olaria.

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1989 - Leads Bragantino, a minor provincial side from just outside Sao Paulo, into the first division of the Paulista (Sao Paulo state) championship for the first time in their history.

1990 - Wins the Paulista championship with Bragantino.

1991 - Joins Rio de Janeiro club Flamengo.

1993 - After a spell with second division Ponte Preta joins fading giants Palmeiras, a Sao Paulo team who have not won a title in 17 years.

Ends Palmeiras' title drought by winning the Paulista championship in June. Leads them to victory in the Brazilian championship in the second half of the year.

1994 - Repeats the feat, winning the Paulista and Brazilian championships. Resigns and moves back to Flamengo.

1995 - After an unsuccessful six months, he resigns at Flamengo when attempts to discipline wayward star Romario for missing training are over-ruled by club directors. Spends four months with Parana, a middle-ranking club in southern Brazil, before returning to Palmeiras.

1996 - Leads Palmeiras to another Paulista title in a spectacular campaign in which they score 102 goals. At the end of the year, he moves to Santos, Pele's former club.

1997 - Spends the entire year at Santos, failing to capture any major titles, then is tempted to Corinthians.

1998 - Wins Brazilian championship with Corinthians. Is named Brazil coach in August, following the World Cup.

1999 - Brazil win the Copa America.

2000 - Brazil lose World Cup qualifiers to Paraguay and Chile. Luxemburgo, who is also in charge of the Olympic team, is fired after they are beaten in the quarter-finals of the Sydney Olympics by nine-man Cameroon.

He then becomes one of the central figures as Congress launches an investigation into the finances of Brazilian football and is grilled in public over his tax returns.

2001 - After the Congressional storm dies down, Luxemburgo returns to Corinthians in February. In October, he officially becomes three years older after a court agrees to change a fake birth certificate he admitted using throughout his career.

The spelling of his first name - previously Wanderley - is also changed. After an unproductive year, he is fired by Corinthians in December.

2002 - Takes over at Palmeiras. But walks out in August after receiving an offer from Cruzeiro.

2003 - Wins the Brazilian championship with Cruzeiro.

2004 - Fired by Cruzeiro in February after falling out with the directors. Takes over at Santos for a second stint in May with the team 17th in the table. Wins the Brazilian championship in December.

JOINS REAL

December 30, Appointed coach of Real Madrid.

2005, Jan 5 - Gets off to a dream start as Real Madrid coach when his side claimed victory in a frantic seven-minute mini match against Real Sociedad held over because of a bomb scare at the Bernabeu. Real go on to win seven league matches in a row.

Jan 19 - Honeymoon period comes to an abrupt end when Real suffer a shock exit from the King's Cup at the hands of second division Valladolid.

March - Real knocked out of the last 16 of the Champions League after a 2-1 aggregate defeat by Juventus.

April - Luxemburgo falls out with Luis Figo after dropping the winger for the match against Barcelona.

May - Real finish second in the table, four points behind Barca, the team having lost just three of 21 league matches since Luxemburgo took charge.

August - Real spend almost 90 million euros ($105.3 million) on new players, including Brazilian strikers Robinho and Julio Baptista, Spanish international defender Sergio Ramos and Uruguayan duo Pablo Garcia and Carlos Diogo.

Sept - Luxemburgo feels the heat after his side slump to three consecutive defeats to Olympique Lyon, Celta Vigo and Espanyol.

Oct - Real slip to successive losses against Valencia and Deportivo Coruna.

Nov 19 - Real are dealt a humiliating 3-0 defeat by arch-rivals Barcelona at the Bernabeu. Large sections of the Real Madrid crowd end up applauding opposition forward Ronaldinho after the Catalans' third goal.

Nov 21 - Real Madrid vice-president Emilio Butragueno says that Luxemburgo has the full support of the club and will not be sacked.

Dec 3 - Real edge a lacklustre 1-0 win over modest neighbours Getafe during which midfielder David Beckham is sent off.

Dec 4 - Sacked as Real Madrid coach.

05.12.2005 06:12 +0300
reuters