After conquering Brasileirão with Atlético Mineiro, DT Cuca resigned and Jorge Jesús could be his successor

Coach Alexi Stival Cuca resigned from Atlético Mineiro for “family reasons”, after leading him to win the Brazilian league this year, according to official sources from the Belo Horizonte club.

“He had a contract for one more year, but he asked to leave and we followed it,” businessman Rubens Menin, one of the club’s most important investors and member of a team of advisers to the entity’s board, explained to journalists.

Menin did not clarify the “family reasons” alleged by Cuca but admitted that “they were already known” by the directors of Mineiro, so the coach’s resignation did not surprise them. “It was expected,” he pointed out.

Cuca had already managed Atlético Mineiro for two seasons between 2011 and 2013, the latter year when the team won the Copa Libertadores for the first time.

He returned to Belo Horizonte last February and did so to definitely enter the history of the club. In 2021, Mineiro won the Brazilian Championship again, which it had not achieved for half a century, and also won the Copa do Brasil and the regional tournament in the state of Minas Gerais.

According to club sources, the 58-year-old coach has said he intends to stay away from football for at least a year and has given guarantees that he will not coach any other team until at least 2023.

According to the local press, Atlético Mineiro has already contacted the Portuguese Jorge Jesús, who this same Tuesday left Benfica, as announced by the Portuguese club.

Jesús was being probed by Flamengo, with whom he won the Brazilian league and the Copa Libertadores in 2019, among other titles.

However, also according to the local press, Flamengo got tired of waiting for Jesus and would already have an agreement to sign Portuguese coach Paulo Sousa, current Poland coach.

That negotiation, however, would require an agreement with the Polish Football Federation, which has so far resisted terminating Sousa’s contract. (D)