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Elected by the board to replace Enderson Moreira, Ney Franco has a long history serving the cruise. Between the 1990s and early 2000s, he was a coach in the club’s lower ranks. In 2002 and 2004, he led the core team on an interim basis. Almost 16 years later, receives the mission to remove the team from the relegation zone of Srie B and lead the national elite of 2021. In eight days, Raposa appears in position 17, with five points, ten from the fourth, Cuiab, and 12 from the leader , Stop.
Another player who played in the Cup with Ney Franco and who was later used by the professional Wendel, who stands out for his versatility to act both in the midfield and on the left wing. In 2003, he started in jersey number 7 after Martinez sustained a serious injury to his right knee. Nephew of Geovanni, hero of the 2000 Brazilian Cup (he scored a free kick in the 44th minute), Wendel played 249 games and scored nine goals for the club.
Some names from the 2002 Copinha generation also made their names among Cruzeiro fans: defenders Emerson and Irineu, midfielder Jardel and forward Diego Clementino. Midfielder Walter Minhoca and striker Kanu came to prominence for Ipatinga and Portuguese football, while center forward Eraldo became a stamped figure of teams from the interior of Minas Gerais: Tupi, Villa Nova, Democrat of Governador Valadares, URT, Uberlndia, etc.
Interim
The contribution to the base gave Ney Franco the opportunity to become an interim Cruzeiro manager. In 2002, he was on the edge of the field against Palmeiras, in Mineiro, on August 14, for the Brazilian Championship. Victory seemed certain with a goal from Fbio Junior, at 26 minutes into the first half, but Itamar, at 42 minutes into the final stage, tied for Verdo. At that time, the celestial board had agreed to hire Vanderlei Luxemburg to replace Marco Aurlio, who was fired in the revolutions 5 to 1 by Fluminense, in Rio.
In 2004, Ney Franco commanded Raposa in two games for the Brazilian after Emerson Leo left. On July 31, the team drew 0-0 with Fluminense, in Maracan, for round 20. On August 5, they beat Internacional 2-0 in Mineiro, for round 21. In this match, the coach promoted the debut of the forward Fred, former America. He took Wendel’s place and scored Cruzeiro’s second goal by dribbling past two opponents and firing twice towards Clemer’s goal.
Ney Franco returned to the U-20 with the arrival of Marco Aurlio, who lasted just over three months in office, with a 36.11% success rate in 24 games: seven wins, five draws and 12 losses. On November 16, 2004, the technical champion of the Copa do Brasil 2000 was fired after suffering a 4-1 defeat against So Caetano, away from home, for the Brazilian’s 41st matchday.
Thus, the club called again Ney Franco, who, in the last five games, obtained only 20%: he lost to Corinthians (1 to 0), Fluminense (3 to 2) and Internacional (2 to 0), he beat Vitria (4 to 0), and was beaten by Flamengo (6 to 2). Raposa finished with Srie A in 13th place out of 24 participants, with 56 points (16 wins, 8 draws and 22 losses).
Race sequence
In 2005, Ney Franco took over Ipatinga, a kind of “B-team” from Cruzeiro. Surprisingly, the “subsidiary” surpassed the “headquarters” in the final of the Mineiro Championship, winning 2-1 in Mineiro with more than 50 thousand fans. In Serie C, Tigre had a brilliant campaign and reached the final round depending on the home win over América de Natal. However, the Potiguar team maintained the 0-0 draw and raised Srie B along with the champion Remo. The miners finished the third division with a campaign of eight wins, seven draws and three losses in 18 games.
The following year, still in Ipatinga, Ney Franco was runner-up in Minas Gerais and led the club to a great participation in the Copa do Brasil, beating the traditional Botafogo (second phase) and Santos (quarter-finals). In the semifinals, Vale do Ao measured strengths with Flamengo: they drew 1-1, in Ipatinga, and lost 2-1 in the second leg, in Rio. Franco would be “rewarded” after the red-black Slate invites him to the place of Waldemar Lemos, fired on May 22. The coach accepted the challenge and won the Copa do Brasil with two victories over Vasco in the decision: 2-0 and 1-0.
Ney Franco also did an outstanding job in Coritiba, where he won the 2010 Paranaense Championship and Srie B; in So Paulo, for which he was champion of the 2012 South American Cup; in Vitria, fifth place in the 2013 Brazilian Championship; and in Gois, promoted from Srie B to A, in 2018. In the Brazilian Under-20 National Team, the coach won the South American and the 2011 World Cup, and commanded players such as Neymar, Oscar, Philippe Coutinho, Casemiro, Danilo and Lucas Moura.
