Levir Culpi facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Levir Culpi

Culpi in 2017
Personal information
Date of birth	(1953-02-28) 28 February 1953 (age 72)
Place of birth	Curitiba, Brazil
Playing position	Centre-back
Youth career
	Coritiba
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1972–1973	Coritiba	20	(0)
1973	→ Botafogo (loan)	1	(0)
1974–1978	Santa Cruz	57	(0)
1978–1979	Colorado
1979–1980	Atlante	32	(1)
1980	Vila Nova
1980–1981	Colorado	5	(0)
1982–1983	Figueirense
1984–1985	Juventude
National team
1972	Brazil U20
Teams managed
1986	Juventude
1986	Caxias
1986–1987	Atlético Paranaense
1988	Marcílio Dias
1988	Inter de Limeira
1989	Inter de Limeira
1989–1990	Criciúma
1990	Inter de Limeira
1991	Coritiba
1991	Inter de Limeira
1992	Criciúma
1992	Al-Ittifaq
1993	Paraná Clube
1994	Guarani
1994–1995	Atlético Mineiro
1995	Portuguesa
1996	Cruzeiro
1997	Cerezo Osaka
1998–1999	Cruzeiro
2000	São Paulo
2001	Sport
2001	Atlético Mineiro
2002	Palmeiras
2003–2004	Botafogo
2004	Atlético Paranaense
2005	Cruzeiro
2005	São Caetano
2006–2007	Atlético Mineiro
2007–2011	Cerezo Osaka
2012–2013	Cerezo Osaka
2014–2015	Atlético Mineiro
2016	Fluminense
2017	Santos
2018	Gamba Osaka
2018–2019	Atlético Mineiro
2021	Cerezo Osaka
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Levir Culpi (born 28 February 1953) is a Brazilian professional football coach and former player who played as a centre-back.

Playing career

Known as Levir during his playing days, he was born in Curitiba, Paraná, and started his career with hometown club Coritiba, in 1972. After spending a six-month loan deal at Botafogo the following year, he signed for Santa Cruz in 1974.

Levir subsequently represented Colorado (two stints), Atlante, Vila Nova, Figueirense and Juventude, retiring with the latter in 1985.

Coaching career

Immediately after retiring Culpi took up coaching, starting with his last club Juventude. After a stint at Caxias he was named Atlético Paranaense head coach in 1986, but left the club in the following year.

After a period in charge of Marcílio Dias, Culpi took Internacional de Limeira to their second national title, a Campeonato Brasileiro Série B in 1988. He subsequently managed Criciúma, Internacional and Coritiba before returning to Criciúma in 1992 and taking the club to the quarterfinals of the 1992 Copa Libertadores (being knocked out by eventual champions São Paulo).

In the following years Culpi rarely settled into a club, being in charge of Al-Ittifaq, Paraná Clube, Guarani, Atlético Mineiro, Portuguesa and Cruzeiro before moving abroad to manage Cerezo Osaka in 1997. He returned to Cruzeiro in 1998, notably winning the year's Recopa Sudamericana with a 5–0 aggregate success over River Plate.

In January 2000 Culpi took over São Paulo, but was sacked in November. After spells at Sport and Atlético Mineiro in 2001, he replaced Flávio Murtosa at the helm of Palmeiras on 3 September 2002, but could not avoid the club's first-ever relegation from the top tier.

In December 2002 Culpi was appointed head coach of Botafogo, taking the club back to the main category after finishing second. On 27 April 2004 he returned to Atlético Paranaense, after resigning with Bota.

Culpi again managed Cruzeiro during the 2005 campaign, but was relieved from his duties in July of that year. He subsequently managed São Caetano before achieving another promotion with Atlético Mineiro in 2006.

In May 2007, J. League Division 2 side Cerezo Osaka sacked Satoshi Tsunami and appointed Culpi as head coach. During his spell in charge of the team, he discovered Shinji Kagawa, who then played as a defensive midfielder, and used him as an attacking midfielder. Kagawa combined well with Takashi Inui, another talented young player, and the team under Culpi were promoted to the J. League Division 1 in 2010. He continued to display his ability to develop young players and construct an attacking team. With such players as Kagawa, Inui, Akihiro Ienaga, Hiroshi Kiyotake, Adriano, and Martinez, the team finished 3rd in 2010 and qualified for the AFC Champions League.

In November 2011, Culpi decided not to extend his contract, saying "I've come to the conclusion that now is the time to return to the far distant Brazil and spend time with my family." The following 26 August, however, he returned to the club after replacing compatriot Sérgio Soares.

In April 2014, Levir Culpi was announced as Atlético Mineiro coach for the fourth time in his career. He managed to perform a double in 2014, winning both the Recopa Sudamericana and the Copa do Brasil. In 2015, in the first official match of the season, Atlético defeated Tupi 2-0 and he reached his 228th match ahead of the team, becoming the third coach with more games for the club, only behind Telê Santana (434), and Procópio Cardoso (328).

On 3 May 2015, Culpi lifted the Campeonato Mineiro trophy for the fifth time in his career, becoming the fifth coach to do so. He left Atlético Mineiro on 26 November, exactly one year after winning the Copa do Brasil. He was dismissed after a total of 288 matches, with 154 wins, 60 draws and 74 defeats, with 493 goals scored 184 goals conceded.

On 4 March 2016, Culpi was announced as new coach of Fluminense. He won the inaugural Primeira Liga, but was relieved from his duties on 6 November.

On 6 June 2017, Culpi agreed to a six-month contract with Santos, replacing fired Dorival Júnior. On 28 October, he was himself dismissed after a 2–1 loss against São Paulo.

On 17 October 2018, Culpi returned to Galo for his fifth spell, replacing dismissed Thiago Larghi. He was sacked the following 11 April, after a 4–1 loss against Cerro Porteño.

Coaching statistics

Honours

Player

Coritiba

• Campeonato Paranaense: 1973

Santa Cruz

• Campeonato Pernambucano: 1976

Manager

Inter de Limeira

• Campeonato Brasileiro Série B: 1988

Criciúma

• Campeonato Catarinense: 1989

Paraná

• Campeonato Paranaense: 1993

Cruzeiro

• Copa do Brasil: 1996
• Campeonato Mineiro: 1996, 1998
• Recopa Sudamericana: 1998
• Copa Centro-Oeste: 1999

São Paulo

• Campeonato Paulista: 2000

Atlético Mineiro

• Campeonato Mineiro: 1995, 2007, 2015
• Campeonato Brasileiro Série B: 2006
• Recopa Sudamericana: 2014
• Copa do Brasil: 2014

Fluminense

• Primeira Liga: 2016

See also

In Spanish: Levir Culpi para niños