Dorival Júnior

Dorival Júnior (Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: [doɾiˈvaw siwˈvɛstɾi ˈʒuni.oʁ]; born 25 April 1962) is a Brazilian professional football coach and former player. He is the current head coach of Corinthians.

A defensive midfielder, Júnior notably played for Palmeiras. After retiring, he began his coaching career in 2002 with Ferroviária, but only gained national notoriety in 2010 when coaching Neymar's Santos. He later led Flamengo to a 2022 Copa Libertadores win and São Paulo to their first-ever Copa do Brasil title in 2023, 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, São Paulo, and made his debuts as a senior with hometown's Ferroviária in 1982. Two years later, after a brief stint at Marília (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 and later for Joinville. In 1988, he went back to his native state, representing São José, but during the same year he moved to Coritiba.

In 1989 Júnior joined Palmeiras, 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, Matonense and Botafogo-SP, 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, Atlético Sorocaba, Guarani, Paulista and Santo André, always as his assistant.