7 legendary coaches who did not have great playing careers

Mourinho enjoyed a lot of success as a manager, but not as a player
Mourinho enjoyed a lot of success as a manager, but not as a player

#4 Carlos Alberto Parreira

Parreira won the 1994 World Cup with Brazil
Parreira won the 1994 World Cup with Brazil

Unlike most other men on this list who at least had something to do with football as players (albeit without much success), Carlos Alberto Parreira started in football as a fitness coach for multiple teams in the Brazil league as well as the 1970 World Cup-winning squad.

Parreira himself admitted that after almost three decades of being a fitness coach, he was as tactically astute as anyone else, going on to manage numerous national sides, with his crowning moment coming in 1994 when he guided his home nation to triumph in the World Cup in the USA after a 24-year wait.

Carlos Alberto holds the record as the manager who has managed in the most World Cup tournaments (six) and was last the manager of the Bafana Bafana of South Africa at the World Cup they hosted in 2010.

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Edited by Victor R. Lopez M.
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