Football: Luxemburgo is dreaming of Old Trafford

Brazil's Anglophile coach has successfully matched the demands of club and country. By Glenn Moore

VANDERLEY LUXEMBURGO, the national coach of Brazil, has revealed a desire to manage Manchester United. The flamboyant coach has also spoken in support of Kevin Keegan's dual role as England coach and chief operating officer with Fulham.

Luxemburgo, who won his sixth club title while combining the national job with leading Corinthians to the Brazilian championship late last year, said: "I think I can coach Manchester United, I think I can coach Barcelona. Who would have said Ossie Ardiles could go from Argentina to England, play well, and then become a coach? It's a question of language. He adapted, and I think a Brazilian can do that.

"I'm studying English, I speak it reasonably well and it's something I'm working on, so that if one day a call comes from Manchester United I'll be ready to make the adaptation. I already have a professional ability, and I want to have those kind of opportunities in the future."

Luxemburgo added that he thought English coaches could work in Brazil in the same way, adding "I don't see any problem with this kind of interchange. It already exists in European football and I don't understand why Brazil is out of the loop. Maybe we're ruled out because of language or cultural differences."

The most high-profile Brazilian player to have come to England is Juninho but, said Luxemburgo, he should have gone to a more successful club than Middlesbrough.

"If Juninho had gone to Arsenal or Manchester United, his time in England would have been better," he said. "The players from big clubs here in Brazil are used to winning, to being champions and getting into the national team. Then it's not good if they go on to a small club."

Luxemburgo noted that Rivaldo, who went to Barcelona, had developed his game while Denilson, who is with Real Betis, was having problems.

Luxemburgo, speaking in an interview with World Soccer magazine, recently stepped down from his club post, but said he had "lost a lot" by concentrating solely on Brazil.

"Now I'm full-time I have the chance to observe everything that's going on, but I'm not doing the main activity of a coach, the work out on the training ground. And if you stop doing an activity you lose something you get out of practice. So in this sense I feel you lose a lot by being full-time."

The 46-year-old noted, however, that it did have its advantages. "You are not so exposed to criticism. You only get shot at for what happens with the national team. If you're with a club as well, you get criticised for what happens with both. You're very exposed."

Keegan has so far avoided this by being unbeaten with club and country since combining the jobs. His dual role was given further backing by Pele, who said in the magazine: "In England, the way the game is run is so professional that it probably is possible to be part-time national coach and hold down a club job. In Brazil, we have a lot to learn from England."

England last played in Brazil in 1984, when John Barnes scored his great solo goal. Brazil have since been regular visitors to Wembley but England have not been back to Rio de Janeiro. Luxemburgo claimed: "We have invited England, who have a contract with the CBF [the Brazilian Football Federation]. They owe us a game but say they can't come because they don't have any free dates."

In the interview Luxemburgo also denied that the sportswear company Nike have too much influence on the Brazilian team, but admitted the game in his country needs to modernise. This has begun with a virtual takeover of the Rio club championship by Globo, the Brazilian television company, which is insisting on the previously ignored concept of a proper fixture list. Huge fines will be levied on clubs who fail to appear for matches or rearrange them unilaterally, as has been common in the past.