Filipe Luis: From playing with Atleti to being inspired by Simeone and Luis to lead Flamengo

While the Brazilian national team bet on Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti and the influence of foreign coaches like Abel Ferreira (Portugal) is abundant in the BrazilIan league, Filipe Luis is vindicating at Flamengo that there is new native blood on the bench.

Nearing his 40th birthday, Filipe Luis has had a rapid rise as a coach, and his Flamengo side is one of the biggest threats to the European giants in the Club World Cup. Our colleague Esteban Rojas of AFP recalls his brilliant career.

Retired in 2023 in the red-and-black jersey of the Rio de Janeiro club, with which he won the Copa Libertadores twice (2019 and 2022), the former left-back took over as first-team manager on Sept. 30, amid a crisis that took then-coach, former Brazilian national team leader Tite, by storm.

He had been in charge of the U-20 team in his first steps as coach, and it was a risky bet. Filipe Luis passed with flying colors.

Just 41 days after his appointment, he won his first title: the Brazilian Cup. The Brazilian Super Cup and the Carioca Championship were added in 2025.

His team has lost only three matches on the road and continues to set the tone in the race for the conquest in 2025 of the Brasileirao, the Copa Libertadores and, again, the Brazilian Cup.

"We are on the right track. We overcame barriers and adversity and had an excellent first semester," he said at his team’s last press conference before the Club World Cup, in which they crushed Fortaleza 5-0 in the Brasileirao.

El Cholo' Simeone, an example

On numerous occasions, Filipe Luis has recognized Argentine coach Diego Pablo Simeone as an "inspiration" to become a coach: "He had a huge impact on my life."

From his work with him in eight years as a player at Atlético Madrid in two stages between the 2010-2011 and 2018-2019 seasons, he inherited the mantra of playing "game by game," with ambition, but without underestimating  anyone.

"That keeps our feet on the ground," he commented in an interview with the FIFA website.

That's how he is taking on the Club World Cup, in which Flamengo shares Group D with Chelsea (a club he played for in the 2014-2015 campaign), Espérance of Tunisia and local side Los Angeles FC.

The top two will advance to the round of 16, and the Cariocas are heavy favorites alongside the Londoners.

"It's easy to underestimate the rivals," Filipe Luis said, but "if the clubs are in the World Cup, it's because they deserve it."

He is confident about his team "going far," echoing the words that ran through the corridors of another Colchonera legend, Luis Aragones.

"There is a phrase: 'there is only one way in soccer, win, win and win again.' Luis Aragonés said it. It was repeated a lot at Atlético Madrid and it stuck with me," he said in his conversation with the FIFA website.

In the ranks of Atlético, at a time when Real Madrid and Barcelona seemed unattainable, Filipe Luis and his coach, Simeone, won a Spanish League and a Copa del Rey, in addition to two Europa League trophies and two European Super Cups.

He considers Portuguese player Jorge Jesus, with whom he won his two Libertadores titles at Flamengo, another of his teachers.

Zico's praise: Filipe Luis is "good blood"

With stars such as Bruno Henrique, Pedro or Uruguayans Giorgian De Arrascaeta and Nicolás de la Cruz, Flamengo has the raw material to stand up to the Club World Cup.

One of the greatest legends in Flamengo's history, Zico, is full of praise for Filipe Luis.

"That boy is good blood! He's professional to the extreme," said Zico, champion with Fla of the old Intercontinental Cup in 1981, with an unforgettable 3-0 victory over Liverpool.

Speaking to Jornal dos Sports, Zico recalled the former full-back's playing career: "Wherever he went, he represented our soccer well."

And now he is doing so as a coach, just when foreigners like Abel Ferreira are gaining ground in Brazil at Palmeiras.