Mano Menezes just left Cruzeiro to coach Shandong Luneng. (Photo : Wikimedia)
Shandong Luneng Taishan FC, one of the teams in the Chinese Super League (CSL), has officially named former Brazil national team coach Mano Menezes as their new head coach on Sunday, as reported by the Xinhua News Agency.
Menezes replaced Cuca, also from Brazil, who joined Shandong Luneng at the end of 2013 under a three-year deal. However, the team's performance was disappointing.
Shandong Luneng did not reveal the details of the contract with Menezes. However, the Brazilian football coach expressed that the offer was "out of this world."
Menezes took over the Brazil national team after the 2010 South Africa World Cup. During his two and a half years of coaching the team, Brazil made it to the quarter-finals of the 2011 Copa America.
The 53-year-old coach will be the third Brazil national team coach to bring their career to China. He will join the likes of Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao FC head coach Luiz Felipe Scolari and China League One team Tianjin Songjiang FC head coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo.
In September, Menezes replaced Luxemburgo as the coach of Cruzeiro. He led the team to eight wins, six draws and only one defeat in the months he was with them, bringing the team up to the eighth place in the Brazilian league from the relegation zone.
In 2012, Scolari replaced Menezes as the coach of the Brazil national team.
Menezes was also the coach of the Olympic team of Brazil at London in 2012. The team hoped to win the gold for Brazil, the only title the team has not won.
When Mexico defeated Brazil in the final, Menezes was criticized and later fired in Nov. 2012.
