Born in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Lopes started working at Internacional's youth categories in 1995.
On 7 September 2010, he was named Renato Portaluppi's assistant at the main squad,[2] but returned to his previous role the following 4 August.
[1] Dismissed by Grêmio in 2012, Lopes was manager of Cerâmica's under-20s for a short period[3] before joining Dunga's staff back at Internacional in December of that year.
[4] On 22 July 2014, after Dunga was named manager of the Brazil national team, Lopes was again appointed as his assistant.
[6] On 2 December 2019, Lopes was appointed interim manager of Palmeiras, replacing sacked Mano Menezes.