Before being a football head coach, he worked as a chief police officer in Rio de Janeiro city.

In 2005, he was the manager of Corinthians, replacing Márcio Bittencourt, during most of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A season.

During his career, he managed several clubs, including foreign clubs like Al Wasl of the United Arab Emirates, Belenenses of Portugal, Cerro Porteño of Paraguay, and Brazilian clubs like Fluminense, Flamengo, Sport Recife, Portuguesa, Internacional, Santos, Atlético Paranaense, Grêmio, Vasco da Gama, Coritiba, Paraná, Corinthians and Goiás.

[1] On March 9, 2010, Atlético Paranaense executive board had decided to suddenly dismiss the coach for undisclosed reasons and despite the fact that the team's results were satisfactory, so far (six wins, four draws and only one loss).

Leandro Niehues has been named interim coach until a full-time replacement is found.