Renato Gaúcho

Renato Portaluppi (born 9 September 1962), known as Renato Gaúcho, is a Brazilian professional football coach and former player who is currently in charge of Grêmio.

Formerly a right winger, Renato is known for his wins at the Intercontinental Cup in 1983 as a player for Grêmio, his two Copa Libertadores one as Grêmio player in 1983 and one in 2017 as Grêmio coach, his 1989 Copa América as player for Brazil, and mainly being known for "Rei Do Rio" (King of Rio de Janeiro). When in the heat of Brazilian national soccer, he won the Campeonato Carioca of 1995 and won the prize given by the press for being the MVP in the championship and giving the title to Fluminense when beating some of the best Brazilian players of all time, Romário (Flamengo), Túlio Maravilha (Botafogo), Valdir Bigode (Vasco).

Club
Born in Guaporé, Rio Grande do Sul, Renato started his career in Esportivo in Bento Gonçalves where he grew up. He was later signed with Grêmio, where in 1983 he won the Copa Libertadores, beating Peñarol of Uruguay, and the Intercontinental Cup, beating Hamburger SV of Germany, and scoring twice, this way consolidating Grêmio as one of the giants of Brazilian soccer, when they won their first and only world title.

In 1987, he moved to Flamengo and won the Brasileirão Série A in the same year. Then, in 1988, Renato moved abroad, signing with Roma. However, he failed to settle in Italy and returned to Flamengo after one disappointing season, in time to win one more trophy, the Copa do Brasil in 1990.

Renato's career in Fluminense is generally associated with his belly goal in the Campeonato Carioca of 1995, against Flamengo, in the year that Flamengo celebrated 100 years. With his goal, he was crowned the "King of Rio" of the year. In the same year, he led Fluminense to the semi-finals of the Brasileirão Série A.

Before his retirement in Bangu, he played again for Flamengo, where with all his four passages total he played 210 games, scoring 64 goals for the red and black team.

International
Renato appeared 41 times for the Brazil national team, scoring five goals.

In 1986, while preparing for the FIFA World Cup Finals in Mexico, Renato was dropped from the squad by coach Telê Santana for disciplinary reasons when he and his friend, who also played at Brazil's national team Leandro got in the hotel after the scheduled time. Renato was remembered for being a loyal friend when it happened because he could jump through the hotel wall and get in unnoticed. But when his friend couldn't, he walked through the main door with him. Leandro was an essential and irreplaceable player, so he still got called for the finals, and Renato didn't. But to return his loyalty to Renato, Leandro said he wouldn't play if Renato weren't accepted. Renato wasn't recalled, and then Leandro made his word true and quit the selection. Leandro's replacement at right-back was Edson, who was injured in the second World Cup match and was then replaced by the relatively unknown Josimar of Botafogo, who became one of the stars of the tournament.

Early years
In 1996, while recovering from a knee injury, Renato was an interim manager of Fluminense on two occasions. As the club struggled to remain outside the relegation zone, Renato "promised to walk naked in the Ipanema beach" if the club suffered relegation, which did occur after they finished in the penultimate place; however, a match-fixing scandal canceled the relegations shortly after, which kept Fluminense in the first division.

Renato's whole managerial experience occurred in 2001, as he took over Madureira.

Fluminense
Between 2 September 2002 and 11 July 2003, and between 1 October 2003 and 28 December 2003, Renato was coach of Fluminense.

Vasco da Gama
From July 2005 to April 2007, Renato was Vasco da Gama's coach.

Fluminense return
In April 2007, he returned to Fluminense as a manager. On 6 June 2007, he won the Brazilian Cup with Fluminense, his first trophy as a manager. However, he failed to win the Copa Libertadores as Fluminense was defeated in a penalty shootout to underdogs LDU from Ecuador in the final.

On 10 August 2008, Renato was sacked as manager of Flu, following a 2–1 defeat to the Brasileirão's bottom side, Ipatinga which left them joint-bottom of the table.

Vasco da Gama return
On 18 September 2008, he was hired as Vasco's manager. He left after the club's relegation, in December.

Third spell at Fluminense
Fluminense reappointed Renato on 21 July 2009 to replace Carlos Alberto Parreira. Renato returned for a third stint, having already coached Fluminense twice (in 2002–2003 and again in 2007–2008). On 1 September 2009, Fluminense dismissed him following a series of poor results.

Bahia
On 13 December 2009, Renato was named manager of Bahia for the 2010 season, in the place of Paulo Bonamigo.

Grêmio
On 10 August 2010, Grêmio confirmed Renato was their new coach, two days after the sacking of their former coach, Silas. He tried to start a good season, but in his debut, the team lost to Goiás and was eliminated from the 2010 Copa Sudamericana on the Second Stage. In the 2010 Brazilian League, Grêmio ended in 4th place and consequently qualified to 2011 Copa Libertadores. Afterward, Renato did not have a great season in 2011. His team lost the 2011 Campeonato Gaúcho finals to their rival Internacional and was the runner-up. Grêmio was also eliminated from the 2011 Copa Libertadores in the Round of 16, losing to Chilean club Universidad Católica. All of that disappointed himself and Grêmio's President Paulo Odone. He coached some matches of the 2011 Brazilian League. However, their performance wasn't good, and Renato resigned on 30 June.

Atlético Paranaense
On 4 July 2011, Renato was announced as head coach of Atlético Paranaense. He resigned on 1 September, alleging family reasons.

Grêmio return
Even after two years without coaching any club, Renato was the first choice of Fábio Koff, president of Grêmio, to succeed Vanderlei Luxemburgo as the new coach of Grêmio. On 2 July 2013, the coach signed with the club and was presented to more than 5,000 supporters in Grêmio Arena.

Renato left Grêmio in December 2013, after failing to agree to a new contract.

Fourth spell at Fluminense
Renato returned to Flu on 24 December 2013. He was dismissed the following 2 April, after being knocked out in the 2014 Campeonato Carioca.

Third spell at Grêmio
In September 2016, Renato returned to Grêmio in the place of Roger Machado. In the following year, Grêmio had a great campaign in Libertadores Group Stage, and classification as the first of its group, Grêmio played against Godoy Cruz (16th), Botafogo (8th), Barcelona de Guayaquil (4th). In the last year that the final was played in the two teams' stadium (2018 the last game of final was played in Spain and in 2019 the rule was changed and the finals now are played in just one game, as Champions League is), Grêmio won in an emotional 1-0 in Arena do Grêmio and in the 2nd game against Lanús at Estádio La fortaleza Grêmio won by 2-1 and became a Libertadores Champion for the 3rd time.

In the 2018 season, he helped his team to win the Recopa Sudamericana over Independiente and the Campeonato Gaúcho over Brasil de Pelotas, their first win since 2010.

Renato helped Grêmio to win the Campeonato Gaúcho in the 2019 and 2020 campaigns while also having a statue of him inaugurated near the Arena do Grêmio in March 2019. On 15 April 2021, after being knocked out in the first stages of the 2021 Copa Libertadores, he was sacked by the club after more than four years in charge; he was the longest-serving manager in all the four divisions of Brazilian football.

Flamengo
Following his sacking by Grêmio, Flamengo hired Renato on July 10th 2021, having previously played for them as a player across four separate stints. He signed a contract until the end of the season.

Renato won his first six matches in charge of the club, averaging four goals per match. On September 29th, he helped his side to reach the 2021 Copa Libertadores Final, after defeating Barcelona SC 4–0 on aggregate.

Flamengo's good form did not last long under Renato's guidance. After the club lost the Libertadores Final to Palmeiras, he left on a mutual agreement on November 29th, 2021.

Fourth spell at Grêmio
On September 1st, 2022, Renato returned to Grêmio, again replacing sacked Roger Machado. He has since his return won two more Campeonato Gaúcho, being the coach for 5 of the team's historical 7-streak title run through 2018-2024. With the 2024 title, he also became the manager with the most titles in Grêmio's history, alongside Oswaldo Rolla.

International goals

 *  Scores and results list Brazil's goal tally first.

Player
Grêmio
 * Intercontinental Cup: 1983
 * Copa Libertadores: 1983
 * Campeonato Gaúcho: 1985, 1986

Flamengo
 * Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 1987
 * Copa do Brasil: 1990
 * Supercopa Sudamericana (runner-up): 1993

Cruzeiro
 * Supercopa Libertadores: 1992
 * Campeonato Mineiro: 1992

Fluminense Brazil Individual
 * Campeonato Carioca: 1995
 * Copa América: 1989
 * Intercontinental Cup – Man of the Match: 1983
 * Bola de Ouro: 1987
 * Bola de Prata: 1984, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1995
 * South American Team of the Year: 1992

Manager
Fluminense
 * Copa do Brasil: 2007

Grêmio Individual
 * Copa do Brasil: 2016
 * Copa Libertadores: 2017
 * Campeonato Gaúcho: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023, 2024
 * Recopa Sudamericana: 2018
 * Recopa Gaúcha: 2019, 2023
 * Copa Libertadores Best Manager: 2017
 * Campeonato Gaúcho Best Manager: 2018, 2019
 * Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Head Coach of the month: June 2023