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Luxemburgo Wanderley Biography

Brazilian former soccer player; a coach who is considered one of the country’s best despite personal conflicts with others in the sport. Luxemburgo attended college, earning a degree in both administration and physical education and, from 1971-82, played soccer at Botafogo and Flamengo. Never an outstanding player, he moved into coaching where he found his niche, excelling in a position of leadership. In 1983, he took the position of head-coach for Campo Grande of Rio, and as coach of Palmeiras of Sao Paulo, he won the national championship in 1993 and 1994. During his career, he worked with 15 different clubs, taking home many titles. Mere success as a coach, however, was apparently not enough for Luxemburgo. He was determined to stand out and worked to bring new innovations to the game. Completely proficient at marketing himself, Luxemburgo became a popular speaker at motivational conferences. Although he can, on occasion, sound quite humble, he often seems condescending and superior, something that caused friction in his working relationships. In addition, he refused to dress like a "normal" coach. While the other coaches wore tracksuits and T-shirts, he wore designer suits, silk shirts and expensive cologne. An avid reader, he particularly enjoys books on neurolinguistics. Despite his professed intellectual bent, however, he is openly superstitious, consenting only to sleep in hotel suite 171, and has several so-called "lucky charms." His personal problems were not confined to his career. A local manicurist filed a lawsuit against him, claiming sexual harassment, but the case was ultimately dismissed for lack of evidence. He ended up in federal court facing charges that he lied about his age, saying he had been born in 1955 rather than 1952, and didn’t pay his taxes, crimes that carried a sentence of five years in prison. Confessing only to the former charge, Luxemburgo said his father obtained a fake birth certification for him so that he could play in a younger age group at Botafogo. Luxemburgo has been married for 25 years to Josefa. They have three daughters, Valeska, Vanessa and Vanusa. Link to Wikipedia biography Read less