Corinthians coach Carille hails Ronaldo effect

Fabio Carille revealed that a conversation with Brazil legend Ronaldo helped convince him to return to Corinthians as head coach.

Carille replaced Jair Ventura last month following the Sao Paulo club's disappointing end to the 2018 Brazilian Serie A season, reports Xinhua news agency.

The 45-year-old's appointment came seven months after he ended his first spell in charge of the Brazilian giants to join Saudi Arabia's Al-Wehda.

"I was very interested to know how the fans felt about my return," Carille told reporters on Thursday.

"I was worried and spoke a lot about it with my manager (Paulo Pitombeira) and (Corinthians president) Andres Sanchez. An important factor was a conversation I had with Ronaldo, who is a friend and somebody whom I trust a lot."

World Cup winner Ronaldo finished his decorated career at Corinthians, scoring 18 goals from 31 league matches with the club before retiring in 2011.

Carille guided Corinthians to a top flight title and two Paulista championships during his first stint as manager in 2017 and 2018.

The seven-time Brazilian Serie A champions finished the 2018 Serie A season in 13th place, a year after winning the competition for the second time in three years.

--IANS

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