RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil‘s World Cup -winning coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has been hospitalized in his fight against cancer, the Samaritano Barra hospital said Wednesday.
The 83-year-old Parreira, who oversaw Brazil’s run to the 1994 World Cup title, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2023.
The hospital said in a statement it wouldn’t provide details about Parreira’s health or when he arrived for treatment.
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Former footballer Zinho, a member of the 1994 squad who is close friends with Parreira, told journalists the former Brazil coach “is not in good shape” and had “lung problems that are putting him in a ventilator at the hospital.”
“He is stable, we need to wait. Doctors are giving him the best care, all we can do is to pray for Parreira,” Zinho said.
Parreira also coached Brazil at the 2006 World Cup and won the 2004 Copa America and the 2005 Confederations Cup with the team. Brazil’s soccer federation says Parreria guided the national men’s team for 177 matches, with 124 wins, 39 draws and 14 losses.
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Parreira was also a member of the national team’s coaching staff at the 1970 World Cup, which Brazil also won, and was a coordinator for Luiz Felipe Scolari in the 2014 World Cup.
He also coached several other teams during World Cups, including Kuwait (1982), United Arab Emirates (1990), Saudi Arabia (1998), and South Africa (2010).
