At the end of the month, two Brazilian teams will compete in the final of the Copa Libertadores, the South American equivalent of the UEFA Champions League. One of the coaches will come from Portugal, the other from Argentina.

This has been the model of recent times. Brazil’s dominance of the competition began in 2019 with a breakthrough Flamengo team coached by big-haired Jorge Jesus, also from Portugal. Another Portuguese, Abel Ferreira, led Palmeiras to two Libertadores victories and two league titles – and perhaps a third later this year. Argentine Juan Pablo Vojvoda has done a sensational job with Fortaleza year after year, leading the unfashionable north-east club into contention for major titles.

But where are the Brazilian tacticians? It is already difficult enough to find a suitable candidate for the Brazilian national team. If things had gone according to the local FA’s plan, Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti would now be in charge. The 65-year-old man, however, rejected The Selecao moves forward and signed a new deal with the Spanish champions late last year.

But now a savior is in sight. Former Atletico Madrid (and briefly Chelsea) left-back Filipe Luis has made an excellent start to his coaching career. He took charge of Flamengo at the end of September and on Sunday he already had a title to celebrate. His team won the prestigious and highly lucrative domestic cup – the Copa do Brasil – beating Atletico Mineiro home and away to win the title 4-1 on aggregate.

This is very significant. Unlike their great South American rivals Argentina, top Brazilian players simply don’t pursue coaching careers. Fernando Gago, Martin Demichelis, Kily Gonzalez, Gabriel Heinze, Hernan Crespo, Martin Palermo – and even the seemingly unlikely Carlos Tevez – are just a few. Albiceleste legends who quickly moved from playing to coaching, bringing the experience gained in Europe to South American football.

Nothing similar has happened in Brazil. In the current top division, Gremio coach Renato Portaluppi was a formidable player in his day – good enough to play in the 1990 World Cup – but his playing career ended 25 years ago. International coach Roger Machado has picked up a few international caps at left-back. And there’s Rogerio Ceni from Bahia, who became the highest-scoring goalkeeper in football history during a glorious career with Sao Paulo, and who was a substitute in the Brazilian team winner of the 2002 World Cup. Perhaps to his great regret, he turned down the opportunity to play in Europe, and it is no coincidence that he has a French assistant.

But where are the others, the big names who accept the challenge of posting a team sheet on the locker room door? The simple answer is that they are scared by the working conditions of coaches in Brazil. They will have seen the experience of former Arsenal, Barcelona and Manchester City left-back Sylvinho, who enjoyed so much success with the Albanian national team. He briefly managed Corinthians, the club where he made his name as a player. But the local media treated him without respect, the busy schedule left him no time to train and senseless impatience led to his dismissal after some disappointing results.

No one has time to build a career. Passion can quickly turn into something more dangerous, with fans frequently attacking their own team at airports or invading training grounds to protest after defeats. With their financial future assured, great Brazilian players who might have considered becoming a coach have decided to devote their time to something else.

But not Filipe Luis, who, after his time in Europe, joined Flamengo for a successful spell as a player, before retiring at the end of last year. He immediately became youth team coach and won titles with Flamengo’s under-17s and under-20s before the opportunity arose to take charge of the senior side.

He has always been a brilliant player, who owes his success as much to his intelligence as to his natural talent. Eduardo Barroca was the coach of a Coritiba team that faced Flamengo a few years ago. His tactical changes allowed him to win the battle, until, as the game stopped for a throw-in, he saw Filipe Luis make the difference.

“He came up with our plan and organized his team, and from that point on there was nothing we could do,” Barroca recalled. “His reading of the game was perfect.”

Similar traits have been displayed in recent weeks, but this time from the touchline rather than the left-back position. He can change system and approach. Flamengo is an offensive-minded team; sometimes playing with a midfield four, and other times with a pair of wingers. Whatever the configuration, Filipe Luis sent his team to win the game. But in the second leg of the cup semi-final, defending a 1-0 lead, they had an attacker sent off prematurely. The coach’s response? Eliminate the other attacker and rely on a total and global defense.

This surprised those who saw Filipe Luis – with his Spanish back-up squad – as a sort of new generation Pep Guardiola. And it reminded everyone that he spent his best years at Atletico Madrid with Diego Simeone. Indeed, during his first press conference as senior coach, he wanted to express his debt to the combative Argentine.

“I admire him a lot,” he said of Simeone. “He is the one who changed my way of thinking. He is the one responsible for me being here today. I had never been interested in coaching, but after realizing that a coach could be capable to change someone’s life, that was something I wanted.”

There was much to admire in the way Filipe Luis led Flamengo to this cup triumph. With expansive and attacking football, they beat Atletico Mineiro 3-1 at home in the first leg. And they were never passive when defending their lead in the second leg. The more Atletico pushed men forward, the more Filipe Luis stiffened the defense – while ensuring he could hit them on the break with aggressive counter-attacks. Flamengo could have won the second leg by more than 1-0.

It was therefore a tactical triumph. But also a victory for the personal touch. A year ago, most of his players were his teammates. Filipe Luis seems to have managed this change with sensitivity and maturity. Was he showing too much faith in the star striker Gabriel “Gabi-but” Barbosaa club idol who was desperately struggling to get back into shape? A well-justified faith, because the 28-year-old scored two goals in the first leg. But in the second leg, when more force was needed on the counter-attack, Filipe Luis did not flinch from the big decision and replaced Gabriel at half-time.

We are only at the beginning, and there will be more difficult days to come. A 2-0 defeat to local rivals Fluminense, accompanied by hysterical repercussions in the press, has already given Filipe Luis a taste of what to expect if something goes wrong. But he’s made a very impressive start – and suddenly Brazil’s coaching crisis doesn’t seem so bad.