Renato Gaúcho

Renato Portaluppi, known as Renato Gaúcho or just Renato, is a Brazilian professional football coach and former player.
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 national Association football|football team|Brazil], and mainly being known for "Rei Do Rio". 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 at the time, Romário, Túlio Maravilha, Valdir Bigode.

IG renatogaucho

Playing career

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 87th minute of the final of the 1995 Campeonato Carioca 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 returned to the hotel where the team was staying past curfew. Renato was remembered for being a loyal friend when it happened because he could jump over the hotel wall and get in unnoticed, but Leandro could not, so he walked through the main door with him. Leandro was a key player on the squad, so he still got called up for the finals, but not Renato. In return for Renato's gesture of friendship and out of a sense of camaraderie, Leandro said he would not play if Renato were not accepted back. Santana would not budge and reinstate Renato, so Leandro made good on his word and left the squad. 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.
Renato would go on to be called by Sebastião Lazaroni for the Brazil squad that won the 1989 Copa América, and later for the 1990 FIFA World Cup. He also played in the 1991 Copa América, under Paulo Roberto Falcão.

Managerial career

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 [Club de Regatas CR Vasco da Gama|Vasco da Gama|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.

Fourth spell at Fluminense

Fluminense reappointed Renato on 21 July 2009 to replace Carlos Alberto Parreira. Renato returned for a fourth stint, having already coached Fluminense twice. 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.

Fifth 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, Botafogo, Barcelona de Guayaquil. In the last year that the final was played in the two teams' stadium, 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 10 July 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 29 September, he helped his side to reach the 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 29 November 2021.

Fourth spell at Grêmio

On 1 September 2022, Renato returned to Grêmio, again replacing sacked Roger Machado. He won two more Campeonato Gaúcho during his fourth spell, being the coach for five of the team's historical seven-year title streak through 2018 to 2024. With the 2024 title, he also became the coach with the most titles in Grêmio's history, alongside Oswaldo Rolla.
On 9 December 2024, Grêmio announced Renato's departure, as his contract would not be renewed.

Sixth spell at Fluminense

On 3 April 2025, Renato was appointed head coach of Fluminense, signing a contract until the end of the year; it was his seventh coaching spell at the club, the sixth as an official head coach. On 23 September 2025, he resigned after being eliminated by Lanús in the Copa Sudamericana; heavily criticized by the supporters after the substitutions during the second half of the game, he announced his departure in the post-match conference, and the club confirmed his resignation hours later.

Career statistics

International

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	1 September 1983	Estádio Serra Dourada, Goiânia, Brazil		1–0	5–0	1983 Copa América
2	27 March 1991	José Amalfitani Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina		1–0	3–3	Friendly
3	19 July 1991	Estadio Nacional, Santiago, Chile		1–0	2–0	1991 Copa América
4	31 July 1992	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States		2–0	5–0	1992 Amistad Cup
5	23 September 1992	Estádio Municipal Rubens Felippe, Paranavaí, Brazil		4–2	4–2	Friendly