Former Real Madrid manager hospitalised
The former Real Madrid coach is in the Medical Santa Thereza Hospital, in Palmas, capital of the state of Tocantins.
Vanderlei Luxemburgo, former Brazil national team coach and former Real Madrid manager, is in intensive care at a hospital in Palmas, Brazil, with a lung infection, his advisers reported on Friday.
The coach, currently without a team and increasingly focused on his emerging political career, began to feel unwell during the night and was transferred to Hospital Medical Santa Thereza in Palmas, the capital of the state of Tocantins.
Tests confirmed a “pulmonary infection” and, following medical advice, he was admitted to an intensive care unit, where he has begun antibiotic treatment, according to a statement sent to the media.
His most recent job as a manager came in 2023, when he took charge of Corinthians for the third time in his long career. However, he was dismissed later that same year after a poor run of results.
Luxemburgo’s prolific coaching career began in the early 1980s and lasted almost forty years, making him one of the most decorated Brazilian coaches.
The 73-year-old has managed some of Brazil’s biggest clubs, including Flamengo, Palmeiras, Santos, Cruzeiro, Atlético Mineiro, Grêmio, Fluminense and Vasco da Gama. He also led the Brazil national team from 1998 to 2000. In 2005, he coached Real Madrid’s “Galácticos” in one of his few spells outside Brazil.
This week his life took a new turn when he announced his candidacy for the Senate with the centre-right party Podemos in the state of Tocantins, where he currently resides.
In an interview with CNN Brasil in March 2025, Luxemburgo had already hinted at his entry into politics, saying he believed he “can do something for the population”, although he did not completely rule out a return to coaching.
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