Renato Portaluppi

Renato Portaluppi (born 9 September 1962), known as Renato Gaúcho, is a Brazilian professional football coach and former player who is currently in charge of Grêmio.

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, and mainly being known for "Rei Do Rio" (King of Rio de Janeiro).

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 win his first and only world title.

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 got in the hotel after the scheduled time.

Renato was remembered for being a loyal friend when it happened because he could jump through the hotel wall and get in unnoticed.

But when his friend couldn't, he walked through the main door with him.

Leandro was an essential and irreplaceable player, so he still got called for the finals, and Renato didn't. But to return the loyalty to Renato, Leandro said he wouldn't play if Renato weren't accepted.

Renato wasn't recalled, and then Leandro made his word true and quit the selection.

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.

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 only one disappointing season, in time to win one more trophy, the Copa do Brasil in 1990.

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 of all time, Romário (Flamengo), Túlio Maravilha (Botafogo), Valdir Bigode (Vasco).

Born in Guaporé, Rio Grande do Sul, Renato started his career in Esportivo in Bento Gonçalves where he grew up.

Renato's career in Fluminense is generally associated with his belly goal in the Campeonato Carioca of 1995, against Flamengo, in the year when Flamengo celebrated 100 years.

With his goal, he was crowned the King of Rio that 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 he played 210 games, scoring 64 goals in his four passage at the club.

Renato appeared 41 times for the Brazil national team, scoring five goals.

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.

Between 2 September 2002 and 11 July 2003, and between 1 October 2003 and 28 December 2003, Renato was coach of Fluminense.

Renato returned for a third stint, having already coached Fluminense twice (in 2002–2003 and again in 2007–2008).

From July 2005 to April 2007, Renato was Vasco da Gama's coach.

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.

On 18 September 2008, he was hired as Vasco's manager.

He left after the club's relegation, in December.

Fluminense reappointed Renato on 21 July 2009 to replace Carlos Alberto Parreira.

On 1 September 2009, Fluminense dismissed him following a series of poor results.

On 13 December 2009, Renato was named manager of Bahia for the 2010 season, in the place of Paulo Bonamigo.

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 on the Round of 16, losing to Chilean club Universidad Católica.