43 h. ago
Iconic Brazilian coach Dilma Mendes: ‘Police would arrest me for playing football’
The 59-year-old developed the career of Formiga and now the pair are dreaming big for Brazil women’s seven-a-side teamDilma Mendes’s contribution to football has been significant. She is the coach responsible for identifying and honing the talent of Formiga, one of Brazil’s most emblematic female footballers. Mendes trained the player from the age of nine until her professional career began at 16. Now, more than 30 years later, they are working together again, to bring the Football 7 World Championship title to Brazil. The international tournament takes place in Curitiba, in the south of Brazil, from 21-24 August.Mendes, twice voted the best women’s seven-a-side coach in the world, has called up the 47-year-old Formiga to lead the fight for a second world title, and Formiga’s wife, the former player Érica de Jesus, will be assistant coach. Mendes’s career with the national seven-a-side outfit began in 2019, when she was hired to develop a new team, and she searched all corners of Br...
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