Rio de Janeiro Dec 20 (IANS) Brazilian football giants Flamengo have played down speculation that their coach Reinaldo Rueda could leave to join Chile s national team.
The reigning Copa America champions have been without a coach since October when Juan Antonio Pizzi departed after the team s failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup reports Xinhua news agency.
"I only know what I have read in the press " Flamengo president Eduardo Bandeira de Mello said on Tuesday. "If it s true the Chilean football federation has good taste but I think Reinaldo is going to stay here."
"We haven t heard anything about the matter. I m sure Reinaldo is going to spend Christmas with his family and then come back to the club to have a successful 2018."
Rueda joined Flamengo in August and guided the Rio outfit to sixth in Brazil s 20-team Serie A standings earning them a berth in next year s Copa Libertadores South America s version of the UEFA Champions League.
He also led them to the final of the second-tier Copa Sudamerica which they lost to Argentina s Independiente.
The 60-year-old Colombian has previously coached the national teams of Colombia Ecuador and Honduras.
--IANS
sam/bg
