Club World Cup manager claims he's slept with 1,000 women and was kicked out of tournament

Fluminense and Renato Gaucho were 90 minutes away from Sunday's Club World Cup final, but they lost 2-0 to Chelsea in the semi-final thanks to a stunning Joao Pedro brace. Renato has masterminded their rise, having only taken charge of the team this year, in what has been his sixth full-time stint at the club in just over 20 years.

Renato, 62, was a Brazil national team star in his playing days. He made 41 caps, scoring five times, and was described as the best footballer in his homeland during the 1980s. He was a flamboyant winger who embodied Joga Bonito.

But with masterful skill also came controversy. At the 1986 World Cup, the prime of Renato's career, he was sent home from the tournament before it even began. He was dropped by boss Tele Santana for disciplinary reasons when he and Leandro returned to the team hotel one night after curfew during a training camp.

"Tele Santana is an idiot. He ended up kicking out the three wingers he'd called up and left defeated. He's the only man I hate," he declared after Renato also left the camp.

As a coach, he won the Copa Libertadores and Copa do Brasil with Gremio. For many, Gaucho is considered an idol. He was nicknamed 'O Rei do Rio', which translates to 'King of the River', and has his own statue at Gremio after scoring both goals in their 1983 Intercontinental Cup win. The cup was held between European Cup and Copa Libertadores champions annually.

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Then 42 years later, at the Club World Cup against Inter Milan, he caused a huge brawl while kicking the ball away from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and his press conferences have gone viral on social media for wild analogies, comparing possession in football to an all-night date with a woman.

In 2023, upon his return to Fluminense for a fifth time, he declared himself a better player than Cristiano Ronaldo.

"Cristiano Ronaldo is a great player, but I was better," Gaucho insisted. "I would like to see him play for the teams I played for, often without pay for months, and be a champion like me."

His eyebrow-raising comments do not just extend to football, as Gaucho claimed to have slept with more than 1,000 women.

Explaining a conversation he had with Brazilian legend Pele, he said: "I was with Pele on a program. He told me he had more than a thousand goals. I replied: 'For every goal of yours, a woman of mine. And you're stuck at a thousand, I'm still going strong.'"

He also famously wore a shirt around the streets of his neighbourhood that read: "Free sex instructor class."