Yahoo Reports on Rivaldo and Luxemburgo situations:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Brazilian champions Cruzeiro fire coach Luxemburgo
By Brian Homewood
RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Cruzeiro fired coach Vanderley Luxemburgo on Friday, less than three months after he led the team to their first Brazilian championship title.
Cruzeiro said on their website that the former Brazil coach, who last month signed World Cup striker Rivaldo, had been dismissed after discussions with the directors.
The club added Luxemburgo had offered his resignation on Friday morning, then changed his mind.
"The directors didn't accept (the U-turn) and fired him," said Cruzeiro in a statement, quoting vice-president Zeze Perella as saying: "When you start to talk about separation, it becomes inevitable."
Luxemburgo led Cruzeiro to a treble last year which also included the Copa Brasil and Mineiro (Minas Gerais state) championship.
"I respect their position. It's a great club, I'm happy to have worked here and helped them win the Triple Crown," he told reporters.
Cruzeiro have made an indifferent start to the season, with Rivaldo being repeatedly jeered for his lack-lustre performances. Perella this week accused players of washing their dirty linen in public.
Luxemburgo's dismissal, which has wrecked his hopes of winning the South American Libertadores Cup for the first time, is the latest twist in the turbulent career of the brilliant but controversial coach.
Renowned for wearing designer suits and expensive jewellery on the touchline, he was regarded as the best coach of his generation when he took over Brazil's national team after the 1998 World Cup.
LUXEMBURGO GRILLED
Two years later, he was sacked after a reign of poor results and performances during which he continually chopped and changed players.
At the same time, Luxemburgo was hit by a series of allegations from a former business associate that he had taken commissions on the transfer of players earlier in his coaching career.
Luxemburgo denied the allegations but later became one of the central figures in a congressional investigation into suspected mismanagement and corruption in Brazilian football.
Congressmen grilled him over his financial wheelings and dealings in a session broadcast live on cable television.
They told him his earnings were incompatible with his profession and said his explanations about the sources of his income were unsatisfactory.
Luxemburgo later admitted to federal police that he had used a false birth certificate throughout his career, cutting three years off his age.
He put his career back on the rails after joining Cruzeiro in July 2002.
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Rivaldo leaves Cruzeiro after coach fired
By Brian Homewood
RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Brazilian World Cup winner Rivaldo walked out on Cruzeiro on Saturday after less than two months at the club in solidarity with coach Vanderley Luxemburgo who was fired the day before.
"I took the decision overnight," he told reporters in a media conference broadcast on Brazilian television. "I haven't got (another) club, nothing like that. At the moment, I'm being faithful to the coach who brought me here."
Rivaldo failed to settle at the Brazilian champions, who he joined after spending most of the previous 18 months warming the substitutes' bench at Italy's AC Milan.
He played only 10 competitive games for Cruzeiro, who have made an indifferent start to the season, and scored only two goals, both in last weekend's 7-1 win over Mamore.
He was frequently jeered by the Cruzeiro supporters.
Cruzeiro spokesman Valdir Barbosa said the club had accepted Rivaldo's decision even though he had signed a one-year contract when he joined on January 5.
But the episode raises doubts about the future of the 31-year-old former Barcelona, PSV Eindhoven and Deportivo Coruna forward, who has barely played club football since helping Brazil win the World Cup in 2002.
Rivaldo joined Milan immediately after the tournament in Japan and South Korea but barely got a look in and described his spell there as the worst of his career.
He also stands to lose his place in the Brazil team, which he has kept until now despite his lack of club football.
RIVALDO'S MENTOR
Luxemburgo, Rivaldo's mentor earlier in his career, was fired on Friday, barely three months after leading the Belo Horizonte-based club to their first Brazilian championship.
The controversial former Brazil coach, who had been in charge since mid-2002, offered his resignation on Friday morning, changed his mind in the afternoon but was fired when the directors refused to allow him to reconsider.
Rivaldo played under Luxemburgo at Palmeiras in the mid-1990s and in the Brazil team that won the Copa America in 1999.
"I didn't sleep well after Luxemburgo's sacking. When he left, I preferred to leave as well," said Rivaldo. "It was my decision because I consider Luxemburgo to be a special person."
Asked about his poor form since joining the club, Rivaldo said: "A player should be judged at the end of the competition and not at the start, after just a few games. I was happy here, getting better game by game."
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