Mirandinha: Toon twice tried to tempt me back
442 Staff - Wednesday 04 March 2009, 14:37
English football’s first Brazilian, Mirandinha came to Newcastle 22 years ago – and has now revealed that the Magpies tried to re-sign him not once, but twice.
Speaking exclusively to FourFourTwo, Mirandinha says that Kevin Keegan tried to tempt him back to Tyneside during his first spell as Magpies manager – and that Bobby Robson offered him a coaching job.
Turning up in Toon two decades before Robinho’s high-profile move to Manchester, Mirandinha cost Newcastle £575,000 – and repaid them with goals against Liverpool and Manchester United.
“When I look back at my career, Newcastle was my best experience,” the Brazilian reveals in this month’s FourFourTwo – a special South America issue.
“The fans even created a song for me: ‘We’ve got Mirandinha, he’s not from Argentina, he’s from Brazil, he’s f*cking brill’!”
Sadly for Mirandinha, new boss Jim Smith wasn’t quite so enamoured and sent him back to Brazil – but a change of guard brought a change of heart.
“When Sir John Hall took over and brought in Kevin Keegan, I had the opportunity to return,” he reveals. “And then I made the biggest mistake of my life: I chose to stay in Brazil. How I regret that decision…”
Since then, Mirandinha has coached all over the world – but he knows where he’d like to end up.
“I have coached teams in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, but my dream is to return to Newcastle.
“When Bobby Robson was there, we almost closed a deal – I was going to be one of the youth team coaches.
“I have a good relationship with Dennis Wise, so I’m working as a scout for Newcastle. I’m confident that in the future we’ll work something out.”
To read the whole story of What Happened Next to Mirandinha, see the April edition of FourFourTwo – out now.
A South America special, it features the 10 best new wonderkids from that continent, including exclusive interviews with Manchester United’s twins Fabio and Rafael da Silva plus Sao Paolo’s £100m-rated “new Kaka” Hernanes.
There are also interviews with Zico and Socrates; a look at the Boca Juniors academy responsible for Tevez, Burdisso, Gago, Banega et
al; and the Lord of the Rings star so dedicated to Argentine outfit San
Lorenzo that he bunked off a film set to see them play.
NEWCASTLE FANS! Check FourFourTwo.com’s ever-expanding interviews archive for more stuff to read:
Web Exclusives Les Ferdinand
Q&A Joey Barton
One on One Michael Owen, Kevin Keegan, Les Ferdinand, Faustino Asprilla
Boy's A Bit Special Steven Taylor, Danny Guthrie
Ask A Silly Question John Barnes
Perfect XI Ruud Gullit
What Happened Next? Tony Cunningham
My Secret Vice Nolberto Solano, Sam Allardyce
Plus! Rate Newcastle players (and others) on Talentspotter