Internacional sack Paulo Pezzolano after 262 days in charge

Internacional have sacked Paulo Pezzolano after 262 days in charge. The club made the decision official late on Sunday, two days after a 0-1 home...

Correction: the venue of the São Paulo match is not given in the reports, so I have left it out. Here is the article.

Internacional have sacked Paulo Pezzolano after 262 days in charge. The club made the decision official late on Sunday, a day after a 0-1 defeat by São Paulo in round 28 of the Brasileirão.

Assistant Pablo Fernández will take training in the coming days while the board looks for a successor. The search falls within the FIFA international break. Internacional's next fixture is at home to Corinthians at Beira-Rio on 7 October.

The 43-year-old Uruguayan, previously of Valladolid and Watford, was announced on 18 December 2025. He leaves with 18 wins, 12 draws and 16 defeats from 46 matches, a 47.8% success rate. By the Yahoo Sports count, Inter have won only twice in 14 games since the World Cup. His contract ran until December.

The pressure had built since the season opened with defeat by Grêmio in the Campeonato Gaúcho final. The same opponents knocked Inter out of the Copa do Brasil in the quarter-finals. The board backed him after that exit, and a win over Chapecoense bought him time, but the São Paulo result ended it.

Inter are 18th with 28 points, inside the relegation zone. By the reports' figures they are three points behind Vasco in 16th, and the international break means the table will not move for them before 7 October.

This may mean the new coach has only a fortnight to work with the squad before a fixture against a direct rival in the bottom half. The task is to close a three-point gap, not to rebuild a season.