Brazil's soccer club Fluminense fires Cuca as coach

RIO DE JANEIRO, April 19 (Xinhua) -- In a surprise move, the head administration at the Fluminense soccer club of Brazil decided to fire head coach Cuca on Monday.

Club president Roberto Horcades already demonstrated his interest in hiring former Sao Paulo coach Muricy Ramalho.

The situation at Fluminense appeared to be calm. The team recently beat Portuguesa by 1-0 on April 14 and is close to advancing to the quarterfinals of the Brazilian Cup.

However, the club's administration decided to change direction before entering the 2010 Brazilian Championship.

"Cuca was responsible for the team's amazing turnaround at the end of last year, saving Fluminense's status as a first division team. Unfortunately, he did not have much success in the state tournament," said the club's vice president Alcides Antunes.

Cuca simply stated that his heart is heavy. The coach appeared to have his job secured after receiving full support from his athletes. After the win against Portuguesa, the author of the game 's only goal, Fred, pledged his support for Cuca and stated that he wants to coach to continue on board.

Nevertheless, the club decided to stir things up within the coaching staff. Apart from Cuca, his assistant coaches Cuquinha and Eudes Pedro were also released. The interim head coach for the team's return leg match against Portuguesa on April 22 will be the club's junior coach, Mario Marques. The team needs only to tie in order to advance to the next round of the Brazilian Cup.