Brazil’s Sao Paulo hire Argentine Crespo as coach

Argentine Hernan Crespo will be the new coach of Sao Paulo, the Brazilian club announced on Friday.

The 45-year-old’s appointment comes just three weeks after he led modest Argentine side Defensa y Justicia to the Copa Sudamericana title.

The former striker, a Premier League winner with Chelsea and three-time Serie A champion with Inter Milan, has signed a two-year contract.

“He has a winning history, he was a great athlete and is a very promising coach,” said Sao Paulo president Julio Casares.

“We have a commander with a winning mentality,” he added.

Crespo replaces Brazilian Fernando Diniz, who was fired after a string of poor results that dropped Sao Paulo off the top of the Brazilian championship.

They have not won in seven league matches, losing four, including a 5-1 home reverse to front-runners Internacional.

Sao Paulo are fourth, seven points behind with four matches remaining, but need to maintain that position to qualify automatically for the Copa Libertadores group stage.

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They have a tough run-in, including matches against Flamengo, who are fighting for the title, and two sides — Gremio and Palmeiras — attempting to dislodge them from the top four.

Crespo made his name as a striker for River Plate in his homeland, where he won the Copa Libertadores in 1996 and two Argentine titles.