Fluminense has announced the dismissal of head coach Fernando Diniz, who led the team to a Copa Libertadores victory last year, after a 0-1 loss to Flamengo left the club at the bottom of the Brazilian league standings.

"Diniz leaves behind a legacy not only of some of the most important titles in the club's history," but also "valuable lessons about his approach to football and a more humanistic vision of the sport," Fluminense stated in a note confirming his departure.

Diniz had been at the helm of Fluminense since April 2022, with his best period being in 2023 when the Rio de Janeiro club won the Copa Libertadores for the first time in its history.

This past February, he added the Recopa Sudamericana title, contested against Ecuador's Liga Deportiva Universitaria (LDU), but since then, the team has been in freefall and has not regained its form.

This Sunday, the final straw came with a 0-1 defeat in the "Fla-Flu" derby, one of the fiercest rivalries in Rio de Janeiro and all of Brazil.

This latest setback left Fluminense at the bottom of the Campeonato Brasileiro standings, with a mere six points from the first eleven rounds, while confirming Flamengo in the top position.

During his time at Fluminense, Diniz also alternated his work with the Brazilian national team, serving as head coach from July of last year until this past January.

Diniz led Brazil in six World Cup qualifying matches, with a record of three losses (to Uruguay, Colombia, and Argentina), one draw (against Venezuela), and two wins (against Bolivia and Peru), marking one of the worst phases in the history of the Seleção.

He was replaced in the national team by Dorival Júnior, who had been the head coach of São Paulo and is now facing his first major challenge with the national team in the ongoing Copa América, being held in the United States.