Adenor Leonardo Bacchi (born 25 May 1961), commonly known as Tite (), is a Brazilian professional football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the current head coach of Botafogo.
Tite played from 1978 to 1984 for Caxias, then a season for Esportivo de Bento Gonçalves and a season for Portuguesa. The three following seasons from 1986 to 1989 at Guarani were his most successful as player. At age 27, he ended his career due to successive knee injuries that caused him to lose mobility in one of his knees.
In 1990, Tite began coaching, leading Caxias to the 2000 Campeonato Gaúcho defeating Grêmio before moving to that club, with whom he won the same tournament and the Copa do Brasil in 2001. He stayed until 2003 when Tite trained other teams: São Caetano, Corinthians in 2004, Atlético Mineiro in 2005, Palmeiras in 2006, and Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates in 2007. From 2008 to 2009 he trained Internacional and they won the 2008 Copa Sudamericana and the 2009 Campeonato Gaúcho. At the end of 2010 he was announced as a coach of Al Wahda of the United Arab Emirates, but he left the club months later to return to Corinthians.
For Corinthians, Tite won the 2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A title, the 2012 Copa Libertadores title, the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup title against Chelsea, the 2013 Campeonato Paulista and the 2013 Recopa Sudamericana. On 14 November 2013, Tite announced that he was leaving the club. After a sabbatical period, Tite returned to Corinthians in 2015, where they won the 2015 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. He was manager of the Brazil national team from 2016 to 2022, winning the 2019 Copa América and reaching the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 2018 and 2022. He won the Campeonato Carioca with Flamengo in 2024 and the Campeonato Mineiro with Cruzeiro in 2026, thereby matching Telê Santana's feat of winning Brazil's four most important state leagues.
Early life Born in Caxias do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, to Genor and Ivone Bacchi, Adenor was the middle child, having a younger brother named Ademir and an elder sister named Beatriz. He was nicknamed "Ade" by his friends and family during his childhood. His father was also an amateur player and took him to Esporte Clube Juvenil (an amateur side in São Braz, a small community in his hometown), where both would play together in the reserve side.
After spending a short period at Juventude's youth sides, Ade left after having to find work. However, when playing for his school Colégio Henrique Emilio Meier in a local tournament, he was spotted by Luiz Felipe Scolari, who took him to the youth categories of Caxias. When presented by Felipão at Caxias, he was mistakenly called "Tite" (the name of another midfielder from the college team), but the nickname later remained.
Playing career After joining the youth sides of Caxias in 1978, Tite quickly started to feature for the under-20 side, and made his senior debut on 19 September 1979, in a 0–0 home draw against rivals Juventude. He would later establish himself as a regular starter for the side, and was transferred to Esportivo de Bento Gonçalves in 1983.
In 1984, Tite agreed to a six-month loan deal with Portuguesa, newly promoted to the Série A. There, he would score on a regular basis, netting six goals in just 22 appearances, but was not bought outright after a change of presidency at the club.
After not having his rights purchased by Lusa, Tite would move to Guarani also in 1984, but suffered a serious knee injury in his second match at the club, being sidelined for the remainder of the year. Back to action in 1985, he again suffered another knee injury and only managed to feature regularly in 1986. Marred by injuries and after undergoing seven surgeries, his period at the club ended in 1988, with just 40 matches and one goal.
In 1989, Tite returned to Esportivo in an attempt to overcome his injuries. However, he suffered another knee injury at the club, and had another lengthy recovery. After leaving Esportivo, Tite opened a sports shop in Bento Gonçalves, but was invited to play for in the 1990 Campeonato Gaúcho Segunda Divisão; knowing his physical limitations, he accepted the offer but also became the club's fitness coach, to help them reduce costs.
Coaching career Early career Midway through the 1990 Segundona, Guarany's manager Celso Freitas left the club, and Tite was appointed manager on his place. In 1991, after narrowly missing out promotion with Guarany, he was named in charge of Caxias, but left the club in 1992.
Tite joined Veranópolis in 1992, shortly after leaving Caxias, and led the side to a title in the 1993 Campeonato Gaúcho Segunda Divisão. On 3 January 1996, he was presented as manager of Ypiranga de Erechim, but was dismissed on 22 April after eleven matches.
Tite was in charge of Juventude for a brief period during the 1997 season, but was sacked during the year's Campeonato Gaúcho and replaced by Gílson Nunes. In 1998, he had short stints at Caxias and Veranópolis, and also worked as a sports commentator in the Rádio Gaúcha.
Early success Caxias In 1999, Tite was hired by Caxias, his first club as a professional footballer, leading the team through a surprising campaign in the 2000 Campeonato Gaúcho. Caxias were the champions of the Rio Grande do Sul state tournament, defeating Ronaldinho's Grêmio, winning the first match at the finals by 3–0 and drawing the second one with no goals. Tite's success on the Gauchão drew the attention of the Rio Grande do Sul press, as the Campeonato Gaúcho is rarely claimed by any team other than the "big two", Grêmio and Internacional.
Grêmio Signed by Grêmio in 2001, Tite led the Porto Alegre squad to another Gauchão title, defeating Juventude in the finals, winning by 3–2 and 3–1 and claiming the 2001 Campeonato Gaúcho for Grêmio.
In the same year, Grêmio won the 2001 Copa do Brasil under Tite's command, knocking out a respectable selection of teams throughout the brackets, such as Villa Nova on the first stage, Santa Cruz on the second, Fluminense on the round of 16, São Paulo on the quarter-finals, and Coritiba on the semifinals. Facing Corinthians on the finals, Tite's Grêmio drew the first leg of the finals at their home stadium, Estádio Olímpico Monumental, by 2–2. In front of a capacity crowd at Estádio do Morumbi, Grêmio defeated Marcelinho Carioca and Müller's Corinthians 3–1, claiming what would be Tite's first national title.
Tite would remain with the Tricolor Gaúcho until 2003, leaving the club after failing to lead the club to any substantial victory after the 2001 Copa do Brasil. Grêmio reached the third place at both the 2002 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A and the 2002 Copa Libertadores, but led Grêmio to a lackluster campaign during the year of 2003, which led to his departure from the club, exacerbated by his long spell as coach.
Leaving Rio Grande do Sul; Spells in São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and foreign clubs Tite was hired by São Caetano do Sul club Associação Desportiva São Caetano in 2003, with the goal of taking the azulão to the Copa Libertadores qualifying zone. Leading the team to a good campaign, São Caetano reached the fourth place in the league table, qualifying itself to the 2004 Copa Libertadores, being routed at the quarter-finals by Boca Juniors, after drawing both games and losing on penalty kicks. Tite, however, had been fired by the club and replaced with Muricy Ramalho before the 2004 Campeonato Paulista.
Tite also coached Corinthians (2004–2005), Atlético Mineiro (2005), Palmeiras (2006), and Al Ain (2007).
Internacional Tite was signed in 2008 to Internacional, despite the protests of the colorado supporters, who resented the presence of the former coach of their rivals, Grêmio, as the club manager.
Since then, Tite led the club to a sixth-place finish in the 2008 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, and won the 2008 Copa Sudamericana over Argentine club Estudiantes de La Plata, eliminating important Latin American clubs such as Universidad Católica, Boca Juniors and Chivas Guadalajara along the way.
Under Tite's command, Internacional also won the 2009 Campeonato Gaúcho over Grêmio and reached the 2009 Copa do Brasil finals, losing against Corinthians but knocking clubs such as Flamengo and Coritiba out of the competition. Internacional were the runners-up of the 2009 Recopa Sudamericana, losing against LDU Quito in the finals. In the same year, Internacional won the 2009 Suruga Bank Championship, defeating Japanese club Oita Trinita.
In the 2009 season, Internacional had a very good first half of the season, however its results greatly diminished during the second half, both in and out of the Beira-Rio stadium. Tite was then fired by the directors of the club on 5 October.
Brief stay at Al-Wahda and return to Corinthians Tite was signed by Emirati side Al Wahda. Tite's stay was brief, as he was approached by his former club, Corinthians, to replace coach Adilson Batista, who had left the team.
Campeonato Brasileiro 2010 Tite returned to Corinthians in a complicated moment, as the club's battle for the 2010 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A title had been derailed by a 10-game dry spell, which caused the sacking of previous coach Adilson Batista with eight matches still to be played in the season. In spite of not winning the tournament, losing the title at the final round of the season after a draw against Goiás from Goiânia, Corinthians had a solid campaign under Tite, remaining unbeaten through the final matches of the season, and finishing at a respectable third place, earning a berth at the 2011 Copa Libertadores first stage and cementing Tite's position.
Defeat in the Libertadores Cup After an uneventful debut at the 2011 Campeonato Paulista, defeating Portuguesa 2–0, the Corinthians squad prepared itself for its matches against Deportes Tolima for the preliminary stage of the Copa Libertadores. Drawing 0–0 at the Estádio do Pacaembu, Tite's squad raised suspicions with the fans and the press, as the preliminary stage of the continental competition was widely seen in Brazil as a preamble to the real competition, not being a proper part of it. With the moral obligation of winning the away leg of the match in Estadio Manuel Murillo Toro at Ibagué, Colombia, Corinthians was under intense scrutiny of their supporters and detractors. Playing poorly against the Colombian squad, barely finishing or generating goal scoring opportunities, Tolima defeated Corinthians 2–0, inciting fury among supporters, the mockery of rival fans, and a crisis in the São Paulo team, as Corinthians was the first Brazilian team not to advance in the "Pré-Libertadores", as the preliminary stage of the cup is known. Despite the wide demand of the fans to fire him, club president Andrés Sánchez reinforced the fact that Tite was still the coach.
Days later, 1994 and 2002 FIFA World Cup champion, all-time lead scorer at World Cup finals and two-time Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo was criticized for his poor performance, physical shape and lack of playing time for Corinthians throughout his spell with the team, announced his retirement from the sport. Fellow 2002 world cup champion Roberto Carlos departed the club for Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala alongside Jucilei, while Bruno César left for Benfica. The team, already without Elias and soon to be without Dentinho, who would leave the club for Shakhtar Donetsk, needed an overhaul. Tite enlisted the help of Portuguese international – and native Brazilian – Liédson, who returned to Brazil to join Corinthians.
2011 Campeonato Paulista