“For me it was a surprise. Yesterday (June 22) the players heard he was leaving for the first time after the game,” said striker Ney Fabiano, “[the players] are all sad.”
The 39-year-old Brazilian, who first took over the reigns of the club just one year ago, told The Phuket News that plans for his leaving the team were set in motion just before last week's (June 15) match at Ayutthaya.
"[Chairman Pamuke Atchariyachai and I] made a deal with the president [Pariyawut Atchariyachai] since the Ayutthaya game that I would fulfill the things they asked me to do here,” he said.
Though the team have not made an official announcement on who will replace him, Teco said his immediate focus was on his family and newborn baby. After that, he plans to get back into football.
“It's football and you never know. I worked in many places, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Italy. I like Thailand, the people of Thailand are very nice. I like to work with players here. So you never know if I can keep working in Thailand or another place.”
When he was named coach back in August 2013, following the sudden departure of coach Paniphol ‘Tuu’ Kerdyaem, the team was in danger of being relegated and hovering around the bottom of the league. He boldly told supporters of his plans to have the team promoted to the Thai Premier League.
Teco led Phuket FC to a 2-0 win over Nakhon Pathom United in his first match and never looked back, helping keep the team afloat in Yamaha League-1. Under Teco, Phuket FC won 11 matches, tied 8, and lost 16 (including Toyota League Cup, League-1, and FA Cup play), with victories over TPL-teams Police United and Sisaket FC.
The Brazilian navigated the team through a complete identity change (new kits, colours, logo, nickname, etc.) and helped bring in several former players he had coached, including current leading scorer and team captain Wasan Natasan.
“I think for me it was very hard in the beginning in 2013 when I arrived. It was not professional at all. Many players did not play at all, many players were injured all the time. We started to be better in 2014. We rebulit the team here, became more professional team, became better and was not afraid to play games at home,” he said, referring to the team's solid eight-game unbeaten-streak at Surakul Stadium.
“I wish all the best for the fans here, I wish all the best for Phuket,” Teco said.