Tomás Tengarrinha, a 34-year-old who most recently coached SF Damaiense in the highest women’s league in Portugal, has been hired as Brooklyn FC’s head coach ahead of its second season within the USL Super League, The Post has learned.
After going 10-9-9 in the course of the league’s inaugural campaign, Brooklyn fired Jessica Silva, and now Tengarrinha — possessing a résumé that also features guiding SC Braga to a third-place finish in 2023-24 — will inherit the group as his unusual path takes him to the U.S. for the primary time.
It was an “easy decision” to simply accept the job, Tengarrinha told The Post, due to city (“something special”), the league (still “recent,” establishing its place alongside the NWSL) and the club (one which has “ambition”).
“I might say I’m not a typical coach because I had plenty of professions before this one,” Tengarrinha said. “I did plenty of things probably that helped me to be more authentic and more honest with the players because I actually have a possibility to see plenty of various things. … From the start, seven or eight years ago, I’ve had success in each club, so I’m a really lucky person.”
Tengarrinha previously had opportunities to take his profession abroad, but he didn’t feel prefer it was the suitable time.
At that time, his coaching journey still was in its early stages. For around six or seven years, up until his mid-20s, Tengarrinha worked a wide range of different jobs that weren’t connected to the game he played on the amateur level and watched members of the family — his late cousin and his father — play professionally.
He dabbled in fashion as a model. He helped his parents run a restaurant. He worked at a travel agency, too.
Eventually, his ex-girlfriend asked why he hadn’t tried coaching since he felt he possessed the qualities and the will to grow to be one, so Tengarrinha began with an internship, eventually became a paid coach and, at one point, shifted from men’s soccer to women’s soccer because he thought it “was the longer term” — despite the fact that everybody laughed on the time, he said.
“And I said, ‘Mmm, you may be fallacious,’ ” Tengarrinha recalled. “And I’m here.”
Still, Tengarrinha never could have dreamed of this happening. But he’ll get a likelihood at overseeing a Brooklyn team he wants to manage the sport; to dominate with the ball and mix that with strong play defensively; to mesh with a mode shaped not only by his years on the pitch but additionally his years away from the sport.
“The modeling gave me the chance to know plenty of different cultures and different individuals and different mindsets,” Tengarrinha said. “And that made me just a little bit more mature. And yeah, that sort of experiences I feel like today help me so much — not about understanding the sport but additionally understanding people.
“And we are able to always remember we’re coping with people.”
Tomás Tengarrinha, a 34-year-old who most recently coached SF Damaiense in the highest women’s league in Portugal, has been hired as Brooklyn FC’s head coach ahead of its second season within the USL Super League, The Post has learned.
After going 10-9-9 in the course of the league’s inaugural campaign, Brooklyn fired Jessica Silva, and now Tengarrinha — possessing a résumé that also features guiding SC Braga to a third-place finish in 2023-24 — will inherit the group as his unusual path takes him to the U.S. for the primary time.
It was an “easy decision” to simply accept the job, Tengarrinha told The Post, due to city (“something special”), the league (still “recent,” establishing its place alongside the NWSL) and the club (one which has “ambition”).
“I might say I’m not a typical coach because I had plenty of professions before this one,” Tengarrinha said. “I did plenty of things probably that helped me to be more authentic and more honest with the players because I actually have a possibility to see plenty of various things. … From the start, seven or eight years ago, I’ve had success in each club, so I’m a really lucky person.”
Tengarrinha previously had opportunities to take his profession abroad, but he didn’t feel prefer it was the suitable time.
At that time, his coaching journey still was in its early stages. For around six or seven years, up until his mid-20s, Tengarrinha worked a wide range of different jobs that weren’t connected to the game he played on the amateur level and watched members of the family — his late cousin and his father — play professionally.
He dabbled in fashion as a model. He helped his parents run a restaurant. He worked at a travel agency, too.
Eventually, his ex-girlfriend asked why he hadn’t tried coaching since he felt he possessed the qualities and the will to grow to be one, so Tengarrinha began with an internship, eventually became a paid coach and, at one point, shifted from men’s soccer to women’s soccer because he thought it “was the longer term” — despite the fact that everybody laughed on the time, he said.
“And I said, ‘Mmm, you may be fallacious,’ ” Tengarrinha recalled. “And I’m here.”
Still, Tengarrinha never could have dreamed of this happening. But he’ll get a likelihood at overseeing a Brooklyn team he wants to manage the sport; to dominate with the ball and mix that with strong play defensively; to mesh with a mode shaped not only by his years on the pitch but additionally his years away from the sport.
“The modeling gave me the chance to know plenty of different cultures and different individuals and different mindsets,” Tengarrinha said. “And that made me just a little bit more mature. And yeah, that sort of experiences I feel like today help me so much — not about understanding the sport but additionally understanding people.
“And we are able to always remember we’re coping with people.”
