The much-travelled 63-year-old was dismissed after Flamengo's third defeat from four games on the weekend.
Flamengo, Brazil's most popular club, confirmed the sacking of coach Joel Santana after their 1-0 defeat to Cruzeiro in Belo Horizonte on Sunday. The result dropped Flamengo down to ninth position of the Brazilian championship, with 15 points from 11 games, 13 points less than league leaders Atletico Mineiro.

"The decision was taken by the Flamengo board on Monday morning," reported the official website of the Carioca club.

Santana had replaced Vanderlei Luxemburgo as the coach of the club in February but was dismissed due to a series of negative results. In 31 games as the coach of Flamengo, the coach obtained 17 victories, 5 draws and 9 losses.

However, the defeat to Cruzeiro was Flamengo's third in their last four Brazilian league games, a disappointing statistic considering Flamengo's big-team status.

Santana, who has coached Flamengo during five separate stints, was blamed for the club's poor showing in the Copa Libertadores, where they were surprisingly eliminated in the group stage.

Since the departure of playmaker Ronaldinho, the coach had asked the club board for an immediate replacement, but his demands were never met, as despite much hype, Flamengo failed to sign both Diego and Juan Roman Riquelme.

According to reports Santana's successor could be Dorival Junior, who last Friday was sacked by Internacional of Porto Alegre.