Paulo Autuori de Mello (born 25 August 1956), known as Paulo Autuori, is a Brazilian football executive and manager who is the current manager of Atlético Nacional. Early life A football fan since early childhood and a futsal player, Paulo Autuori had to give up his dream of becoming a professional footballer after contracting poliomyelitis in his teens. The disease left him with an atrophied leg and a permanent limp on his walk, which prevented him from playing. However, he did not give up his dream of being part of the footballing world, and decided to learn other aspects of the game, specifically becoming a manager. Autuori's first jobs were working as a physical coach for clubs such as Portuguesa (RJ), and Nacional in Portugal. At Nacional, Paulo Autuori was promoted to manager of the main team, and has enjoyed a successful coaching career ever since. Autuori graduated in Physical Education at Universidade Castelo Branco; and attended a Sport Admninstration course at PUC-RJ and a Soccer Coach Course at UERJ. Managing career Autuori's first major title was winning the 1995 Campeonato Brasileiro with Botafogo. In 1997, he won the Copa Libertadores with Cruzeiro. In 1998, he joined Flamengo, where he guided them to an 11th-placed finished in the Campeonato Brasileiro, and a group stage exit in the 1998 Copa Mercosur. The following year, he joined Sport Club Internacional, and then Santos, and shortly after that rejoined Cruzeiro for the 1999-2000 season. In 2000, he joined Vitoria Guimaraes. In 2003, he joined the Peru national team as manager to lead them through 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification and the 2004 Copa América. His first official match was on the first matchday of the World Cup Qualifiers, which finished in a 4–1 win against Paraguay. Peru finished ninth in the table, with 18 points. In April 2005, shortly after the 2–2 draw with Ecuador, he quit Peru, with the reasoning being that he declined to declare in front of a Congress, due to the Peru national team scandals. Shortly after quitting Peru, he was hired by São Paulo to replace Émerson Leão, who had just gone to Japan. In that year, he won the 2005 Copa Libertadores and the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship. Ten days after winning the Club World Championship, on 29 December 2005, he left São Paulo to sign with Japanese club Kashima Antlers, with the financial opportunity being