04 September 2004	Saturday	18 Rajab 1425

RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept 3: Three coaches lost their jobs in Brazil on Thursday after their teams were beaten in the Brazilian championship the previous night.

Joel Santana was fired by Internacional after a 3-1 defeat by Fluminense, Cricuma's Vagner Benazzi was dismissed after a 4-0 home defeat loss to Sao Caetano and Cuca left Sao Paulo following their 3-2 defeat by Coritiba.

A total of 29 coaches have now their jobs since the competition started at the end of April and, with 17 rounds of matches still to play before December, the total looks set to pass the half century mark.

Santana, who was sacked by Guarani just five games into the competition, become the third coach to leave Internacional since the start of the championship. He had been living under an almost constant threat of dismissal throughout his short reign, which lasted less than two months.

The Porto Alegre club, who are 15th in the table, named Muricy Ramalho, who himself left the club in January, as his replacement. Both Criciuma, who are 14th, and seventh-place Sao Paulo changed coaches for the first time in the competition.

Cuca had been wobbling ever since Sao Paulo fell at the semi-final stages of the Libertadores Cup, the South American equivalent of the Champions League, in June.

Wednesday's defeat, which followed a 3-3 home draw with lowly Guarani the previous weekend, was the final straw. -Reuters