Former Argentina captain's coaching stint in Brazil cut short...
Passarella fired by Corinthians
Former Argentina captain and coach Daniel Passarella was fired by Corinthians after only 15 matches in charge of the Brazilian club.
He was the second coach to lose his job at the newly-rich club since they signed a controversial multi-million dollar partnership with London-based Media Sports Investments at the end of last year.
"He made some mistakes, his work didn't achieve what we hoped and we reached this conclusion," Corinthians vice-president Andres Sanchez told reporters.
Despite a stream of expensive signings, headed by $18 million Argentine forward Carlos Tevez, Corinthians have already been knocked out of the Copa Brasil and have failed to win any of their first three matches in the Brazilian championship.
Passarella at one stage enjoyed an 11-match unbeaten run at the club, mainly in the season-opening Paulista championship, but two humiliating losses in the space of five days made his position untenable.
Last week, Corinthians were dumped out of the Copa Brasil after throwing away a 2-0 first leg lead away to Figueirense and then losing on penalties.
The defeat cut off the first, and quickest route, to next year's South American Libertadores Cup, for which the Copa Brasil winners qualify.
On Sunday, they were thumped 5-1 by rivals Sao Paulo in a derby, leaving them with one point from their first three games in the Brazilian championship.
Passarella also angered some directors by effectively firing goalkeeper Fabio Costa last week while rumours of internal squabbling among the players were heightened by a training ground fistfight involving Tevez and defender Marquinhos 10 days ago.
During Sunday's match, one angry Corinthians fan ran onto the pitch and attempted to attack Passarella. The only support for the beleaguered Argentine came from Sao Paulo fans who chanted "Stay, Passarella."