Argentina’s Crespo made Brazil’s Sao Paulo coach

Argentine Hernan Crespo will be the new manager of the Brazilian club Sao Paulo, the club announced on Friday.

The appointment comes just three weeks after he led modest Argentine side Defensa y Justicia to the Copa Sudamericana title.

The former striker, a Premier League winner with Chelsea and three-time Serie A champion with Inter Milan, has signed a two-year contract.

Sao Paulo president Julio Casares said, “He has a winning history, he was a great athlete and is a very promising coach. We have a commander with a winning mentality.”

Crespo replaces Brazilian Fernando Diniz, who was fired after a string of poor results that dropped Sao Paulo off the top of the Brazilian championship.

They have not won in seven league matches, losing four, including a 5-1 home reverse to front-runners Internacional.

Sao Paulo are fourth, seven points behind with four matches remaining, but need to maintain that position to qualify automatically for the Copa Libertadores group stage.