Carlos Alberto Parreira leaves hospital after three months battling lung infection

Three months confined to a hospital room fighting a lung infection, and coming out of it with the same cool head that once lifted a World Cup trophy. That's the best way to sum up what Carlos Alberto Parreira just went through, the coach who gave Brazil its fourth world title in 1994.

Samaritano Barra Hospital in Rio de Janeiro confirmed that Parreira has been discharged and will continue his treatment at home. That's no small detail given what he's been through: the coach, now 83 years old, spent three months hospitalized with a serious lung infection, a complication that arose during his treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma, which he was diagnosed with in 2023.

Thinking of Parreira means thinking directly of that Brazilian side from the mid-1990s, the one with Romario and Bebeto up front, the one that ended a 24-year drought without a world title for Brazil by beating Italy on penalties in the 1994 final, played in the United States. But reducing his career to that World Cup would be selling him short.

He returned to coach the Canarinha at the 2006 World Cup, and in between he treated himself to winning the 2004 Copa America and the 2005 Confederations Cup, always in charge of Brazil. His resume, though, goes well beyond the yellow shirt: few coaches in history can say they managed at five different World Cups with five different national teams. Parreira did it with Kuwait in 1982, the United Arab Emirates in 1990, Saudi Arabia in 1998 and South Africa in 2010, on top of his two stints with Brazil.

That globetrotting profile, capable of adapting to players and cultures so different from one another, made him a reference point in Brazilian soccer long after he hung up his whistle on the sidelines. Today, the news of his release from the hospital comes as a relief to those who closely followed his health during these difficult months.

Hodgkin lymphoma is a type of cancer that affects the lymphatic system and, depending on the case, can be treated with different therapies that sometimes weaken a patient's defenses and leave them more exposed to infections, as appears to have happened with Parreira. Now, his recovery will continue at home, with proper medical support and, surely, with the affection of an entire country that still remembers that July afternoon in Pasadena.