Atlético Ottawa announced Friday that Gustavo Leal has been named the fourth head coach in club history, effective immediately on a deal through 2027 with an option for 2028.
The 40-year-old from Petrópolis, Brazil will be in the technical area for Atleti's match against Inter Toronto on Friday, taking charge of his first Canadian Premier League game at TD Place.
Leal comes to Ottawa from Mexico, where he was most recently head coach of second-division side Tlaxcala. His previous managerial roles include Chilean side Everton Viña del Mar, Slovakian team Šamorín, and Ottawa's sister club Atlético de San Luis in Mexico.
He managed a number of clubs in his native Brazil, including Imperial, Mesquita and Quissamã. Leal also took charge of the U-20 side of Brazilian giants Fluminense in 2019.
Perhaps Leal's most notable career achievement, however, was his role with the Brazilian U-23 national team that competed at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Leal was an assistant coach for a team featuring the likes of Dani Alves, Bruno Guimarães, Matheus Cunha and Gabriel Martinelli, as they went on to win a gold medal.
With that in mind, Leal says that helping develop talent for the future is one of his greatest priorities in football, which he will bring to Ottawa.
"One important point to me is the development of players," he said. "I think this is my target, this is my responsibility in every team that I worked with before. I worked with a lot of players that are playing in the World Cup, for example."
Leal has been familiar with Atlético Ottawa since 2023, when he was at San Luis and the CPL side played them in a preseason friendly.
Since then, he has kept a keen eye on the club, and did not hesitate when invited to join the organization.
As Leal takes over, he hopes to get to work quickly with Atleti to set them up for success in the second half of the season. He praised Diego Mejía's previous work with the players, as well as what interim coach Drew Beckie and the rest of the staff have done in the past month and a half to keep the team in a good position.
They remain third in the CPL table, and Leal hopes to push higher and return to the CPL Final to defend their championship from last year.
As for how this Atleti team will look on the pitch? Leal made it clear that he wants to entertain with attack-minded football.
"To me, football is more than a game," he said. "It's about passion, it's about life, it's about dreams. I want that the supporters, all match when we are playing, they feel the same feelings as us — this good vibe, the good feelings that football can give you. We need to be a team that will play in the offensive side of the pitch all the time, searching for a goal all the time."
Leal will make his CPL touchline debut on Friday night, as Atlético Ottawa host Inter Toronto.
