Rio de Janeiro, Oct 28 (IANS): Former Real Madrid and Brazil coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo has been sacked as coach of Sport Recife after a poor run of results.

Sport's football director, Gustavo Dubeux, confirmed the decision after the club's 0-2 loss at home to Colombia's Junior Barranquilla in the first leg of their Copa Sudamericana quarterfinal on Thursday, reports Xinhua news agency.

"I want to thank Vanderlei, who is an excellent coach," Dubeux told reporters. "It's difficult to find somebody more dedicated and he really did embrace the club's cause. Unfortunately the results in the second half of the year have not been at the level we'd hoped for."

After replacing Ney Franco on May 29, Luxemburgo led Sport to 11 wins, eight draws and 15 losses during his five months in charge.

Sport are currently 15th in Brazil's Serie A standings, two points above the relegation zone with eight matches remaining.

Luxemburgo, 65, is the most successful manager in the history of Brazil's Serie A with five league titles. He was Brazil's national team boss from 1998 to 2000 and had a 11-month spell in charge of Real Madrid in 2005.