Corinthians entered the field this Sunday (14) with the minimum advantage of having beaten Cruzeiro 1-0 in the first match of the semi-finals of the Brazilian Cup. The São Paulo team lost at home 2-1, but managed to advance on penalties. After the duel, the coach Dorival Junior acknowledged that a change in strategy was necessary at halftime, in addition to standing up for his coaching staff and goading the press that covers the sport in Brazil.
Dorival arrived at Corinthians in April this year and experienced one of the most significant political and financial crises in his 115 years of existence at Parque São Jorge. His challenge was, amidst all this, to build a competitive team. He recognizes it and proudly states that he succeeded. The proof of the coach’s success is reaching the fifth final of the Brazilian Cup and his sixth semi-final, thus writing his name in history as one of the most successful coaches in the competition.
“I consider Fabinho (Soldado) as one of the great professionals of the region,” Dorival underlined at the start of the press conference, praising the work of the executive director of Corinthians. “Still young, but with experience, vision, preparation which, I am sure, will take him very far very quickly.”
“Sometimes we don’t understand what’s happening, all this pressure… because in terms of work, dedication and commitment, and achieving results even with all the problems… he has done an exemplary job so far. And I have no doubt in saying: he will be one of the big names in the region, if he is not already,” added the coach.
Dorival recognized the merits of Cruzeiro. Investments in the football market in the 2025 season campaign, which culminated with 3rd place in the Brasileirão and the semi-final of the Copa do Brasil. Therefore, value even more the merits of the Corinthians in Itaquera this Sunday.
“We have to look at the other side and understand the potential of the Cruzeiro team,” he explained. “It’s a team that has had a very high level of investment. Players with an excellent profile. Quality in all roles and positions. A little different from what we are still building.”
“The process is still a bit complicated. We didn’t have the opportunity to make corrections,” Dorival said of his team. “The level of performance, of commitment of my entire committee is such that we can give the best to Corinthians. If we were missing something in the Brazilian Championship, we are sorry, we could not have done it differently. It was really not what we would have liked to offer. We tried, with the dedication that exists, to reduce at least a little this distance and this difference compared to many teams that I saw in the championship. And despite this, we played great matches in the most important moments. complicated and most difficult.”
Then, later at a press conference, Dorival was questioned about his merits as a coach. He avoided the response and took the opportunity to criticize the press. The coach supported the idea that Brazilian professionals are not as valued as foreigners and asked for “respect” from communicators who work to cover Brazilian football.
“I want to make a link here with what has been happening for some time among professionals in my field in our country,” began Dorival. “We are being disrespected in every way possible.”
“And once again we end the year with Filipe Luís as champion of the Libertadores and the Brazilian Championship and at least one Brazilian coach in the final of a competition as important as the Copa do Brasil. Respect us a little more. Let the coaches be a little more observed, evaluated, analyzed… because we have quality, capacity like the professionals who are here”, added the coach.
“In no case do I want people to make comparisons. I have the greatest respect for all the foreign professionals who are here in our country. I think this integration is very important. But I expect a little more respect from the Brazilian press in general. Here I do not speak for A, for B, for C… I have no conflict with anyone. But there is a process of great disrespect towards all the professionals in my sector. And that is regrettable, because we “We’re losing a lot of professionals, many are annoying unnecessarily… I hope that we once again believe in a little more in the Brazilian professional,” Dorival said, emphasizing that this is something that has been recurring over the last 25 years.
He then cited a custom of Brazilian football which has now become a tradition: the dismissal of coaches when the results are not there. “There is always a culprit in football. And that culprit is directly the football coach. And that’s not always what happens. We have a lot of qualities, we are interested, we try to improve… now we also need those who evaluate to improve us. Improve the context, understand us a little more, start reading football in a different way. Not everyone, but unfortunately a good part did it that way. It’s unfortunate what happened.”
Regarding the match, Dorival admitted that a reassessment of strategy was necessary for the second half. The team went into the locker room losing 1-0, a result which sent the match to penalties. On his return, he promoted Garro and Raniele, conceded the second goal early, but managed to make the changes have the desired effect.
“It was a situation that surprised us, because of the timing of the goal. The team came back with a very different attitude. It’s a shame that it happened,” he said, referring to Arroyo’s second goal of the match.
“I have no doubt that we will get the draw with the change in attitude we have had. We have completely changed our game plan,” he explained. “We had an organization, and thanks to that organization, we didn’t lose our balance and achieved the goal that took us to the penalty shootout.”
The remaining two Copa do Brasil matches will take place next week. On Wednesday (17), Corinthians play their first home match. The second, Sunday (21), will take place in Rio de Janeiro.
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