Dorival strengthens his reputation as a cupbearer and could equal Felipão as the greatest champion of the Copa do Brasil

The coach has won the tournament with three different teams in the last 15 years

Dorival's last Copa do Brasil title dates back to 2023, at the helm of São Paulo – — Dorival’s last Copa do Brasil title dates back to 2023, at the helm of São Paulo –

Photo: Rubens Chiri/São Paulo / Jogada10

A possible title for Corinthians in the final of the Brazilian Cup, against Vasco, could consolidate Dorival Júnior’s image as a “coupeiro” coach. In fact, the coach would win his fourth cup in the national competition and would equal Felipão as the greatest champion in the history of the tournament.

Commander Timão’s exploit would, however, have a particular flavor. Indeed, Felipão won four titles with three different teams: Criciúma (1991), Grêmio (1994) and Palmeiras (1998 and 2012). Dorival, in turn, would become champion of four different clubs: Santos (2010), Flamengo (2022), São Paulo (2023) and Corinthians this year.

It is worth noting that qualification for this year’s Brazilian Cup final has already placed Dorival among the coaches with the most decisions in the competition, alongside Felipão and Marcelo Oliveira. All three coaches have appeared in the national tournament final five times (see below).

Dorival has not been eliminated in the Copa do Brasil since 2016

In addition to Dorival’s number of victories and finals, there is another record of the coach that attracts attention: since 2016 he has not been eliminated in the Copa do Brasil. At the time, the coach managed Santos and fell in the quarter-finals to Internacional. Since then, he has placed alongside Ceará, Flamengo, São Paulo, as well as Corinthians themselves, in 17 confrontations.

Despite the good results in the round of 16, the coach suffered a lot of criticism regarding Timão’s performance in the Brazilian Championship. Asked about it at the press conference after the 1-0 win over Cruzeiro in the first match of the semi-final, Dorival let off steam and said he didn’t care about the criticism.

“We are here to work. If people don’t understand the processes, it’s not me who will try to explain them. I have already explained all the problems we had. Did I want to put Corinthians in 13th place in the Brazilian Championship? important to me,” the coach said at the time.

Corinthians and Vasco will play the second match of the Brazilian Cup final on Sunday (21), at 6:00 p.m. (Brasilia time) at the Maracanã. The teams drew 0-0 in the first match. In this way, the winner of the second match wins the national competition. A new draw brings the title decision to penalties.

Remember the coaches with the most Brazilian Cup finals

Felipão (4 titles):

1991: Criciúma x Grêmio – Criciúma Champion
1994: Grêmio x Ceará – Champion of Ceará
1995: Grêmio x Corinthians – Finalist for Grêmio
1998: Palmeiras x Cruzeiro – Champion for Palmeiras
2012: Palmeiras x Coritiba – Champion for Palmeiras

Dorival Junior (3 titles)

2010: Santos x Vitória – Champion for Santos
2015: Santos x Palmeiras – Runner-up for Santos
2022: Flamengo x Corinthians – Champion for Flamengo
2023: São Paulo x Flamengo – Champion for São Paulo
2025: Corinthians x Vasco

Marcelo Oliveira (1 title)

2011: Coritiba x Vasco – Finalist for Coritiba
2012: Coritiba x Palmeiras – Finalist for Coritiba
2014: Cruzeiro x Atlético-MG – Finalist for Cruzeiro
2015: Palmeiras x Santos – Champion for Palmeiras
2016: Atlético-MG x Grêmio – Finalist by Atlético-MG (dismissed after the first match of the final)

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