Midfielder scores in Corinthians friendly, underlining Terrão's impact | OneFootball

On the afternoon of last Sunday (12), Corinthians faced FC Cascavel at the Estádio Olímpico Regional, in Cascavel, Paraná, in a midseason friendly aimed at resuming the Brazilian Championship, Copa do Brasil, and Conmebol Libertadores, and ended up only drawing 1-1 against the Paraná side. The Alvinegro’s goal was scored by midfielder Matheus Pereira, who came on at halftime, in the 15th minute of the second half.

With the goal scored by the defensive midfielder, the club from Parque São Jorge reached 15 goals scored by players developed in Corinthians’ youth academy this season, which corresponds to 35.71% of Timão’s total goals in 2026 — 42 times in 38 matches. This statistic represents, so far, the year in which the Terrão has contributed the most goals since the beginning of the decade — starting in 2020. The survey was published by Meu Timão.

Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Agência Corinthians

This year, seven players developed in Corinthians’ youth ranks have already scored for the club. The main highlight is defensive midfielder André Luiz, Timão’s second-highest scorer this season with five goals. Next come midfielder Breno Bidon (three), Kayke (two), Dieguinho (two), Matheus Pereira (one), Gui Negão (one), and João Pedro Tchoca (one).

Previously, according to data from Meu Timão, the best mark had been in 2021. That season, 30 of Corinthians’ 92 goals in 73 matches — 32.61%. The Alvinegro’s top scorer that year was Jô, a Terrão graduate from the early 2000s, who found the net 12 times. Besides him, the following also scored that year: Adson (three times), Roni (three), Cauê (two), Raul Gustavo (two), Gabriel Pereira (two), Fagner (two), Mandaca (one), Rodrigo Varanda (one), Lucas Piton (one), and Vitinho (one).

On the other hand, the worst mark in this period came in 2024, when only 12 of Timão’s 109 goals that season came from the feet of Terrão graduates — just 11.01%. Winger Wesley scored four times, forward Giovane found the net on three occasions, Maycon scored twice, while Breno Bidon and Arthur scored once each.

Corinthians’ youth academy has been used more and more by the club in recent seasons due to Timão’s serious financial crisis, as it has a debt of nearly R$ 3 billion and faces successive punishments from FIFA — transfer ban — a prohibition on registering players — which ended up opening space for younger players developed within the club.

Matheus Pereira returned to Parque São Jorge at the start of the current season after standing out for Fortaleza in the second half of 2025. He is on loan from the northeastern club to Timão until the end of 2026, with the possibility of a permanent transfer at the end of the deal. Before returning to Brazil in the middle of last year, he had stints in Spanish and Italian football.

Wearing the Corinthians shirt, he has made 23 appearances (13 as a starter), with 10 wins, seven draws, and six losses — a 53.6% success rate — and one goal scored. He was part of the Supercopa do Brasil title win against Flamengo in Brasília at the beginning of February. After starting the season often as a starter under Dorival Júnior, the No. 23 had been showing a drop in form shortly before the coach’s departure. Following Diniz’s arrival, Matheus is still searching for his best individual form.

Corinthians’ youth academy records highest rate of goal contributions to the first team in the decade

1) 2020 — 55 goals in 49 matches — 11 by youth academy players (20%) 2) 2021 — 92 goals in 73 matches — 30 goals by youth academy players (32.61%) 3) 2022 — 87 goals in 72 matches — 25 goals by youth academy players (28.74%) 4) 2023 — 90 goals in 73 matches — 20 goals by youth academy players (22.22%) 5) 2024 — 109 goals in 73 matches — 12 goals by youth academy players (11.01%) 6) 2025 — 90 goals in 74 matches — 12 goals by youth academy players (13.33%) 7) 2026* — 42 goals in 38 matches — 15 goals by youth academy players (35.71%)

*Season in progress

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.