Mothers and Brabas: Corinthians players and coach on balancing motherhood and football | OneFootball

Corinthians marked Mother’s Day with a Corinthians TV film featuring Ariel Godoi, Ivana Fuso, Tamires and coach Emily Lima, reflecting on balancing football with parenting at Parque São Jorge. According to Meu Timao, it highlights the pressures and the support that enable it.

Tamires’s story stands out. She gave birth to Bernardo in 2011 at 21, when few players were mothers and club backing was scarce. She paused for about three and a half years, returned for two seasons, then stepped away for roughly one and a half more, before joining Corinthians in 2019 with son and career on steadier ground.

The quartet offered differing views on planned pregnancy. A 2025 Fiocruz Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública study found more than 55% of pregnancies in Brazil are unplanned. Godoi, whose daughter Liz arrived this year, praised the club and Lima after the baby fell ill and needed hospital care.

Lima became a mother to Valentina in January last year. She said travel and long competitions can mean missing key moments, noting a three-month spell away and another later absence that briefly distanced her daughter. A period out of work then allowed closer daily contact.

Fuso, mother to Romeu since April 2025, had him alongside her at the Copa das Campeãs da Fifa in London in January. She urged others not to delay decisions, accepting doubts and difficulties, because for her motherhood has been worth it.

Source: Meu Timao