Yuri Alberto on his Corinthians comeback and rues draw in the Brasileirão | OneFootball

On the night of Thursday (19), Corinthians faced Chapecoense at Arena Condá, in a match valid for the seventh round of the 2026 Brazilian Championship, and ended up drawing 0-0. The tie left the Corinthians team stagnant in ninth place with nine points – two wins, three draws, and two losses – six goals scored and six conceded.

After the match, still on the pitch, striker Yuri Alberto was interviewed by Amazon Prime and was asked about his return to the field after a little over a month. The center forward had not played since February 15, when he came on in the second half of the 1-0 win over São Bernardo FC at Primeiro de Maio, in the eighth round of the first phase of the 2026 Paulista Championship.

Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Agência Corinthians

On that day, the number 9 entered the field at 17 minutes into the second half and, ten minutes later, was substituted with muscle discomfort that was later diagnosed as a grade 2 muscle injury in the left thigh’s biceps femoris. Since then, he missed the team's last seven games: Athletico-PR (A), Portuguesa (A), Cruzeiro (A), Novorizontino (A), Coritiba (H), and Santos (A).

“Thanks to the medical department for all their support. My staff also helped me a lot so I could be here today. I had a week and a half to prepare well so I could be available, not just to play thirty or forty minutes, but to play the whole game like I did today.”

He then lamented the draw against the team from Santa Catarina in the national competition: “Unfortunately, the win didn’t come, it was a tough draw. We knew that with the chances we created in the game, we could have left here with all three points, unfortunately it didn’t work out, but I’m happy, happy to be back and together with my teammates, we’ll be able to bring a lot of joy to our fans this year,” he began.

Later, he talked about playing the full 90 minutes even after being off the field for a month. The number 9 is the top scorer for the Parque São Jorge club this season with three goals in 10 games.

“I was greedy. The coach kept asking me: ‘So, how are you?’ But with grit, with the desire to win, I stayed in the game, unfortunately the result didn’t come, but let’s go, here it’s from the first to the last minute. And we know these last games haven’t been positive for us, it’s a matter of, in the final third, being able to finish, being able to score.”

“We even tried a bit more, to create more volume, to create more difficulty here, especially on the left side, where I started to drift later, but let’s keep going. Keep working hard, we’ll turn this around and we’ll be able to bring a lot of joy to our fans, whom I really like,” he said.

Yuri Alberto was signed by Corinthians in mid-2022 on loan from Zenit, Russia. In January 2023, he was permanently acquired in a deal involving five players and, since then, has been one of the team’s main players. Wearing the Corinthians shirt, he has 79 goals and 22 assists in 217 games (185 as a starter).

The Alvinegro striker was part of the team’s surge in the 2024 Brasileirão (from the relegation zone to the Pré-Libertadores), being Brazil’s top scorer that year with 31 goals, 15 of them in the national competition, where he was the top scorer. Last year, he was crucial in winning the Paulista Championship (2025) and the Copa do Brasil (2025), against Palmeiras and Vasco da Gama, scoring in both finals. In 2026, he played a decisive role in winning the Supercopa do Brasil, against Flamengo, in Brasília, scoring the team’s second goal in the match.

After a goalless draw with Chapecoense, away from home, in the Brazilian Championship, Corinthians remains fully focused on the tournament. Next Sunday (22), at 8:30 pm, the Alvinegro faces Flamengo at Neo Química Arena, for the eighth round of the national competition.

See More:

Corinthians News

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