Corinthians keeper and defender on reaching Women's Libertadores final

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Central do Timão

·17 October 2025

Corinthians keeper and defender on reaching Women's Libertadores final

By Fabio Luigi / Central do Timão Editorial Team

Corinthians faced Ferroviária on the night of last Wednesday, October 15, at Francisco Sola Stadium, in Lencho, Argentina, for the semifinal of the Conmebol Women's Libertadores, and drew 1-1 in regular time. In the penalty shootout, the Brabas won 6-5 and advanced to the final – their sixth in the competition's history.

Shortly after the final whistle, goalkeeper Nicole, who saved the last decisive penalty, commented on studying the penalty takers and the process of destabilizing the opposing athletes at the moment of the kick: “I'm very happy to contribute to Corinthians. I think, in the end, it's Corinthians who wins. We train for this, we do our job there. We studied them once again, but today I confess it was on feeling.”

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Photo: Staff Images Woman/Conmebol

“Today, it came down to the alternates and I said: ‘My God, I haven't saved any today, now is my time. I will feel the corner, and I will go to the corner I think it is.’ And it worked, God helped my mind there. But, of course, studying, right? Destabilizing the opponent by knowing her corner, destabilizing her at that moment makes all the difference. And I'm very happy to have contributed today”, she began.

Then, Corinthians' number 1 highlighted the work of the goalkeeper preparation department and the competitors for the position – revealed in the youth academy (Rillary and Ana Morganti) – who stayed in Brazil: “They will joke that you were the penalty crazy one. Two days before, they already say: I've separated the person's penalty. But it is very important, as I said, the fact that we study, to be prepared to make a difference in some way. And I think it is our achievement, of the department. I am there representing the work, but this achievement belongs to everyone. The three of us who are here, those who stayed in Brazil, Rillary, Morganti, everyone who stayed there is also our achievement. I am representing them.”

She added, talking about the support from goalkeeper Lelê, who was supporting her teammate from the sidelines, praising the unity among them: “And Lelê was there on the sideline. She said to me: ‘You only need to save one, you only need to save one’. Then I hugged her and said: ‘You were in that champion energy, you made a difference’. So we are representing the work. Everyone is always working together. The goalkeepers from Ceará, Lucas, everyone is there with us. And I think I am representing everyone's work.”

Nicole also highlighted Corinthians' feat of reaching the Women's Libertadores final for the third consecutive year. If they win this year's tournament, the Brabas will secure a spot in the Women's Club World Cup: “Very happy, right? Corinthians is always making history, always finding something new to make history in a different way. It is the first time reaching the third consecutive final. And I always think the Libertadores already has a very big weight, right? Which is the qualification for the World Cup. So, we are very focused on that, thinking a lot about it. We are very happy with the qualification. And now we are going to focus a lot on this title because it is a very important year for us”, she concluded.

In the final, scheduled for this Saturday, October 18, at 4:30 PM (Brasília time), against Deportivo Cali (Colombia), at Francisco Sola Stadium, the Brabas – the most successful team in the competition (2017, 2019, 2021, 2023, and 2024), will seek to win the tournament for the sixth time.

Mariza

The scorer of the Corinthians Women's goal, with a header, still in the first half, defender Mariza was asked about the decisive goal scored, the converted penalty, and consequently, a spot in the final of the Brazilian Championship: “I am very happy to be able to help, we knew the importance of this game and how much we wanted to win and qualify for the final, to have the opportunity to take Corinthians to the World Cup, so I am very happy, I think if it wasn't me, anyone else would also be very happy.”

“Man, I was just thinking about scoring the goal. I think nothing else was going through my head besides that. We train this a lot, man, a lot. It's not for nothing. I am always taking shots, but it's something that is always very trained and from the moment Jaque went, unfortunately, she missed. I knew Nicole would save a penalty at some point because she is very good, she showed that in training. I think it was that, a little bit of confidence there. I think we train this a lot”, she began.

Finally, she projected the decision against the Colombian team: “We have few days, only two days, there's not much time to celebrate. And now we have two days to study them more. I think these are two days that don't give much time to work on many things on the field. The most important thing is the physical and mental recovery of everyone, it was a very difficult game, I think we fluctuated a lot, so we have two days to study their team a lot, improve our weak points, so as not to give them a chance like we did today with Ferroviária and God willing, play a good game and be champions,” she concluded.

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