Corinthians midfielder backs Women's Brasileirão fightback, hails Fiel | OneFootball

On the night of last Tuesday (29), Corinthians, together with Nike, held an event to launch the club’s third kit for the 2026/2027 season at Shopping Anália Franco, in São Paulo. The new kit pays tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Invasão Corinthiana, in Rio de Janeiro, in December 1976, which had former goalkeeper Tobias as its leading figure.

In addition to former defensive midfielder Basílio, midfielder Gabi Zanotti, from Corinthians’ women’s team, was invited to attend the event. The Brabas’ number 10 highlighted all her affection for the Corinthians fans and said that the Fiel is different from all the others: “It’s something that comes from within. It’s hard to explain. I’ve played for other clubs in Brazil and outside it, but it’s something very strong, it gives you chills when we’re on the field listening to the fans. There isn’t a single word that defines it. It’s love, real craziness. The way they energize us on the field is surreal,” she began.

Photo: Reproduction/Central do Timão

At Corinthians since 2018, the attacking midfielder was asked about her most special moment with the club and said it came at the start of this season, in the Women’s Champions Cup matches against Gotham FC, from the United States, and Arsenal, from England. In the tournament, the Brabas finished as runners-up after being beaten 3-2 in extra time by the London side.

“Maybe one day (about being honored). I don’t fully grasp what I’m living today; for me it’s incredible to see the stands packed. But it was very special, since my first game here. I remember it well, it was at Canindé, my first game in this shirt, and I scored. Today I’m at 289, 290 games, and each game has a different particularity, each game is special. And every year there has been a very strong connection with the fans. But what marked me the most was now at the World Cup in London, our fans putting on an incredible show; regardless of the number of supporters, everyone sang there, it was something that stayed with me,” she continued.

Overall, Zanotti has 283 matches for Alvinegro (229 as a starter), with 217 wins, 40 draws and 26 losses — an 81.4% success rate — with 96 goals scored and 40 assists. During this period, she has also won 18 titles, including the Brazilian Championship, Paulistão, Supercopa do Brasil, Copa Paulista and the Conmebol Libertadores.

Next, Gabi Zanotti commented on the result of the first leg of the 2026 Brazilian Women’s Championship final. Last Saturday (26), the Brabas hosted São Paulo at Neo Química Arena and lost 2-1 after coming from ahead. The 41-year-old player admitted the performance was below Timão’s expectations and mentioned the importance of this free training week to fine-tune the final details for the second match.

The decisive match takes place this Saturday afternoon (3), at 4:30 p.m. (Brasília time), at Morumbis Stadium. The club from Parque São Jorge is the competition’s biggest national champion, with seven titles — 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. In 2017 and 2019 they were finalists, but finished in second place, losing to Santos and Ferroviária, respectively.

“Obviously we wanted to get the result at home, but now is no longer the time to regret it. I’m very calm, we’re aware of how far below our level we were, both on the ball and off it, especially defensively. We have a few days to keep adjusting and studying the opponent, analyzing what we lacked in that match and the opponent’s vulnerable points. We are fully capable of playing a great match at Morumbis and overturning the score. The tie is completely open; one goal and it’s level. We need to keep the approach we had in the last knockout matches, which was our best moment in the Brasileirão, with more aggression, improve our recovery runs and improve our decision-making in the final third,” she added.

Finally, she spoke about the club’s recent off-field problems in women’s football and other departments. The Brabas have been facing repeated delays in salary payments and still have not fully received the prize money related to their performances in the Women’s Conmebol Libertadores (2025), Supercopa do Brasil (2026) and the Women’s Champions Cup (2026). The midfielder also reflected on the team’s inconsistency in the first phase of the Brazilian Women’s Championship, marked by an uneven start. Even so, the team recovered and finished the qualifying stage in second place with 38 points — 12 wins, two draws and three losses — 42 goals scored and 18 conceded.

“Of course all off-field factors end up affecting us. We try to minimize it as much as possible, not bring it onto the field, not let it affect our performance, but we know that internally it ends up creating stress, mental wear and tear. We’re aware that we were very inconsistent throughout the championship, but, as I said, when the decisive stage came, Corinthians showed the strength it has, its ability to decide. I always try to lean on the fans; we try to give back as much as possible for the support we get from our fans, for shouting and supporting us throughout the 90 minutes. It’s the only fanbase that does that. That’s what we’ve tried to hold on to up to now. We are fully capable of going there on Saturday, playing a great match and making history again,” she concluded.

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