Corinthians midfielder hails women’s league semis, cites off-pitch issues | OneFootball

Corinthians faced Cruzeiro on the afternoon of this Monday (7), Brazil’s Independence Day holiday, at Canindé Stadium, in the second leg of the 2026 Brazilian Women’s Championship quarterfinals, and won 3-1 in comeback fashion. The Brabas’ goals were scored by Jhonson, Tamires, and Thaís Ferreira. With the result, Timão qualified for the semifinals for the tenth straight year and will face Bahia after defeating the Minas Gerais side 4-1 on aggregate.

Moments after the final whistle, still on the pitch, midfielder Duda Sampaio gave an interview to SporTV and celebrated the importance of yet another qualification for Alvinegro in knockout tournaments even amid off-field difficulties, such as delays in performance bonuses for championships and image rights payments. Wearing the number 27 shirt, she also looked ahead to the next-round clash against the Northeastern side and the team’s “turning of the page,” after finishing the first phase in second place overall with 38 points.

Photo: Rodrigo Gazzanel/Agência Corinthians

“I think it’s a huge emotion, it’s the result of what Corinthians built a long time ago and has kept up ever since. I think we go through a lot of difficulties, individually, within the club. But in here we do what we love, because I think that, regardless of that, we control the decisions on the field. The important thing here is for Corinthians to reach finals and, today, I think the importance also lies in the growth we’ve had in these decisive matches. It’s something we demand a lot from ourselves within the squad, to reach the knockout stage.”

“This is a different Corinthians, a different Corinthians from the one we were when we finished the first phase, and I’m sure we’ve done that. But now we also have to know that every game will be more difficult. Now we face Bahia, a team that gave us a lot of trouble and I’m sure will do so again, but we’ll have a week to work, a whole week just to think about everything that needs to be done in these two matches so we can achieve our objective.”

Duda Sampaio has been at Corinthians since 2023 and, since then, has been one of the team’s main players. Since arriving, she has scored 30 goals and provided 25 assists in 129 matches (100 as a starter), with 91 wins, 24 draws, and 14 losses – a 76.7% success rate. In addition, she has won eight titles, including the Brazilian Championship, Paulistão, Conmebol Libertadores, and the Brazilian Super Cup.

Now, with qualification for the semifinals secured, the Brabas will face Bahia next. In the first phase of the tournament, Alvinegro faced the Northeastern side away from home and drew 1-1. Throughout the history of the women’s game, the teams have faced each other six times, with five wins and one draw, 17 goals scored and four conceded. Last year, the teams met in the Brasileirão quarterfinals and Timão came out on top 4-1 on aggregate. Corinthians are the tournament’s most successful club with seven titles – 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.

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