Corinthians Under-17 coach on Brasileirão derby win, line-up tweaks | OneFootball

On the afternoon of last Tuesday (7), Corinthians hosted Palmeiras at Estádio Alfredo Schürig, Fazendinha, in a match valid for the seventh round of the first qualifying stage of the Brazilian Under-17 Championship, and beat their rival 3-1. Timãozinho’s goals were scored by Matheus Rocha (twice) and Lucca Caramico. The result took the Sons of Terrão to 13 points — four wins, one draw and two defeats — with 20 goals scored and seven conceded.

Minutes after the final whistle, Corinthians’ Under-17 head coach Guilherme Nascimento, hired at the end of last year after standout work at Athletico-PR, spoke to the press in the mixed zone and analyzed the Derby win for the age group. The manager praised the quality of the opponent, who until then had a 100% record in the tournament, and highlighted Timãozinho’s level of competitiveness in the derby.

Photo: Rodrigo Gazzanel/Agência Corinthians

“It was a special game in terms of competitiveness. The preparation for the match was very much focused on developing our competitive side. Our game on the ball is good — anyone who has followed the last few matches understands that we’re at a good level, improving in that regard. But we needed to compete a little more to face this type of game. Besides being a derby, it was a team that had a 100% record in the competition, having already faced the most recent Under-17 Copa do Brasil finalists and beaten them. It’s a huge technical challenge, and we managed to respond to that challenge with a lot of competitiveness. Since the game became balanced in that sense, we were even better; our technical quality showed up and we managed to finish the chances we had with a lot of quality,” he began.

Combining the Paulista Championship and the Brasileirão, Guilherme Nascimento has the following numbers in charge of the Under-17s: 10 wins, two draws and three defeats — 50 goals scored and 17 conceded — a 71.1% success rate. He later explained some changes made to the lineup.

On the right flank, he opted for two full-backs, using Brenno Augusto and Kevin Fernando — the latter playing as a right winger, although he had been used as a full-back. Until last year, he played as a midfielder by trade. Another tactical change was defensive midfielder Ji-Paraná, signed at the start of 2026 after standing out in the Copinha, playing as a center-back. For the match, it is worth remembering that Alvinegro was without center-back Ronaldo Henrique, sent off in the opening minutes of the 2-1 defeat to Santos at CT Rei Pelé in the previous round of the national tournament.

“Before answering the question, I think it helps support the answer to say that we seek to develop players in a global way, giving them tools that enable them, at times, to perform other roles, because they all receive the same foundation. Obviously there is specific behavior, which we encourage a lot, but the players have levels of training that generate behaviors they can adapt to each role. We go by characteristics: Ronaldo, our starting center-back, was sent off against Santos and served an automatic suspension; Nathan, who partnered him in central defense, felt some discomfort. We knew it was a game in which Palmeiras uses a lot of high and long balls, and we needed players with a good profile to defend the first ball.”

“Ji-Paraná is very good on the first ball. He arrived at the club not long ago and can perform several roles. Today he played as a center-back; normally he plays as a five, but he can also be an eight or even a ten. He’s a guy with a lot of versatility, just like Kevin. When we got him (Kevin), he was a midfielder, that box-to-box guy with a lot of power. We identified in him the possibility of becoming a full-back, of shaping him in that direction, especially because of his strength and ability to get forward. Today, maybe, we took a step back in the characteristics he already showed. We needed players who could deliver that level of competitiveness we had emphasized. The idea was to put in a guy who could cover more of the field in every phase: defensively, in build-up, and also arriving in attack. Kevin can deliver that and he did very well,” he continued.

He was then asked about the presence of president Osmar Stabile, executive Marcelo Paz, and midfielder André Luiz, a Son of Terrão and currently one of the standout players in the professional squad, in the boxes at Estádio Alfredo Schürig, Fazendinha.

“The presence of everyone is very important, I think it values everyone’s work, especially the players’. André’s attitude is highly praiseworthy; it’s not the first time they’ve been here — I’ve seen him at some other Under-20 games as well. It shows a sense of togetherness, it’s a very united process, everyone for one. André was there, but there were also players from other age groups in the boxes following the match and cheering for the team. This feeling of togetherness, of belonging, which is created every day at Corinthians, is what makes us the People’s Team, and the players are able to represent that so well when they step onto our Arena,” he went on.

Guilherme Nascimento also highlighted the integration with the Under-15 team, coached by Eduardo Vergueiro, who is often called up to serve as an assistant for the Brazilian national team. In the Derby, two Under-15 players were on the Under-17 bench: midfielders Lucas Splichal and Igor Macedo. Splichal, in fact, made his debut for the higher age group in the match against Botafogo, days earlier, at Parque São Jorge, coming off the bench.

“This year, Corinthians is having a very special year. The people involved in the development process are of the highest level, led by Damiani and the whole staff he managed to assemble. Du (Vergueiro) is a Brazilian national team-level guy, top level, with a very important ability to develop players individually. Just like William (Batista), who is a guy that gives the final polish. We are very integrated; there’s Douglas, who is also part of this process and is with the Under-16s. We have very good integration, and then it’s about understanding what level of demand these players need. At times, training and matches for Splichal and Igor may no longer be meeting the level of demand they need to keep developing. The alternative is to bring them into a more competitive, more physical environment that will demand better conditioning from them. We’re trying to help them make the next jump and we’re gradually acclimating them.”

“Splichal already got to play against Botafogo and did well. They’ve been training, and now the school holiday period has started, so they’ll have more availability to train with us. We want to observe them and integrate them into this dynamic, which represents a level above their current development process. This also happens at the Under-20 level — we’ve already had Caramico play a match there, Leozinho has played matches too. The process is very integrated and always based on this demand: what the club needs and, above all, what the player needs. If that player meets an Under-20 need and can go there without major impact, then he has to be there. If the Under-17 environment no longer meets a player’s development needs, then he has to take a step up to the next level. That’s what we’re trying to provide,” he commented.

Finally, he answered about the challenge of taking over at Corinthians. In his response, he praised the work of the previous coach of the age group, Raphael Larrucia, who led Timão’s Under-17s from the beginning of 2024 to September 2025. He also detailed the main pillars of his work and the need to see “Corinthian values” in his team.

“First, I have to praise Laruccia’s work. You don’t stay at Corinthians that long without being very competent. We inherited some players who worked with him last year, 2009-born players who were very well coached and well developed. The issue of his departure has to do with other things. It’s very difficult to point out what we had to bring because it sounds like we’re comparing it with the previous work, and that’s not it at all. Part of my job is trying to develop a game that is more Brazilian in essence. I talk a lot about this, and we’ve seen it in the academy, and now at this moment of elimination people talk a lot about it, about the processes. About trying to bring too much from abroad into our work, whereas my work in youth football is to try to recover that. Because Corinthians is the face of Brazil. It’s about bringing back players who aren’t too fixed in certain positions, who have the freedom to rotate within the game itself. Freedom to go close to the ball, freedom of movement, freedom to combine. So it’s about seeking a somewhat richer game in that sense, less fixed, less static, but with the same verticality that the Corinthians fans demand.”

“And something we bring very strongly into our work is valuing the athletes’ human, identity, mental and behavioral side. We invest a lot in small messages related to mentality. Not only as athletes, but as human beings — and here at Corinthians, this is a club with a lot of identity tied to ‘Corinthianism.’ The boys need to be able to live that. This is one point of our work; it may not be so clear to anyone watching a training session or a match, but in our day-to-day there is a very strong effort to integrate Corinthian values and life values, in addition to sporting ones,” he concluded.

After beating Palmeiras at home in the Under-17 Brasileirão, Timão will now stay focused on the national tournament. That’s because next Wednesday (15), at 11 a.m. (Brasília time), Alvinegro will visit Vasco da Gama at Estádio Nivaldo Pereira (RJ) for the eighth round of the competition. In the state competition for the age group, Corinthians are second in Group 12 with 19 points — six wins, one draw and one defeat — 30 goals scored and 10 conceded. Group leaders Ibrachina have 24 points — a 100% record.

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