Diniz explains academy trio's absence in Corinthians v Cascavel friendly | OneFootball

After about a month and a half without taking the field, Corinthians returned to action on Sunday afternoon in a friendly against Cascavel at the Estádio Olímpico Regional, in Paraná. The match ended in a 1-1 draw, with Matheus Pereira scoring for Timão.

As it was a friendly, there was no limit on substitutions and there was a technical stoppage at the 25-minute mark of each half, allowing Fernando Diniz to use virtually the entire available squad.

Photo: ©Rodrigo Gazzanel / Ag. Corinthians

Even so, three youth academy players who were included in the squad for the match — Dieguinho, Gui Negão and Yago Melo — did not take the field. After the final whistle, in the post-match press conference, the coach explained that the decision was part of a plan drawn up together with the Under-20 team.

“They came precisely because, since we had the idea of changing everyone in the second half, if we needed to make any more changes, we would have the three of them, because the idea was that they wouldn’t even come. We made them available to the Under-20s because of the importance of the match against Palmeiras, so they could also gain match rhythm.

They played on Wednesday and return tomorrow to rejoin the group and play this match, especially Gui Negão and Dieguinho, in Thursday’s game. After that, they will come back to stay with us here. If Dieguinho had been in normal condition and Gui Negão as well, they would have played in the match if we hadn’t made this plan to use them with the Under-20s.”

The three players were included in the squad for the friendly, but remained on the bench as options throughout the match. Their presence was a preventive measure in case any substitution beyond the coaching staff’s initial plan became necessary.

In addition to Dieguinho and Gui Negão, center-back Yago Melo was also part of the professional delegation for the first time. The defender, a standout for the Under-20 team, was called up for a first-team Corinthians commitment for the first time.

Diniz’s explanation is directly linked to the black-and-white youth team’s schedule. Last Wednesday (8), Corinthians were beaten 1-0 by Palmeiras at Parque São Jorge in the first leg of the Brazilian Under-20 Championship quarterfinals.

Now, the Sons of Terrão turn their attention to the decisive second leg. Corinthians and Palmeiras will face off next Thursday (16) at 4 p.m. (Brasília time) at Arena Barueri, with a place in the national competition’s semifinals at stake. The tendency is for Gui Negão, Dieguinho and Yago Melo to strengthen William Batista’s team before returning to work with the professional squad.

The professional team will play an official match again on July 23 at 7:30 p.m. (Brasília time), against Remo at Neo Química Arena, in the 19th and final round of the first half of the Brazilian Championship.

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