Ex-Tiago Nunes assistant lifts lid on 2020 Corinthians stint

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Central do Timão

·30 October 2025

Ex-Tiago Nunes assistant lifts lid on 2020 Corinthians stint

By Fabio Luigi / Central do Timão Editorial Team

Kelly Guimarães, former assistant to coach Tiago Nunes, gave an exclusive interview to ESPN Brasil and detailed the behind-the-scenes of the coach's tenure at Parque São Jorge between January and September 2020. Currently, Nunes is the coach of LDU, Ecuador, which faces Palmeiras on Thursday night (30) in the second leg of the Libertadores semifinals at Allianz Parque. The Ecuadorians won the first match at high altitude by 3-0.

After his time at Corinthians, Tiago Nunes managed Grêmio, Ceará, and Botafogo in Brazilian football, as well as Sporting Cristal in Peru and Universidad Católica in Chile. The former assistant of Tiago Nunes also mentioned the lack of appreciation for Brazilian coaches in their own country, recalling an episode during their time at Parque São Jorge.

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Photo: Daniel Augusto Jr/ Agência Corinthians

“Every coach goes through this (feeling undervalued). There are many good foreigners in Brazil, good guys, but we in the field see that they are not doing anything different from what many Brazilians do. But when a foreigner does it, it's out of this world, and when a Brazilian does it, sometimes it's not valued.”

He continued: “I once saw a foreign coach, on a game day at night, doing work in the morning to get the players out of the routine of lying in the hotel all day. He did field movements, and the next day I saw people saying he revolutionized football. In 2020, we did this at Corinthians, talked to the players, did movements. It came out in the press the next day, and they almost killed Tiago. That's how it works. What the foreigner does is much more valued than what the Brazilian is already doing,” he began.

Later, Kelly Guimarães – now at Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand – recalled other works with Tiago Nunes also at Athletico-PR, Grêmio, and Ceará, highlighting the professional's quality.

“Tiago is a very studious guy. Although he has white hair and seems more experienced, he is very young (45 years). And, although he is young, he has been in football for some time, has worked hard. He is someone who has experienced a lot in football. His great differential is knowing how to handle all situations within a club, a championship. He is very intelligent, very studious.”

“He knows football, breathes football, has a very good game reading. This might be the differential in his career. Of course, he will still add other things, but for me, the differential is the game reading. When I started working with Tiago, I discovered a different level of organization. He is very organized, very detailed. Our routine was to breathe football. We arrived in the morning, had a pre-training meeting to discuss what we intended to achieve in the training session, and planned the day before what would be addressed. We went to the field very organized,” he concluded.

In total, Tiago Nunes managed Corinthians in 27 games, with nine wins, 10 draws, and eight losses – 32 goals scored and 27 conceded – a 46% success rate. In 2020, the coach was a finalist in the Paulista Championship and was defeated on penalties by Palmeiras at Allianz Parque in the final. In the group stage, Alvinegro secured qualification for the knockout stage in the last round after a combination of results.

Tiago Nunes was dismissed from Corinthians in September 2020 after a poor start to the Brasileirão that year. The last match took place against Palmeiras, where Alvinegro was defeated 2-0 in Itaquera, during the early rounds of the national competition.

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