Gabi Zanotti owns missed penalty, hits back at Corinthians dominance talk | OneFootball

The 1-1 draw with São Paulo last Saturday (3) at Morumbis ended Corinthians’ 2026 Brazilian Women’s Championship campaign with a runner-up finish. After the final, Gabi Zanotti spoke in the mixed zone about the penalty she missed in the second half, took responsibility for the play, and apologized to the black-and-white supporters.

The Brabas came into the second leg at a disadvantage after losing 2-1 at Neo Química Arena. At Morumbis, São Paulo opened the scoring through Bia Menezes, while Juliete equalized still in the first half. The result forced Corinthians to go for another goal to take the decision to penalties.

Photo: Rodrigo Gazzanel / Corinthians

The main chance came in the 17th minute of the second half. Érika won a penalty and Zanotti stepped up to take it, but the No. 10’s effort was saved by goalkeeper Carlinha. The score did not change again, and São Paulo won the title 3-2 on aggregate.

Zanotti takes responsibility for penalty

In the mixed zone, the midfielder did not try to downplay the weight of the moment. Zanotti said she usually trains penalties and had been performing well in practice, but acknowledged that she did not take it well precisely at a time when Corinthians were growing in the match.

“Yes, I want to apologize to our supporters. I practice penalties, we trained them a lot. My conversion rate in training has always been very good. But that’s it, I think I took it very badly. I think it was our best moment in the game. If I had converted it, it could have changed the course of the match. But that’s it, I take responsibility. Once again, I apologize to the supporters. And now we have to switch gears very quickly, because we have the Libertadores and the Paulista ahead to fight for titles.”

Despite finishing as runners-up, Corinthians still have two more fronts this season. The squad will compete in the Women’s Libertadores and remain in contention for the Paulista Championship.

No. 10 pushes back against talk of the end of the hegemony

Losing the Brazilian title also led to Zanotti being asked about a possible end to the dominance Corinthians have built in women’s football in recent years.

The No. 10 pushed back against that assessment and used the club’s recent history to defend her point of view. She also highlighted how difficult it is to reach finals consistently and said the squad will keep chasing trophies in the remaining competitions.

“When another team reaches ten consecutive finals and wins five Libertadores titles, then we can start talking about the end of a hegemony. We know the struggle is huge, we fight against the system, there’s a lot to it. And that’s it. What does it mean that we fight against the system? We know the difficulties we face, and we try to focus on what is within our control. Always trusting one another.

And we’re always going to seek the best with this shirt. As I said, we have two championships ahead of us. It’s not easy. We played in a Supercopa final, we reached the Brasileirão final once again. It’s not simple. How many teams did we leave behind? The work we do is not simple. But of course we will always want to win titles. Today, unfortunately, it didn’t happen. And I wanted to apologize to our supporters.”

Off-field issues and performance in the final

Zanotti was also asked about the off-field problems faced by Corinthians and the possible impact of those situations on the players’ performance.

The midfielder acknowledged that the issues cause wear and tear, but emphasized the commitment shown by the group. In her analysis of the match, she drew a distinction between the performances in the two legs of the final: she considered the display at Neo Química Arena below expectations and felt Timão showed a more aggressive approach at Morumbis.

“Obviously it causes wear and tear. But we try not to let that affect our performance. And that’s what we’ve done so far. I speak for myself, I speak for everyone there. I see how much this group is committed. It is very committed, regardless of what is happening off the field. And that’s it. I think we played a great match here today. Maybe if we had won, we wouldn’t be talking about so many bad things that have happened lately. But there, really, at Neo Química, we played a match in which we left a lot to be desired, far below our level. And today we came with a more aggressive attitude. We managed to create the best chances. We weren’t efficient. And in that penalty moment that I didn’t convert, it was our best moment in the game. And, as I said, if I had converted it, it could have changed the course of the game.”

Efficiency returns to the center of the analysis

The difficulty in taking chances came up again when Zanotti was asked about the players’ responsibility for the result. The topic had already been addressed by Emily Lima after the first leg of the final.

Zanotti agreed with the need for internal accountability, but noted that Corinthians posted strong attacking numbers throughout the competition. For the midfielder, finishing runner-up requires an analysis of what needs to be corrected before the next challenges.

“Yes. But even as a team that always demands a lot from itself, efficiency... It’s the team with the most goals in the competition. If you analyze it, it’s the team with the most goals. But obviously we have to improve. If we didn’t win, we always have to look at what needs to be adjusted and seek improvement, because we still have two more competitions this year.”

Corinthians turn their attention to the Libertadores

With the Brazilian Championship over, Corinthians will have to quickly turn the frustration of the final into preparation for the rest of the season.

The Brabas’ next official match will be in the Women’s Libertadores. Timão will make their debut on October 15, at 5 p.m. (Brasília time), against Colo-Colo, in Ecuador.

In addition to the continental competition, Corinthians still have the Paulista Championship ahead in 2026, precisely the two opportunities mentioned by Zanotti for the squad to fight for titles again before the end of the season.

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