Gabriel Caipira reflects on Betim loan, highlights growth in football | OneFootball

Back at Corinthians after the end of his loan spell at Betim, Gabriel Caipira reflected on his first experience in professional football. The right-back, who played in the Brazilian Championship Serie D for the Minas Gerais side, said the time away from Parque São Jorge was important for his development on and off the pitch.

In an interview with TMC, the player recalled that the opportunity to play for Betim came after an injury he suffered at the end of 2025, which ruled him out of the Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior and made his transition to Corinthians’ first team more difficult.

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Commenting on the decision to accept the loan move, Caipira explained that he saw Serie D as an opportunity to get regular minutes in professional football.

“At the end of the year, I got injured and couldn’t play in the Copinha. I was out for about two and a half months, which was right when I was supposed to be moving up from the youth team to the professional squad. Then another right-back arrived for the first team and I was left without space, especially coming back from injury. At the last minute, Betim came in for me to go on loan. Since I hadn’t played since October, it was good for me to make that jump from youth football to the professional game. That was the idea: to play professionally, because at Corinthians it would have been harder.”

The defender played 12 matches for the Minas Gerais club and earned a place among the starters during the Serie D campaign. According to him, the period helped him build up minutes on the pitch and experience a different reality from the one found in youth football.

“I signed a loan until the end of Serie D. I played in the Copa do Brasil opener against Operário, which was also my debut, and then the league started. That’s when I began to start regularly. Out of 13 games, I started 11. I managed to get good minutes, played the full 90 in several matches, scored a goal, got assists… It was very important for me to have this professional experience, which is very different from the Under-20 level.”

During his spell at Betim, Gabriel Caipira also played in a different role from the one he most often had at Corinthians. Under coach Leandro Zago, the full-back was used as a wing-back in a system with three center-backs, a change he sees as positive for his development.

“Zago liked to play with a back five. Since there were three center-backs, I played more as a wing-back. I like playing in that position, especially because I have more support to get forward. I hadn’t played much that way in the youth ranks because I hadn’t had coaches who used that system. I really liked it. And our main attacking play was down the right.”

In addition to the tactical aspects, the player highlighted the structural differences between Corinthians and Betim. According to Caipira, the experience allowed him to see a different reality from the one he had lived since arriving at the black-and-white club as a child.

“(I felt a difference) mainly in terms of the training center. Betim’s training center still isn’t finished, so sometimes training had to be at the stadium, sometimes we had to travel to other fields. That sometimes made things difficult. In terms of the medical department and training equipment, Corinthians has more than enough, and there some things were lacking.”

He then emphasized what he learned outside the environment where he was developed.

“It was also important personally, because I had never experienced another environment. I’ve been at Corinthians since I was nine years old, so I had never left Parque São Jorge. It was very important to live through that and see how different reality can be.”

Another point raised by the defender was the technical level he found in Serie D. Before the competition, Caipira admitted he had a different perception of the tournament, but said he was surprised by the quality of the opponents.

“Before playing, I thought the level would be lower. I came across a lot of players with quality who had spent their whole careers in Serie A and Serie B. It was a more physical game, there were teams that kicked a lot, it was more violent. There were Betim players who had been in Serie A, and they joked that the toughest level was Serie D, because in the top divisions you play with better athletes, so the game flows more. In Serie D, everything is kind of crazy.”

For the player, one of the main difficulties of the competition was the condition of the pitches used throughout the campaign.

“In Serie D, you had to make the most of your home games, where the pitch was better. I think the only good pitch was Uberlândia’s. The rest were all older pitches. We played on pitches that sometimes even made it impossible to play with the ball at your feet, and that’s why the game became more scrappy.”

Gabriel Caipira’s loan spell ended after Betim were eliminated by CSA in the third round of Serie D. The right-back is under contract with Corinthians until December 31, 2026, and is awaiting a decision on his future after returning to Parque São Jorge.

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