In Brasileirão defeat, defender returns for Corinthians after five months | OneFootball

On Sunday night (16), Corinthians faced Cruzeiro at Neo Química Arena in a match valid for the 23rd round of the 2026 Brazilian Championship and lost 2-1. Corinthians’ goal was scored by center-back Gustavo Henrique in the 13th minute of the first half. The defeat dropped Timão to ninth place with 32 points — eight wins, eight draws, and seven losses — with 25 goals scored and 22 conceded.

The match against the Minas Gerais side marked center-back João Pedro Tchoca’s return to the pitch for the first time since March 19. On that occasion, he played the full 90 minutes in a scoreless draw against Chapecoense at Arena Condá in the seventh round of the Brazilian Championship. After that match, he was included in the squad but remained on the bench against Flamengo (March 22, 1-1 in Itaquera, eighth round) and Fluminense (a 3-1 loss at the Maracanã, ninth round).

Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Agência Corinthians

Against Cruzeiro, he came on in the ninth minute of the second half to replace Gabriel Paulista, who left the field with hip pain. According to Sofascore, a sports statistics app, the 22-year-old posted the following numbers in the match: three clearances, two blocked shots, 3/3 ground duels won, 1/1 aerial duel won, eight defensive actions, seven carries, 28 touches, 17/19 accurate passes, and 1/2 accurate long balls. His rating on the app was 7.3.

He later suffered an inguinal hernia injury and had to undergo surgery in the area, which kept him out of training until the break for the 2026 World Cup. A few days after the squad returned following the pause, he began the transition process and was included again in Timão’s match squads, but without leaving the bench in any of them.

Before returning to action, he was among the substitutes in matches against Remo (H), Bahia (A), Athletico-PR (H), Internacional (A), Internacional (H), RB Bragantino (A), and Rosario Central-ARG (A). These matches were part of the Brazilian Championship, the Copa do Brasil round of 16, and the Libertadores, respectively.

Earlier in the current season, the No. 4 had made only five appearances, with one goal scored — in the 1-1 draw against Cruzeiro at Mineirão in the fourth round of the Brazilian Championship. In January, Corinthians had even agreed to his transfer to Torino of Italy, but the youngster failed the Italian club’s medical exams — despite coming off consecutive appearances for Timão — and ended up being reintegrated into the squad at CT Dr. Joaquim Grava.

Besides him, Corinthians have the following defensive options: Gabriel Paulista, Gustavo Henrique, André Ramalho, and Iago Machado — the latter is a starter for the Under-20 side and has already been included in first-team match squads, and could get minutes with the senior team soon. A product of Corinthians’ academy, Tchoca has 100 appearances for the club’s Under-17 (18) and Under-20 (82) teams, with 61 wins, 19 draws, and 20 losses.

João Pedro Tchoca was promoted to Corinthians’ first team after winning the 2024 Copa São Paulo de Futebol Jr against Cruzeiro in the final. That year, he formed a center-back partnership with Renato during the title run. Initially, with the senior team, he did not get many opportunities under Antônio Oliveira and Ramón Díaz. In August of that same year, he was loaned to Ceará for six months.

With the northeastern club, he played 10 matches and became a starter in the closing stretch of Série B, playing an important role in Vozão’s promotion back to the top flight of Brazilian football after two seasons. At the start of 2025, he returned to Corinthians and began to be used frequently by the Díaz family and later by Dorival Júnior, earning an important role in the squad.

Overall, in a Corinthians shirt, he has two goals and one assist in 38 matches (30 as a starter), with 19 wins, 12 draws, and only seven losses — a 60.5% success rate. In addition, he was part of the title-winning squads in the Campeonato Paulista and Copa do Brasil, against Palmeiras and Vasco da Gama, respectively. During the Supercopa triumph over Flamengo in Brasília, he was undergoing medical tests in Italy.

With Tchoca available now, Corinthians turn their attention to the second leg of the 2026 Conmebol Libertadores round of 16. Next Thursday (20), at 9:30 p.m. (Brasília time), Alvinegro will face Rosario Central-ARG, also at Neo Química Arena. If there is another draw, the team advancing to the quarterfinals will be decided by a penalty shootout.

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