Julia Passero on first year at Corinthians Under-20s, youth work key | OneFootball

In charge of Corinthians Women’s Under-20 team since February, Julia Passero is experiencing her first season leading the category in 2026 and guiding the Brabinhas through the final challenges of the calendar. The club’s Under-17 Brazilian champion last year, the coach analyzed the change in age group, defended greater recognition for professionals working in player development, and spoke about the challenges involved in developing young athletes. The remarks were made in an interview with Meu Timão.

Julia Passero took over the Under-20 team after Bia Vaz’s departure, as she left Corinthians to join the coaching staff of the Brazil Women’s Under-15 National Team. The change put the coach in front of players going through a different stage of development, close to the final transition into professional football.

Photo: Edu Andrade/Staff Images/CBF

For the black-and-white team’s coach, however, taking over a higher category should not necessarily be interpreted as a promotion. Ju especially highlighted the responsibility of working with athletes who are leaving adolescence behind and beginning to deal with important decisions about continuing their careers.

“I see it as a challenge. In Brazilian and world sports, we usually understand moving up a category as a promotion. I don’t see it that way; I see it as a challenge, and in fact you end up being an example for the other categories. In my career, I’ve been an Under-20 coach at every club I’ve worked for. So, in terms of the relationship with age, these are older athletes, leaving adolescence and entering adulthood, a very uncertain stage that we’ve all gone through. Their challenge is, ‘Wow, what now, what about next year? I only have one more year in youth football—what am I going to do at 21?’ So it’s a fundamental role. I see it as a positive factor and, at the same time, a very challenging one,” she said.

Ju Passero calls for greater recognition of youth coaches

Corinthians Under-20’s performances throughout the season have also put Ju Passero’s name in the spotlight among part of the fan base. Amid criticism aimed at Emily Lima during certain moments of the year, some supporters even called for the Brabinhas coach to take over the professional squad.

The numbers help explain why her work has stood out. In 19 matches played by the Under-20 team in 2026, Ju’s side has recorded 14 wins, four draws, and just one defeat, reaching an 80.70% success rate.

Despite the attention, the coach stressed that she does not see good results in the lower categories as an obligation to move immediately into the professional game. For her, player development also needs qualified coaches in every age group, respecting the different stages of growth.

“I work in youth development. As I said, we have this idea that when someone is getting positive results, they have to move up a category. I don’t think that’s the case; I think we still have a very distorted view of it. You need good coaches at Under-13, Under-15, Under-17, and Under-20. I also believe it’s a natural part of my own development. I don’t think it needs to be rushed; I think there are right phases and right moments.

We’re always going to think, ‘I’m not ready,’ until the opportunity comes at some point. So I will absolutely do my best wherever I am at Corinthians. I certainly have professional ambitions, like everyone does. But today I’m very happy with the Under-20s, I still want to contribute a lot to the players, and my mission is to help them make it to the professional level,” she said.

Her remarks also highlight one of the roles she has taken on in her current work. More than competition results, Ju Passero sees getting athletes into the first team as a central part of her mission with the Under-20s.

Corinthians already has recent examples of that path. Players such as Jhonson and Duda Mineira came through the club’s youth ranks before earning their place among the Brabas.

Repeated opponents become a development challenge

Another point addressed by Ju Passero was the youth-team schedule. In the coach’s view, player development also depends on the chance to face different opponents throughout the season, something that still faces limitations in the national scene.

The example used by the coach was Red Bull Bragantino. Corinthians and the Bragança Paulista side faced each other in the first phase of the Paulista Under-20 Championship, will meet again in the quarterfinals, and were also drawn into the same group in the Women’s Copinha.

As a result, the matchup could be repeated up to six times during the season.

“I see youth development as important so that we can diversify the matchups. And unfortunately, the CBF still doesn’t provide that diversity of opponents. As a result, the matchups end up being regionalized. We’re practically heading into a sixth meeting with Red Bull Bragantino. We faced them in the Paulista group stage, there’s the knockout round, and now there’s also a guaranteed match in the Copinha. There are two sides to it. On the downside, for the players, we already know how they play, we already know the matchups, and the same goes for the coaches, who already know each other and understand each other’s style of play a little more,” she explained.

If the lack of variety can limit some experiences, Ju also sees a development opportunity in that scenario. The accumulated knowledge between opponents increases the need to find new solutions on the pitch, since individual and collective characteristics become known to both sides.

“At the same time, it’s challenging, because you’ll have to do something different. You won’t be able to keep doing the same thing because everything is well mapped out. They already know that maybe a Corinthians player will cut to the right, so she’ll have to make a different play. So I think there are always two sides to the coin, and I think it will also be quite interesting because they end up creating an internal rivalry.

We had a really good first phase in the Paulista, with a lot of team growth, and as we say, the teams come in fired up for revenge. So I think that definitely motivates them, and representing Corinthians in a competition with enormous visibility is motivating,” she concluded.

Corinthians will have the Paulista and Copinha in the final stretch of 2026

Ju Passero is now focusing her work on the Brabinhas’ final commitments of the season. The first challenge will be precisely against Red Bull Bragantino, in the quarterfinals of the Women’s Paulista Under-20 Championship.

The first leg is scheduled for October 17 at Estádio Benito Agnelo Castellano. A week later, on the 24th, Corinthians will host the Bragança Paulista side at Fazendinha to decide who advances in the state tournament.

After that, attention turns to the fourth edition of the Women’s Copinha, scheduled to take place between November and December. Corinthians was drawn into Group B, named Copan, alongside Red Bull Bragantino, Atlético-MG, and Ação-MT.

The run closes out a year of change for Ju Passero, who began 2026 after winning the Women’s Under-17 Brazilian Championship and went on to work with the last category before professional football. Between results, individual development, and decisions about the players’ futures, the coach has made development the central focus of her first year leading Corinthians’ black-and-white Under-20 side.

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