Midfielder hits impressive milestone for Corinthians in the 21st century | OneFootball

On the night of last Sunday (10), Corinthians hosted São Paulo at Neo Química Arena in the Majestoso derby for the 15th round of the 2026 Brazilian Championship, beating their rival 3-2. Corinthians’ goals were scored by Raniele, Matheuzinho, and Breno Bidon. The three points moved the team out of the relegation zone — into 16th place with 18 points — with four wins, six draws, and five losses, as well as 11 goals scored and 13 conceded.

Besides scoring the goal that opened the scoring in the derby, Raniele reached an important milestone for Corinthians. The No. 14 became the ninth defensive midfielder with the most appearances for the club in the 21st century (136). He was signed at the beginning of 2024, after standing out for Avaí and Cuiabá in the 2022 and 2023 seasons, respectively. He recently moved past Edenilson, who wore the Corinthians shirt between 2011 and 2013 and made 133 appearances, in Timão’s select ranking.

Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Agência Corinthians

Ahead of Raniele on the list are: Ralf, Elias, Fabinho, Maycon, Gabriel, and Paulinho — check out the top 10 at the end of this article. The numbers were provided by the Meu Timão portal. The 29-year-old midfielder will continue trying to improve these marks and is now chasing Marcelo Mattos, eighth in the ranking with 159 appearances across two spells at the club — 2005 to 2007 / 2009 to 2010. In total, he won the Brazilian Championship (2005), the Copa do Brasil (2009), and the Paulista Championship (2009).

As mentioned, Raniele has been at Corinthians for just over two years and, since then, has recorded five goals and two assists for the club from Parque São Jorge. Since arriving, he has been considered one of the team’s pillars, starting most of the time during this period. He was part of the team’s surge in the 2024 Brasileirão (from the relegation zone to the Libertadores qualifying rounds), and also took part in the titles won in the Paulista Championship (2025), Copa do Brasil (2025), and Supercopa do Brasil (2026), against Palmeiras, Vasco da Gama, and Flamengo, respectively.

With the No. 14 on the field, Corinthians will return to action this Thursday (14) at 7:30 p.m. (Brasília time) to face Barra, from Santa Catarina, in the fifth round of the 2026 Copa do Brasil at Neo Química Arena. In the first leg, played at Estádio da Ressacada, Timão won 1-0, with the goal scored by attacking midfielder Jesse Lingard late in the second half. A draw will send Alvinegro through to the round of 16.

Defensive midfielders with the most appearances for Corinthians in the 21st century:

1) Ralf – 437 appearances (10G and 11A) 2) Elias – 253 appearances (41G and 29A) 3) Fabinho – 247 appearances (17G and 9A) 3) Maycon – 247 appearances (18G and 16A) 5) Gabriel – 238 appearances (8G and 2A) 6) Paulinho – 219 appearances (40G and 15A) 7) Fabrício de Souza – 163 appearances (8G and 6A) 8) Marcelo Mattos – 159 appearances (20G and 3A) 9) Raniele – 136 appearances (5G and 2A) 10) Edenilson – 133 appearances (4G and 9A)

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