Vasco use FIFA break to cement revival in the Brasileirão | OneFootball

Vasco heads into the FIFA international break in a different situation from the one it faced during the last pause in the season. The 5-0 thrashing of Coritiba last Saturday at São Januário took the team to 31 points and lifted the Giant of the Hill out of the relegation zone of the Brazilian Championship.

The change is due to Pedro Emanuel’s work and the adjustments made to the squad during the second half of the year. The coach found a more competitive team, while the new signings expanded the options for the rest of the season.

The current moment also contrasts with the stoppage between June and July. During that period, Vasco fell into the bottom four and began a phase of changes that culminated in a change of head coach and a squad overhaul.

Now, the break gives Pedro Emanuel more time to work on concepts and fine-tune the team before the Brazilian Championship resumes. The next match in the competition will be against Botafogo on October 7 at Nilton Santos.

Recent run shows improvement

The response is also showing in the results. In their last five Brazilian Championship matches, Vasco has recorded three wins and two losses. Across all competitions, the team is unbeaten in four matches and has three straight victories.

The result against Coritiba also carried weight because of the way it was built. Facundo Colidio, Bruno Duarte, Alan Lescano, Andrés Gómez, and Ramon Rique scored the goals in Vasco’s biggest win of the current edition of the tournament.

The scoreline also ended a period of more than a year without a victory by five or more goals. The last had come in August 2025, when Vasco beat Santos 6-0 at Morumbi.

Big win boosts confidence for the final stretch

The performance against Coritiba also brought an important component to Pedro Emanuel’s planning: confidence. Vasco controlled the game, did not concede, and managed to turn its dominance into an emphatic scoreline.

The match also featured goals from players who have gained space in the squad. Lescano scored in his first start at São Januário, while Ramon Rique netted his first professional goal for Vasco.

Vasco eases pressure in relegation battle

Getting out of the bottom four does not end the battle at the lower end of the table, but it changes Vasco’s situation heading into the break. The team will have two weeks of preparation before returning to the Brazilian Championship and will be able to use the period to recover players and further improve the squad.

The challenge will be to turn the recent reaction into consistency. With the Brazilian Championship, the Copa do Brasil, and the Copa Sudamericana on the calendar, Pedro Emanuel faces a final stretch of the season with several fronts of competition.

The win over Coritiba, therefore, represents more than just three points. The result moved Vasco out of the relegation zone and created a more favorable scenario for the coach to work during the FIFA international break.

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