Corinthians idol: National League progress and retirement emotions

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Central do Timão

·19 de octubre de 2025

Corinthians idol: National League progress and retirement emotions

By Fabio Luigi / Central do Timão Editorial Team

On the night of last Friday, October 17, Corinthians faced Carlos Barbosa at the Wlamir Marques Gymnasium, Parque São Jorge, for the second leg of the Round of 16 of the National Futsal League (LNF), and won by a score of 2-1, with goals from Luisinho and Deives, advancing to the quarterfinals. In the first match, both teams drew 1-1.

After the match, Corinthians’ pivot and idol, Deives, commented on the many emotions he has been experiencing wearing the Corinthians shirt, since—at 40 years old—he is living his final year as a player and, even so, is still performing well, with 34 goals scored just this season. His contract with the Alvinegro ends in December this year.

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Photo: Agência Corinthians

“I’m living through a whirlwind, because I’m happy to be helping the team in this final stretch of my Corinthians career. Another goal, qualification. But I confess that today, a movie played in my head that this could have been my last National League game at Parque São Jorge. My family knows the effort I’m making to be on the court. The physical effort off it. But I truly believe that this marriage between Deives and Corinthians deserves to end in a beautiful way, just like these almost ten years at the club,” he began.

He then highlighted the strong turnout from the fans, after most of the season saw unsatisfactory attendance at Parque São Jorge: “Today we had a bit more of our supporters by our side. And I even think that for the group, this ended up generating a certain anxiety because we practically played the whole year at home with the gym empty. And today, with the fans, with the gym looking so beautiful, I think at the start the team felt it a bit. But it’s a whirlwind going through my head. I’m very happy to be able to help the team. Last season, individually speaking, it’s one of my best in terms of numbers. So I confess that I have to thank my teammates, the coaching staff, the board, who make me feel very comfortable to finish this season as it should be,” he said.

Later, he commented on the feeling of scoring against his former club and did not fail to show his gratitude to Carlos Barbosa. The number 10 also emphasized that he is trying to ‘enjoy to the fullest’ his last moments on the court.

“I told them in the game there that I was born in Rio Grande do Sul and when we’re born there, we wanted to play either for Carlos Barbosa, when we were kids, or for the old Ugra. It’s a traditional team worldwide. And in my last encounter, being able to score a goal against Carlos Barbosa, playing against friends I’ll have for life, like Murilo, it’s really cool. It’s different, man. I’m very happy, especially to have the fans back. I confess I was a bit anxious to see the crowd back here at Parque São Jorge. We get much stronger, we’ll need our fans’ support a lot in this final stretch, but I’m very happy to help the team with another goal against Carlos Barbosa. This giant on the world stage.”

“That’s the word, I’m trying to enjoy and make the most of it. This is a year I wish would go by very slowly, but it’s flying, I’m terrified. Sometimes I find myself, I come in here alone, when I come to train, I keep thinking: ‘My God, it’s ending, man. It can’t be that this… Man, it feels like I just got here yesterday’.”

Deives also made a point to mention the importance of everyone involved in his daily life so that his career ends in the best possible way. He also revealed that he was offered a contract renewal for another year, and spoke about the possibility of the Wlamir Marques Gymnasium hosting the Futsal Libertadores.

“So, it’s all been worth it, even this final stretch is really worth it, because I come to work and train with incredible people who are helping me a lot, who understand the physical sacrifice off the court that I need to make to perform. We push ourselves a lot, because I really understand that here we have to respect, above all, the club’s history, a club that is huge, one of the biggest in the world, and it’s a club I love, I never hid that from anyone. I wasn’t born a Corinthians fan, but today I have two Corinthians sons. I make a point of demanding in the locker room, that it’s about respecting the Corinthians shirt, the history of this club, giving everything we can on this court here. So, we just ask for the fans’ presence to encourage us.”

“That was discussed this week. In fact, I had a conversation, and let it be very clear. The Corinthians board is being fantastic with me, with my family, they’re making me feel very comfortable, the club offered me the possibility to continue for another season, they left me free to decide calmly in this final stretch. The board is being incredible, Marcão (Marco Polo – director of terrestrial sports) is a sensational guy. So, I’m very grateful for this moment, I’m very grateful to the board, the supervision, my teammates.”

He continued: “We’re taking it game by game, thinking about trying to give our best on the court, obviously I don’t hide from anyone, I never hid from anyone that the Libertadores is the only title I’m missing with the Corinthians shirt. But, obviously, neither the club nor Deives should count on that, especially since Corinthians is competing with other giant clubs as well. This possibility, and let it be clear, the club is doing everything it can, respecting me, and I’m very grateful for that.”

Finally, he was asked about his post-career plans, but preferred not to reveal them at this time. The Corinthians Futsal idol also spoke about the affection from the fans and the possibility of ending his cycle at the club with the ‘cherry on top’—an LNF title, emphasizing that he is beginning to realize what he represents for the institution.

“I can’t stay at home, especially because I can’t even manage it. I’m a very active guy, but I can’t give any spoilers about that yet, we’ll go little by little… I’m not going to give away to you what’s going to happen, but we’re doing well. We have to focus here mainly on the futsal department, on the competitions we have, we have to finish the Paulista Championship, the National League, so that we can reach the finals of the competition.”

“I’ve been living this last year with a lot of affection from the fans, after the episode that happened with my son. Both I and my family have already experienced this, and it made me develop a huge affection for the club, but I confess that in this last season I’m starting to get a sense, not only of the affection from the children, the members, the fans, I live here at Parque São Jorge. When I go to the stadium, it’s really cool, it’s very gratifying. I’m very grateful for all the affection I receive from the Corinthians fans, I think the fans end up feeling represented, and that for me is priceless, and I hope and will dedicate myself so that it’s like this until the last game.”

“The cherry on top for me would be a National League title, being a three-time champion with Corinthians. Whether here or not, we don’t know, but being National League champion would be perfect for me. I think it would be beautiful, we have to go step by step, I think we have to give the right weight to this sequence in the competitions we still have, in the quarterfinals of the Paulista Championship, in the National League. So, obviously, I’m going to fight hard for that and I hope my teammates help me, and they are helping me a lot so that we can crown this year in the final stretch with a National League and Paulista Championship title.”

Now, Corinthians awaits Magnus or Santo André in the quarterfinals of the national tournament. If it’s the team from Sorocaba, Corinthians will play the first match at home, since they had a worse campaign in the classification phase. On the other hand, if the opponent is the team from ABC Paulista, the club from Parque São Jorge will play the second game at Wlamir Marques, since they had a better campaign so far.

Before that, Timão will return to the court next Thursday, October 23, to face Pulo Campinas, for the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Paulista Futsal Championship, at 7pm (Brasília time), away from home.

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