Corinthians keeper: Yuri Alberto’s form, busy schedule, Supercopa

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Central do Timão

·24 de enero de 2026

Corinthians keeper: Yuri Alberto’s form, busy schedule, Supercopa

By Fabio Luigi / Central do Timão Editorial Team

On the evening of last Thursday (22), Corinthians visited Santos at Vila Belmiro, in a match valid for the fourth round of the first phase of the 2026 Paulista Championship, and ended up drawing 1-1. The Corinthians' goal was scored by forward Yuri Alberto at the beginning of the first half. With the result, the Alvinegro remained in seventh place in the state championship with five points – only the top eight advance to the knockout stage.

Right after the end of the Alvinegro classic, goalkeeper Hugo Souza gave an interview to the press and was asked about Yuri Alberto's performance. Minutes before scoring the goal that opened the scoring, the number 9 missed a penalty after making an individual play on the right wing, where he passed five players. The number 1 also talked about the player's recent penalty performance – he missed four of the last five.

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“I don't think so. Yuri played a great game today. He worked the plays, was fighting with the defenders. He alone created some good chances for us, goal situations for us. Missing the penalty doesn't erase that. We have to work on it. Not just him, but everyone, on this finishing, because it makes a difference. He played a great game, he should leave today applauded. Yuri is our top scorer. I support the guy who scores goals.”

“In training, he kicks very well. It's a part he might need to focus on a bit more, I don't know. But he's doing very well in training. He has to take on this responsibility, even because he had this bad streak, but he has already had his good phase. I'm sure he will continue to help. This is something that comes from him. He has to make the decision of 'I'll let him take it', only he can say. Letting someone else take it is between him and coach Dorival,” he began.

Later, he commented on the controversial foul right at the edge of the area, where referee Lucas Canetto Belotte called a foul by Gustavo Henrique on Lautaro Díaz, which, with Gabriel Barbosa's shot, the opponent ended up tying the match. The referee, in fact, was suspended by the Paulista Football Federation's (FPF) refereeing committee.

“Gustavo even posted the play on his social media. It was very clear that it was a refereeing mistake. We are tired of talking about refereeing and how somehow they end up interfering in the game. We are tired of talking about this. Today it was like this once again. He was unfortunate in the play, it's very clear that Gustavo only went for the ball and the guy stepped on him. But it's over. We have to move on, work.”

“The team played a great game today. We played at the opponent's home and were better than them. We needed to be able to circulate the ball, kill the game. Take better advantage of the opportunities. In the end, there was this misfortune, and they ended up tying. I hope the refereeing can look in the mirror and try to improve. And when I say 'hinder us', it's not just Corinthians, it's everyone. Bad refereeing hinders everyone,” he continued.

Immediately after, the Corinthians goalkeeper analyzed the intense match schedule. In 20 days since the team's return, the Alvinegro has already played four rounds of the Paulista Championship and, next week, will debut in the Brasileirão against Bahia on Wednesday (28), and on Sunday (1), will face Flamengo in Brasília in the Supercopa do Brasil final.

“The schedule is a bit demanding for us, but we have to try to get back to our level as quickly as possible. A bit more effort on our part. It's hard to be fit to play, especially with one game after another, with no time to train; just recover and play. We need to look at this to improve the physical part. We have to give our best to reach our best form as quickly as possible,” he added.

Finally, he was asked if the physical difference between Corinthians and Flamengo in the Supercopa decision could make a difference. This is because, in the first rounds of the Carioca Championship, the Rubro-Negro has been using the Under-20 team, and so far, the main players have only been on the field in one match. Like the Alvinegro, the Cariocas had games in 2025 until the second week of December – the Intercontinental Cup dispute – and have been preserving the starters in the first matches of the year.

“We shouldn't think about our rival at this moment. The Paulista Championship is different from the others. The Carioca has its difficulties too, it's a quality championship, but it offers this opportunity for teams to rest players. The Paulista Championship doesn't allow this. The difficulty we and all other teams face against the smaller teams. It's a championship that has been shortened. There are only eight games, so you can't slip up. We have one win, one loss, and two draws and we are in seventh place. This is not good for us and shows the level of competitiveness that the Paulista has. We have to adapt to be fit as quickly as possible. Improve physical, technical level,” he concluded.

Before the debut in the Brasileirão and the Supercopa do Brasil final, Corinthians remains focused on the Paulista Championship. Next Sunday (25), at 8:30 pm (Brasília time), the Alvinegro team visits Velo Clube at the Benito A. Castellano Stadium for the fifth round of the first phase of the state championship and is expected to go with a modified team for the game.

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