Dorival: Corinthians have the edge, but it’s still wide open | OneFootball

Dorival Júnior emphasized the advantage that Corinthians has over Cruzeiro in the semifinal of the Copa do Brasil. This Wednesday, Timão defeated Raposa 1-0 at Mineirão and now only needs a draw at Neo Química Arena to reach the final. The coach, however, sees the tie as still open and urges caution.

“This weekend’s match will be even tougher. The result is still open. We have an important advantage, but Cruzeiro is an excellent team, very well coached,” said the coach in a press conference.

“You can never be too careful. We have to be aware of that. We’ll have a very similar match this weekend. Honestly, it’s a very important advantage, but if we go in thinking only about defending it, we’ll be taking a huge risk. We’ll need something extra to secure our qualification. Commitment won’t be lacking,” he promised.

Lessons from the defeat

The Corinthians coach admitted that the 3-0 defeat to the same Cruzeiro, in a match valid for the Campeonato Brasileiro, brought lessons to the team. He believes the squad went onto the field much more focused than in the previous match.

“Every match brings lessons, whether you win or lose. Sometimes it goes unnoticed, but a win or a 3-0 loss brings many details that we try to correct. We don’t stand still. The important thing is that we are aware of what we want, of the work being done. Our concern is to respond to our fans,” said Dorival.

“There was a special harmony among everyone. Some results weren’t coming in the Campeonato Brasileiro, which worried us. We had volume, but the final result didn’t happen. There was much greater focus, that’s an important detail, but not the only one. It was a series of factors: the fans’ participation and everyone’s commitment so we could achieve this important result,” he added.

Coach responds to criticism

Dorival avoided talking about the tactical aspect so as not to give Cruzeiro any clues for the return leg, but he responded to criticism directed at him after Corinthians’ poor campaign in the Brasileirão. He emphasized the importance of believing in the work and transmitting confidence to the players.

“After the last match we played here, we heard a lot of things. It’s natural. The evaluations were based on what happened, but we have to trust our work, in what we’re building. Even in games where we played well but ended up losing and didn’t get recognition, we kept quiet and kept working. I think that’s the way,” said the coach.

“We had countless difficulties throughout the season, I tried to explain. Many pretend to understand, others dismiss the explanation, so for me it makes no difference. The important thing is to believe in yourself. Criticism is what humans know how to do. I’m sorry, but those who can’t create are the ones who criticize. We’re here to work. If people don’t understand processes, it’s not up to me to try to explain. Let them keep criticizing. We’ll keep doing things our way. Thank God, this is the sixth semifinal I’ve participated in. The criticism? Let them keep doing it. It doesn’t matter to me,” he concluded.

Situation of the tie

With this result, Corinthians only needs a draw in the second leg, at Neo Química Arena, to advance to the tournament’s grand final. A one-goal defeat for the home side takes the match to penalties. A loss by two or more goals puts Cruzeiro through.

On the other side of the bracket, Vasco and Fluminense begin their battle for a spot in the final this Thursday, at 8pm (Brasília time), at Maracanã.

Corinthians’ next match

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