Gustavo Henrique hails draw for Corinthians, squad strength in Bogotá | OneFootball

Corinthians secured an important away draw on Wednesday night (6). In the fourth round of the CONMEBOL Libertadores group stage, Timão drew 1-1 with Independiente Santa Fe at El Campín Stadium in Bogotá and kept the lead in Group E with ten points.

The man responsible for the black-and-white side’s goal was center-back Gustavo Henrique, who once again made a decisive impact in attack and secured Corinthians’ equalizer in the final minutes of the match. After the game, the defender highlighted the set play that led to the goal and praised the work done in training.

Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Agência Corinthians

“It’s a play we’re used to making, we’re very strong at it, and we train a lot to make those movements. Matheuzinho’s cross was also very good, and I was able to make the movement really well to help the team come away with a point,” he said.

According to Sodascore data, Gustavo Henrique finished the match with a rating of 8.0, playing the full 90 minutes. The defender recorded five clearances, one blocked shot, and eight defensive actions over the course of the match, in addition to scoring in the draw in Bogotá.

In addition to the goal he scored, Gustavo Henrique has been racking up decisive contributions in a Corinthians shirt. In 98 matches for the club, the defender has 14 direct goal involvements and ranks among the players with the most attacking contributions in the squad this season.

The No. 13 celebrated his good individual form but stressed that the team’s focus remains on recovering in the Brazilian Championship.

“I’m very happy with this moment, and I thank God for the opportunity to wear this shirt in such a major competition. I try to enjoy it as much as possible. I try not to look too much at the numbers, just to do my best in every game. I’m very happy with this moment, it’s a very good time for me personally, individually.”

“We keep working day by day with humility so that now we can focus on the Brazilian Championship, because that position bothers us a lot and we’re going to work to try to get out of it as quickly as possible,” he added.

After the final whistle, there was a brief scuffle involving players from both teams. Gustavo Henrique commented briefly on the incident and explained that the Corinthians players ran to protect goalkeeper Hugo Souza.

“Actually, I couldn’t see much. I saw the Santa Fe players running toward Hugo, and everyone ran over to protect him. I don’t know what happened, I couldn’t talk to Hugo to really find out what happened, but I think it’s part of the game. They were nervous too because they conceded the goal practically in the final minute of the match.”

The center-back also criticized the stadium security’s behavior while the players were trying to thank the Corinthians fans who were in Bogotá for their support.

“Regarding the security staff, I believe they also need to rethink things a little, because our fans travel for many hours to be able to enjoy the moment, to enjoy a bit of happiness. Football is joy, football is celebration when possible, so we tried our best to thank and celebrate with our fans, who deserved to celebrate with us.”

During the interview, Gustavo Henrique also spoke about the difficulties Corinthians faced due to the Colombian altitude and the condition of the pitch at El Campín.

“The pitch was a bit uneven. We like to play with quick passing, and the altitude ended up making things a little harder, but we knew we had to overcome the altitude and we managed to earn this point.”

The defender also praised the team’s attitude after going behind on the scoreboard and highlighted the fighting spirit of Fernando Diniz’s squad.

“I believe we were having a good game. We ended up conceding a goal because of a lapse from us early in the second half, but we didn’t give up. With the substitutions, we managed to push their team back a little. I was fortunate with the header from a great cross by Matheuzinho. Corinthians means never giving up. We never gave up at any moment and we earned this important point.”

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