Lucas Oliveira hails Corinthians response after futsal win, eyes season | OneFootball

Corinthians earned their first victory in the 2026 National Futsal League (LNF) by defeating Magnus 2-0 on Friday night (03) at Ginásio Wlamir Marques. The goals for the black-and-white team were scored by Fabinho and Da Bonja. With the result, Timão now have three points from two matches and move up to seventh place in the standings.

After the match, goalkeeper Lucas Oliveira spoke to the press and highlighted the team’s response after the opening-round defeat, while also commenting on the squad’s current moment and looking ahead to the next challenges of the season.

Photo: Beto Miller / Corinthians

The goalkeeper began by assessing Corinthians’ change in attitude compared to the first game and stressed the importance of the win against a direct rival.

“In that first game in Joinville, we fell short at the start of the match. I said a few stronger words, we talked in the locker room too and, man, about this game, the best thing about futsal is having a match like this after the defeat we had, because we managed to turn the page. Now we’ve got another Paulista game and another away derby, but the atmosphere is completely different, and our confidence also grows. That’s it, this is Corinthians. And that’s what we’re going to keep doing.”

Lucas then commented on his leadership role within the squad after the departure of Deives, who was one of the most experienced players, and emphasized the group’s importance in the process.

“With the time I’ve spent at the club and the connection I have here, I’m also very happy to have built this bond with the fans. There are a few leaders, right? Me and Caio, who arrived last year, but he has strong leadership, and today our captain is Poto Martins, who has also been here for ten years, five with the senior team, and has won a title too. Like I said there at the arena, at Itaquerão, during our presentation, we have to make up for Deives’ absence. It’s very difficult — on the court we won’t be able to replace him, because the little guy is beyond words — but the leadership he had, the connection with the fans... We have to make up for that, and every day we’re going to do a little more to try to fill that gap.”

The goalkeeper also spoke about the internal battle for the position and the importance of healthy competition among the squad members.

“He decides it together with Jonathan week by week, but it’s a good competition. The three of us are very close friends. Kelvin and I are the ones who play the most, but when the other one comes in, he delivers too. And that’s good in everyday work, because it’s one spot or another, right? It doesn’t let anyone show up and train carelessly, it doesn’t let anyone get comfortable. That shows in games. And we’re sure of it — the group also trusts us a lot. We know that whoever plays will deliver.”

Looking ahead to the rest of the season, Lucas highlighted the team’s improvement and the importance of maintaining the level shown against Magnus.

“Yes, it’s another derby, right? Actually, I think we had a poor first half there, conceding the three goals, and then in a game at that level, whether against Joinville, Magnus, or even Carlos Barbosa, which are national derbies, it’s very hard to come back, right? There our second half was good, we even had more chances, but what happened at the start couldn’t happen. Today it was already a completely different identity, and from here on it has to be this and more, right? We talked about it a little — it has to be this and more. We’ve got a Paulista match in the middle of this stretch, which we also have to win, because that matters later on if we want to bring the deciding matches here to our home court. And now we’re going to Carlos Barbosa knowing it’s a tough game, knowing it’s another derby, but Corinthians have to go into any game to win.”, he added.

Still on the upcoming schedule, the player reinforced the importance of making home-court advantage count throughout the season.

“The expectation is to play a great game, like we did today, and get the win. As I said, in the Paulista we can’t drop points at home, no matter the opponent — whether it’s Praia Grande, Magnus, whoever — and we have to make our home court count to bring the finals here, because like last year, we played both finals away from home. And just like the fans, we know how much that influences things. Even though our fans went there in Sorocaba, it’s a different court, and in Jaraguá they gave our fans very few tickets. And bringing it here, we saw everything that happened last year, what our fans did. We know the fans help win games, so we need to win and bring the finals home.”

Lucas also highlighted the support from the fans at Wlamir Marques and the importance of Fiel’s presence at the games.

“Ah, it’s sensational, right? I think every game we play here with Fiel is sensational. And we hope more and more that we can bring the fans in, just like we did in last year’s finals, because it’s very important for us to have Fiel here with us, playing alongside us.”

Finally, the goalkeeper spoke about the team’s goal in the first phase of the National League and also commented on the presence of young players in the squad.

“The goal is to finish among the top four, right? If possible, first place, but at least among the top four, so we can skip a round, right? To have that rest, so to speak, and bring the finals here to our home.”

“Yes, I think because this is Corinthians, because of the work the academy does here, the biggest futsal project in the world, I think the youngsters being used is natural. Of course, this year it’s been a little more than usual, but there have always been academy players. Martins himself is here, I also came through the academy here, left, but came back. They create an atmosphere that maybe in the locker room we don’t like the music very much, but anyway (laughs). On the court they’re delivering. The kids played today, Bredof played 25, 30 minutes, Bancatelli also played a lot, and they’re delivering. I always say it can be a young guy, it can be an older guy — if he’s at Corinthians, he’s good, he has to be good. Thank God the youngsters here are stepping up, and we’re doing everything we can to help them, and they’re helping us too,” Lucas concluded.

After the positive result, Corinthians now turn their attention to the rest of the season. Their next match will be on Wednesday (08), at 7:30 p.m. (Brasília time), against Praia Grande, at Ginásio Wlamir Marques, for the Paulista Futsal Championship.

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