Piccinato hails Corinthians’ progress, warns: “Didn’t compete” | OneFootball

In front of almost eight thousand fans at Canindé, Corinthians drew 2-2 with São Paulo on the morning of this Sunday, the 31st, in the second leg of the Women’s Brazilian Championship. With this result, the Brabas qualified for the tournament final, where they will face Cruzeiro, and also secured a spot in the next Copa Libertadores in 2026.

After the match, coach Lucas Piccinato spoke to the press in a press conference, where he analyzed the team’s performance: “We had a good moment and a bad moment. We started the game very badly. We didn’t duel against São Paulo. We didn’t compete. Even though we spent the whole week focusing on that, on competing in the game, on forgetting the natural advantage, the work on the other side too, we were focused on trying to overturn the result and start the game with more intensity.”

Photo: Rodrigo Gazzanel / Ag. Corinthians

He continued his analysis. “We knew we were going to start with more intensity, but we started very badly. After that really bad first moment, we balanced things out. We managed to score our goals. In this return to the second half of the season, where we’ve been playing well, this was definitely our worst performance. But, obviously, I’m happy to qualify. The final will be a great duel between two great teams, the two best teams in the competition, for sure,” he declared.

Asked about the tactical changes made at halftime, Piccinato explained: “São Paulo really neutralized our 3-5-2, put on very individualized marking, and we couldn’t play. During the match, São Paulo played differently, put five on the back line, (so) we wanted to put a line of five to stop the bleeding. I regret the (equalizing) goal but I think we suffered a bit less in the second half than at the start of the game, when we were suffering a lot more.”

Piccinato also responded whether he considered the qualification as revenge for the runner-up finish in the Supercopa do Brasil in March. “Ah, the feeling was good today. The São Paulo team entered the Supercopa because another team withdrew, right? São Paulo wasn’t even supposed to play. And they had a great final, a lot of credit to Thiago’s work and his athletes. But, obviously, it hurt, right? I think it’s a very special feeling to qualify again. To beat São Paulo in the knockout stage is a great feeling. Very happy!” he said.

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