Ramalho praises Corinthians' defensive solidity, hails Dorival's tactics | OneFootball

Corinthians defeated Cruzeiro 1-0 on Wednesday night at Mineirão, gaining an advantage in the semifinals of the Copa do Brasil. After the match, defender André Ramalho spoke about the team’s strong performance in Belo Horizonte and praised the defensive solidity of Timão, who have still not conceded any goals in the competition.

“We played a great match. We owed ourselves a game with this level of focus, this level of commitment. We’re celebrating, but with our feet on the ground. We know the quality of Cruzeiro. We’re going to prepare well to secure qualification in the next game,” said the defender in an interview with SporTV.

“We ask ourselves why we can’t maintain this consistency in the Brazilian Championship. It’s something we’re going to work on to improve next year. That will be the challenge. The most important thing is that we managed to set aside the Brazilian Championship, which was below our expectations, and prepared very well for today’s match. Once again, we didn’t concede a goal, and we know how important that is,” he added.

Dorival’s Strategy

André Ramalho praised Dorival Júnior’s strategy. According to the defender, the instructions given by the coach were decisive for Corinthians to be able to neutralize Cruzeiro’s attack.

“Dorival always studies the opponent a lot. It doesn’t always work out, but today I believe it worked very well. We worked hard in all areas to stay compact, and when possible, to press high up the pitch. Thanks to Dorival’s good analysis and the entire staff, they managed to pass that on to us and we executed it very well,” he analyzed.

Situation of the Matchup

With this result, Corinthians only need a draw in the second leg at Neo Química Arena to advance to the tournament final. A one-goal loss for Corinthians takes the match to penalties. If they lose by two or more goals, Cruzeiro advances.

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

Corinthians’ Next Match

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