Diniz lauds Corinthians win over Grêmio, André and Kaio César improving | OneFootball

Corinthians defeated Grêmio 3-1 on Saturday night (30) at Arena do Grêmio in the 18th round of the Brazilian Championship. The black-and-white side’s goals were scored by André Luiz, twice, and Kaio César. After the match, head coach Fernando Diniz spoke at a press conference and assessed the importance of the result before the break in the calendar for the World Cup.

Asked about the significance of the win, the coach said the result meant more than just three points for Corinthians, especially because of the internal discomfort caused by the team’s proximity to the relegation zone.

Photos: Victor Lannes/Agência Corinthians

“First of all, good evening. Second, it’s a great pleasure to see you. I’ve had a lot of affection for you for a long time. This final round meant a lot to us and to many teams. For Corinthians to be in the relegation zone or close to it is something that is somewhat unacceptable. And there was a great deal of discomfort among everyone. We had had a very good Libertadores campaign, despite the last result at home.

And this win was very important for us. I think we go into the break with the calm and peace of mind we deserved because of the dedication of the players and everyone at the club. From the board to the staff, even those we don’t value enough, like the security guards and kit men. Corinthians is a very different, very united community. I think everyone deserved this break, beyond the players, who are the main ones, and the fans—they deserved it because of the position we’ll be in,” he added.

Next, Diniz commented on the planning for the second half of the season and again stressed that the club’s priority in the next transfer window is to keep the core of the squad, while also seeking a few targeted signings.

“We’re always working. The coach and the board never really go on vacation, literally. As I said, in this window, in terms of planning, the most important thing is to try to keep the team together and sign one or two players, if we have the conditions to bring them in. I’ll say it again: I really like the Corinthians squad. I think we have good possibilities, and there are players who are improving. The tendency, with this break, is for us to make good use of this time, both to rest and then to prepare for the second half of the season.”

The coach also analyzed the team’s offensive improvement, as Corinthians scored three away goals for the first time in this Brasileirão. Diniz highlighted the growth of Kaio César, who scored one of the goals, and also praised André Luiz, who scored twice.

“I’ll start with the last part. Kaio has been growing a lot, both in training and in matches. He’s a player who was little known here in Brazil, because he left Coritiba very early for Portugal. In Portugal he did very well. I even tried to bring Kaio to Vasco in this transfer window, but he ended up coming to Corinthians. Then he also did well in Saudi Arabia. And he’s a different kind of player, the kind everyone looks for nowadays: a winger who can win one-on-one duels. On top of that, he’s a young player who is becoming more and more familiar with what it means to play for a club the size of Corinthians. And it seems like he’s enjoying that more and more, feeling increasingly comfortable. He’s also very well accepted by the group of players. So his progress makes us very happy, but I think Kaio is only at the beginning. I think he still has a lot to do to make the Corinthians fans happy.

The other question was about the three away goals. We like simple answers—there’s no magic. If you look back, the game was on Wednesday, and if you look at the match against Atlético Mineiro, I think André was being heavily criticized, even a little before that. And today he must be receiving huge praise. I said in the last interview that he’s a young player who will still have ups and downs, but his potential is enormous. He’s the kind of player who can do this and even more than this. He’s getting used to being the player he has to be. It’s not a simple thing. André has a lot of physical energy, energy that stands out from most players who play in Brazil. So he has great athletic ability, good technique, and he’s learning to solve problems in a different way from how he did in the youth ranks. Because he will also sometimes face more defensive teams, players who also have good physical condition, similar to his in some ways. So he’s learning, he’s improving, and within that development, inconsistency is the most normal thing there is.

And with the three goals the team scored, Yuri also had a very interesting match. In addition to helping defensively, he was very creative, especially in the second half. And he’s coming back; he’s also a guy who strongly identifies with the fans. Everyone knows there was that comment, and he must have regretted it too. But Yuri has a strong connection with the fans. He’s been here for five years, he’s been very important with many goals, and the fans have also been very important to him. So that relationship will become harmonious again, because he is very important here to all of us. He is important for the fans as well,” he added.

Finally, Diniz took stock of his first months in charge of Corinthians and said that the away win in the Brasileirão was an important result to close this period before the break.

“I’m very satisfied with the work, regardless of today’s result specifically. And today, maybe, in terms of wrapping up this period of work, it was one of our best games, just like against São Paulo and Peñarol. Playing away from home, I think it was certainly our best match. The beginning wasn’t good, but still in the first half we started to control territory and also perform better than Grêmio, creating good chances and allowing little to Grêmio. In the second half we were far superior and deserved the win.

But I think what was maybe missing—even talking about this with Marcelo Paz, he said this five or six days ago—what we needed to finish really well was an away win in the Brazilian Championship, and that ended up happening. So it was a reward for us, a very deserved reward. The points percentage, I think since I arrived, doing the math, is 65%, which is a good rate. We can have an even better rate; Corinthians has to think about that, think about always being near the top of the Brasileirão table and also having the qualities needed to be strong in the decisive moments of the cup competitions,” he concluded.

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