Dorival Júnior rues Corinthians’ woes, silent on renewals

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Central do Timão

·8 décembre 2025

Dorival Júnior rues Corinthians’ woes, silent on renewals

By Daniel Keppler / Central do Timão Editorial Team

On the afternoon of this Sunday (7th), Corinthians ended in a 1-1 draw against Juventude at the Neo Química Arena, in a match valid for the 38th and final round of the Brazilian Championship. Midfielder José Martínez scored the goal for Corinthians in the middle of the first half. With this result, the team finished the national tournament in only 13th position with 47 points.

Right after the final whistle, coach Dorival Júnior gave a press conference where he analyzed the difficulties faced by Corinthians with injuries, a discreet transfer window, and FIFA's transfer ban: “We are at an intermediate level in the competition, along with five, six, or seven other teams. We already anticipated the difficulties we would face. We lost many important players throughout this process, sometimes with two or three injuries in a row, which makes recovery even more difficult. Only Vitinho and Angileri were signed. You know very well how much it compromises the development of a team when you don't have the possibility of making signings.”

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Photo: Ciro Hey/Central do Timão

He then noted that these difficulties allowed the rise of young players who are contributing significantly to the team. “On the other hand, the emergence of young players who are getting their first opportunity is giving us a very positive response. The feeling is that we could have gone a little further. And let this be a lesson,” he said.

Dorival also spoke about how he envisions the next season, predicting difficulties if he doesn't have a more balanced squad than this year: “We will face many challenges next year. A Paulista Championship right at the start with very little preparation time, we will have many difficulties next year and we will need a strong, composed, and balanced squad. The balance of the squad is what gives us the possibility of a different campaign in the following year.”

Finally, when asked about Romero, the coach sought to avoid saying whether he would like him to stay at the club. “We still have two, and possibly four games. For now, we are not going to talk about the squad, restructuring, trades, arrivals, departures, and so on. We have to be aware, committed, all of the squad, to put all players in condition to be on the field. That's what we did, getting everyone in motion, to arrive on Wednesday well, in our best condition. Other than that, we are not thinking about anything, just these two games that are crucial for our sequence,” he concluded.

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