From Corinthians' academy to world title: Paulo Sérgio hails feat | OneFootball

A champion of the 1994 World Cup with the Brazilian national team, Paulo Sérgio is one of only three Filhos do Terrão to have won the World Cup. In an exclusive interview with Central do Timão, the former player praised that achievement, highlighting that, because of the pressure that existed at Corinthians from the youth ranks onward, players came out ready to play in any other environment.

“I like to mention this statistic so people can understand how important it is to be a world champion and to have come from the Terrão. For me, that’s very important. For me, that’s very important because this here, everything for me, was my foundation,” he said.

Central do Timão

Pressure

“It was nine years at Corinthians, nine years of a lot of learning. I only got to winning a World Cup through a lot of pressure because here in the youth ranks we would go out to play in any neighborhood. There were Corinthians fans everywhere here, and there was already pressure. So a Corinthians player who goes out to play anywhere can play anywhere. If there’s pressure, he plays,” he said.

“I remember that when I left Corinthians, I said, man, I never again want to go to a team where you have to talk to the fans. We’d have to wait on the team bus, not leave, stay in the locker room, locked in the locker room. I never want to play for a team like that again. I’m going to Leverkusen, nice and calm, peaceful, no pressure, all good,” he recalled.

“Then I go to Roma, losing three derbies. And over there the derby is a little intense. I leave the parking lot, a fan jumps on my car. The next day, a meeting with the fans at Trigoria. No, it all came back again (laughs), meeting with the fans…,” he concluded.

Besides Paulo Sérgio, only Roberto Rivellino and Viola came from the Terrão and won a World Cup title with the Brazilian National Team.

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