Corinthians Under-20 boss assesses newly signed midfielder | OneFootball

By Fabio Luigi / Central do Timão Editorial Team

On the afternoon of last Wednesday (29), Corinthians hosted Athletico-PR at Estádio Alfredo Schürig, Fazendinha, in a match valid for the ninth round of the first phase of the 2026 Brazilian Under-20 Championship, and ended up losing 4-1 after coming from ahead. With the result, Timãozinho dropped to fifth place in the tournament with 15 points — four wins, three draws, and two losses — with 14 goals scored and 10 conceded.

Moments after the final whistle, head coach William Batista gave an exclusive interview to Meu Timão and was asked about the performance of midfielder Christian Oliveira, who scored the Filhos do Terrão’s goal in the match. The youngster started as a starter, replacing Luiz Gustavo Bahia, who was sent off in the Majestoso against São Paulo in Cotia in the previous round of the competition.

Photo: Rodrigo Gazzanel/Agência Corinthians

“Christian arrived from Flamengo, a player who had a good track record there and also featured for the youth national team. He’s a player with good talent and has improved his intensity. He has improved his ability to battle in midfield. That raises his level of play. He’s the one who resembles Bahia a bit more, which is why we chose him. Chris Jr., who is the other Christian, has also been training well. He had been called up and not coming on, but today he ended up getting on. I even liked the way he came on, with the attitude he showed,” he said.

The midfielder’s goal came in the 22nd minute of the first half, when left-back Joãozinho was played in near the byline on that side and delivered an accurate cross onto Christian’s head, and he powered a header in at the far post to open the scoring for Alvinegro. Born in 2009, the player has also featured for Brazil’s youth national teams and left Flamengo after not renewing with the Rio club, where he captained the Under-17 side and won the state championship and the Copa Rio.

Lastly, the coach was asked about Léo Rodrigues, known as Leozinho. Born in 2010, he is considered one of the biggest prospects in Corinthians’ academy and, last week, in the 2-1 away win over Criciúma, he made his debut for the Under-20 team at just 15 years old. Last year, he was one of the standout players for the Under-15s and has been earning call-ups to the Brazil youth national team. At the beginning of April, he won an Under-16 tournament with the Seleção in France.

“Leozinho is a talented player the club has. He’s a game-changing player in the final third and has a good finish. He’s a hardworking player, a really good kid, very simple and easy to deal with day to day. We were happy with his debut there in Criciúma. We were very happy, and it’s a shame the referee ended up ruling it out, I think incorrectly, because it created a new trajectory when the defender knocked the ball out.”

“Corinthians have a great talent, even a great gem, as they say, and we need to take good care of him, make sure he enjoys the game, makes the most of it, and stays in love with the game, so that all that talent always shows itself to help us and, in a few years, become both a sporting and financial asset for the club,” he concluded.

The club from Parque São Jorge will now return to the pitch in the Brazilian Under-20 Championship next Wednesday (6), at 3:30 p.m. (Brasília time), to face Fluminense at Fazendinha in the 10th round of the first phase of the national competition.

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