Ex-Corinthians defender on 2012 World Cup, Guerrero memories

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Central do Timão

·20 November 2025

Ex-Corinthians defender on 2012 World Cup, Guerrero memories

By Fabio Luigi / Central do Timão Editorial Team

The defender Wallace, currently with Londrina and who played for Corinthians in the 2011 and 2012 seasons, gave an exclusive interview to Central do Timão in recent days and recalled some behind-the-scenes moments from the 2012 Club World Cup championship win in Yokohama, Japan.

During the chat, the defender revealed that he almost missed the bus that would take the Corinthians delegation to Guarulhos Airport for the trip to the other side of the planet. Wallace commented that on the day of the trip, he left home an hour earlier (at 2 PM), but the traffic on Radial Leste, which gives access to the Ayrton Senna Highway, up to the Tietê Ecological Park, where the Dr. Joaquim Grava Training Center is located, was completely stopped.

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Photo: Daniel Augusto Jr/Agência Corinthians

The departure of the Corinthians bus from the training center was scheduled for 3 PM (Brasília time). Faced with this, he said he got out of the taxi he was in and waved to several motorcyclists asking for a ride, and after a while, he managed to get one and paid the driver for the help: “On the day of the trip to Japan, I almost missed the bus. I played against São Paulo (a 3-1 defeat, last round of the 2012 Brasileirão). I think it was on Monday that we would travel, if I'm not mistaken. And I was at home, I had to get there I think at three in the afternoon. And when I left, the radial was stopped, it wasn't moving. I lived in Tatuapé. But I didn't imagine, I thought I would have time because I spent around 20-25 minutes a day.”

“So I took it and said: ‘I'll leave early, right? I left at two in the afternoon, an hour earlier. My God, I wasn't moving. Then when I got to the radial there, which goes to Ayrton Senna. The taxi driver stopped and said: ‘man, it won't move’. For God's sake, I said: ‘for God's sake, I'm not staying here, no’. Then I took my suitcase, got out, started doing this (signaling for a ride) to the motorcycles, right? And then one of them stopped.”

He added: “I said: ‘man, I'll give you money here, I need to get to the Ecological Park, for God's sake’. Then the guy looked: ‘you're a player, right?’ I said: ‘I am, I am, man’. And I put on the backpack, the suitcase, man. Then I put on the helmet, right? And I went. I got there, thank God, I got there at three o'clock, on time. But I was going to stay at least on the way. I was going to miss the trip, I was very lucky that this guy showed up that day, but I paid him”, he continued.

Later, he was asked about the strong presence of Corinthians fans in Japan, where more than 30,000 Corinthians supporters watched the Club World Cup final against Chelsea (England) in Yokohama: “Japan was taken over by Corinthians fans, right? Wherever you went, in the hotel lobby there, there were Corinthians fans. There came a moment that I even remember something funny, the Japanese are very correct, etc. And there was one, they put that separation there and the Japanese don't pass, right? And we were in the hotel, they said it was forbidden for Brazilians, but then a group from Gaviões arrived. They arrived and said: ‘We are not Brazilian, we are from Gaviões. The Japanese said: ‘then you can pass.”

Finally, he spoke about the Peruvian striker Paolo Guerrero, with whom he played in 2012. Wallace highlighted his former teammate's ability to recognize spaces and even compared him to Fred, who was with Fluminense at the time. The number 9 was responsible for Corinthians' two goals in winning the Bi-World Cup. In the semifinal, he scored against Al-Ahly in a 1-0 victory. In the final, against Chelsea, he scored the goal that secured the title for the club from Parque São Jorge.

In addition to the World Cup title, Guerrero won the following titles with the Corinthians jersey: Paulista Championship (2013), South American Recopa (2013), and Brazilian Championship (2015). In the latter, he only participated in the beginning of the campaign and later transferred to Flamengo.

“I think maybe, that I marked, only Fred, at the time of Fluminense (was better). But the sense of space, any ball he had, he could control. Also, but it's because one thing in marking, from the outside, the feeling is that the game is sometimes slow. But when you're in there, you think you can sometimes anticipate. With Guerrero, there was no such possibility. It was very strange that he could control the space. It was impressive”, he concluded.

Wallace arrived at Corinthians at the beginning of 2011, after standing out for Vitória in 2010, but he couldn't establish himself at Parque São Jorge much due to the competition he had in the sector: Chicão, Leandro Cástan, Paulo André, and Felipe. As a result, he played 59 games with the Corinthians jersey (42 as a starter), with 32 wins, 15 draws, and 12 losses – almost 63% success rate, scoring one goal and providing two assists.

Additionally, he won three titles: Brasileirão (2011), Libertadores, and Club World Cup, both in 2012. At the beginning of 2013, he transferred to Flamengo and since then has played for Grêmio, Goztepe (Turkey), returned to Vitória, Brusque (Santa Catarina), and Londrina (current team). He is currently 37 years old.

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