Look back on Fernando Diniz's spell at Corinthians as a player | OneFootball

On the night of last Monday (6), Corinthians officially announced the arrival of Fernando Diniz as the team’s new head coach. With a contract until the end of the year, he arrives to replace Dorival Júnior, who spent 11 months in the role and compiled a run of nine consecutive matches without a win, contributing to the change in direction.

Fernando Diniz arrives at Parque São Jorge after a spell at Vasco, the team from which he was dismissed in February of this year. The professional has a previous connection with Corinthians, as he wore the club’s shirt in the late 1990s. An attacking midfielder, Diniz played for Alvinegro between 1997 and mid-1998, having been signed from archrivals Palmeiras when he was 22 years old.

Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Agência Corinthians

At the time, the club from Parque São Jorge had Banco Excel Econômico as its sponsor, and Fernando Diniz’s move to the São Paulo team was made through Eduardo Rocha Azevedo, a businessman who was a member of Corinthians’ Presidential Support Group (GAP) and helped bring the financial institution in as a partner of Timão.

Fernando Diniz was signed at practically the same time as Túlio Maravilha and Donizete Pantera. Due to the strong competition in his position, he never became an undisputed starter, making 50 appearances in a Corinthians shirt (17 of them in the starting lineup) and scoring two goals. The first came in a friendly against Caldense in January 1998, in a 4-1 Corinthians win. The second, meanwhile, came against Itabaiana in the Copa do Brasil in February of that same year. He won the state championship with the club from Parque São Jorge in 1997.

Corinthians’ new coach will make his debut for the club on Thursday night (9) at 9 p.m. (Brasília time) against Platense of Argentina in the opening round of the 2026 Conmebol Libertadores group stage. Fernando Diniz will have the tough mission of leading the team back to winning ways, as their last victory came on February 19 against Athletico-PR at Arena da Baixada in the second round of the Brasileirão.

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