Trio could return for Corinthians in friendly against Cascavel | OneFootball

On the afternoon of this Sunday (12), Corinthians will take the field at the Estádio Olímpico Regional Jacy Miguel Scanagatta, in Cascavel, Paraná, to face FC Cascavel in a mid-season friendly aimed at resuming competitions such as the second half of the Brazilian Championship and the round of 16 of the Copa do Brasil and Conmebol Libertadores, respectively.

The match could represent an opportunity for three players to return to the field wearing the Corinthians shirt, as is the case with defensive midfielders Charles and Alex Santana, as well as forward Gui Negão. The first and the third have not yet played for Timão since the arrival of coach Fernando Diniz, who was hired at the beginning of April after the dismissal of Dorival Júnior.

Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Agência Corinthians

The first has not played since April 1, when he featured for 45 minutes in the 3-1 defeat against Fluminense at the Maracanã Stadium, in the ninth round of the Brazilian Championship. Since then, he has been included in the squad for only two matches: against Internacional, on April 5 at home in the Brasileirão, and against Peñarol-URU in the Libertadores, on May 21 away from home. On both occasions, he remained on the bench. During this period, he suffered a right heel injury, which kept him sidelined. Overall, he has 72 appearances for Alvinegro (37 as a starter), with two goals, one assist, and three titles won: Paulistão (2025), Copa do Brasil (2025), and Supercopa do Brasil (2026).

As for Alex Santana, he was reintegrated into the Corinthians squad after Fernando Diniz was hired. In mid-2025, he lost space in the team then managed by Dorival Jr and was loaned to Grêmio, where he also did not get many opportunities and, at the end of the loan spell, returned to Parque São Jorge. This season, he has taken the field only once: in the 2-1 away defeat against Mirassol on May 3 in the Brasileirão, when he played for nine minutes. In 38 matches wearing the Corinthians shirt, he has scored two goals and won two titles: Campeonato Paulista (2025) and Copa do Brasil (2025).

Gui Negão, finally, has not played for Corinthians since March 22, when he featured for 12 minutes in the 1-1 draw against Flamengo at Neo Química Arena, in the eighth round of the Brazilian Championship. Afterwards, he suffered a grade 2 muscle injury in his right thigh during a Brazil Under-20 national team training session in the March FIFA window, only returning to the matchday squad for Timão at the beginning of May, but he has not been used by Fernando Diniz on any occasion.

The Son of Terrão has six goals and two assists in 36 matches for Corinthians, with 16 wins, four draws, and 14 defeats – a 50% success rate. In addition, he has won two titles: Copa do Brasil (2025) and Supercopa do Brasil (2026), against Vasco da Gama and Flamengo, respectively. His contract runs until June 2030, with a domestic release clause of R$ 140 million and an international one set at 100 million euros (approximately R$ 600 million at the current exchange rate).

For Corinthians’ Under-17 and Under-20 teams, he scored 24 goals in 99 matches – 55 wins, 29 draws, and 25 losses. At youth level, his most notable title was the 2023 Under-17 Paulistão, against São Paulo, in a team that featured names such as Luiz Gustavo Bahia, André Luiz, and Dieguinho – the latter two are with Gui in the professional squad.

Check out the squad list for the match below:

Goalkeepers: Kauê Camargo, Felipe Longo and Hugo Souza; Full-backs: Matheus Bidu, Fabrizio Angileri, Matheuzinho and Pedro Milans; Center-backs: Gabriel Paulista, André Ramalho and Yago Melo; Midfielders: André Luiz, Raniele, Allan, André Carrillo, Jesse Lingard, Rodrigo Garro, Breno Bidon, Zakaria Labyad, Alex Santana, Charles and Matheus Pereira; Forwards: Yuri Alberto, Kaio Cesar, Gui Negão, Pedro Raul and Dieguinho.

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