Corinthians academy full-back celebrates return after injury lay-off | OneFootball

On the afternoon of last Sunday (5), Corinthians hosted Sertãozinho at Estádio Alfredo Schürig, Fazendinha, in a match valid for the fourth round of the first phase of the 2026 Paulista Under-20 Championship, and defeated the team from the interior of São Paulo 1-0. Timãozinho’s goal was scored by midfielder Luiz Eduardo from the penalty spot at the end of the first half. With the result, Alvinegro reached 10 points and shares the lead of Group 1 with Ferroviária, which has the edge on goal difference — seven to four.

Right after the match, right-back João Vitor ‘Jacaré’, 19 years old, gave an exclusive interview to Ulisses TV and celebrated his return to the pitch. He had not played for two months, as he suffered a thigh injury in April and had been in the medical department ever since. In last weekend’s match, he was brought on by coach William Batista at the start of the second half.

Photo: Rodrigo Gazzanel/Agência Corinthians

“First of all, I want to thank God, may all honor and all glory be given to Him. If I’m here, if I had the opportunity to play today, it was thanks to Him. I was out for practically a little over two months with a hamstring injury, but thank God I’m back. The Bible says in Romans that all things work together for the good of those who love God. And Paul says that in everything we must give thanks.”

In the 22nd minute of the second half, João Vitor was involved in the play that led to the sending-off of an opposing player, which meant Timão had the same number of players again. At the end of the first half, Alvinegro left-back Guilherme Pires had also been sent off after laying out a Sertãozinho player.

“I got injured, and we get a little sad, upset, but we don’t know God’s purpose. Sometimes an even worse injury could have happened, and God didn’t allow that to happen. But I’m very happy to be back, to get the three points at home, it wasn’t an easy game against Sertãozinho. We managed to score, we suffered a little, but glory to God for that, a great return. Now we have to stay focused, because on Wednesday we have a game against Palmeiras,” he began.

Later, he analyzed the win and detailed the conversation with coach William Batista at halftime after Pires’ red card: “The coach helped us set up two lines of four and one line of one, and it ended up leading to a play from there, one of our transitions. I made a pass to Cristian (Júnior), the player was already on a yellow and ended up being sent off. But it was a very good strategy from William, he talked to us in the locker room, advised us. Thank God we managed to come away with the three points,” he continued.

Finally, he spoke about the affection he receives from the Corinthians fans and mentioned his goals at the club from Parque São Jorge, stressing that he is always willing to contribute regardless of how many minutes he gets on the field: “First of all, I want to thank them for their support and for us being able to play for Corinthians. It’s a fanbase very blessed by God, and I hope and want to help this club a lot, for God’s glory, help with titles, play well too, show grit, honor the shirt, which is the most important thing of all. It is to honor God, it is to honor the shirt, we have to honor our work. In the Bible, Ecclesiastes 9:10 says that whatever comes to our hand, we have to do it with all our strength. Whether I come on for one minute, two minutes, or five, I have to give my best for this shirt,” he concluded.

At Corinthians since 2023 after playing for Ibrachina, João Vitor ‘Jacaré’ has made three appearances for Corinthians’ first team, all in the Paulista Championship. In 2025, he got minutes under Ramón Díaz’s coaching staff in the matches against Novorizontino and Portuguesa. This season, when the team was managed by Dorival Júnior, he was on the field in the 3-0 win over Ponte Preta at Neo Química Arena in the opening round of the state championship.

Although he has not established himself in the first-team squad, he frequently took part in training sessions with Corinthians’ professional squad between the middle of last year and the start of 2026. He was part of the team that won the 2025 Copa do Brasil against Vasco da Gama at the Maracanã. For Timão’s Under-17 and Under-20 sides, he has 67 matches and one goal, with 38 wins, 17 draws, and 12 losses. His contract runs until October 2029.

After beating Sertãozinho at Parque São Jorge by the narrowest of margins in the state championship, Corinthians now turns its focus to the quarterfinals of the Brazilian Under-20 Championship. Next Wednesday (8), at 3 p.m., Timãozinho will host Palmeiras, also at Fazendinha, for the first leg of the knockout round. The second match will be next Thursday, the 16th, at the same time, at Arena Barueri. Alviverde had the best campaign in the qualifying stage with 44 points.

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