Corinthians name starting keeper for Santos derby without Hugo Souza | OneFootball

On Monday, Corinthians confirmed that Felipe Longo will be the starting goalkeeper against Santos this Wednesday, in the 28th round of the Brazilian Championship. Hugo Souza, who will represent the Brazilian National Team this Tuesday in a friendly against Japan, is suspended and will miss the derby.

Besides Felipe, Dorival had two other options for the position: Kauê and Matheus Donelli. However, according to the note released by the club, Longo will start.

In an interview with Corinthians TV, Timão’s goalkeeping coach, Marcelo Carpes, expressed confidence in the goalkeeper developed at the club’s academy. This will be the 20-year-old’s first opportunity among the professionals.

“We have a lot of confidence in the work we’re doing. They are in a good moment. We had Hugo called up to the senior National Team and Felipe Longo called up to the U-20. He’s been there before and did well. He has a history at Corinthians, he’s been here for eight years and has worked with us for about five. He’s a steady, technical kid, and he has our full confidence,” said the coach.

Meet Felipe Longo

Felipe Longo’s relationship with Corinthians began at eight years old. Born on March 5, 2005, in São Paulo, the keeper started out in futsal and transitioned to the pitch at age 11.

He went through all the youth categories and, during that period, lifted the trophies of the São Paulo Championship U-13, U-14, U-16 and U-17. Last year, in 2024, he won the biggest of the tournaments: the Copinha, against Cruzeiro.

Praise from an idol

The goalkeeper was promoted to the first team right after winning the Copa São Paulo, but had already been training with the professionals since he was 14. At the time, he even received praise from the idol Cássio.

After a training session with Felipe Longo, the player, who now plays for Cruzeiro, said: “The other day I trained with a kid from the U-14s and I was impressed. He’s almost my height already. Corinthians is very well covered at goalkeeper; there’s no need to sign anyone— even the academy players are coming through well.”

Felipe Longo and Cássio training together for Corinthians (Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Agência Corinthians)

Regular with the National Team

At 20 years old and 1.88 m tall, the keeper already has four call-ups to Brazil’s U-20 National Team. He has played in nine matches for Brazil.

Longo was even called up for the U-20 World Cup, which is being played in Chile. Corinthians, however, asked for him to be left off the list, already anticipating a possible absence for Hugo Souza. The National Team was eliminated in the group stage of the tournament.

Felipe’s contract with Corinthians runs until March 2029.

Corinthians’ next match

League standings

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