Corinthians under-20 coach reviews Brasileirão draw, praises defender | OneFootball

On the afternoon of last Thursday (25), Corinthians faced Flamengo at Alfredo Schürig Stadium, Fazendinha, in a match valid for the 18th and penultimate round of the 2026 Brazilian Under-20 Championship qualifying stage, and ended up with a 2-2 draw. The Alvinegro’s goals were scored by center back Yago Melo and forward Nicolas Araújo. The result left the Corinthians side in eighth place with 29 points — eight wins, five draws, and five losses — with 31 goals scored and 24 conceded. Only the top eight advance to the quarterfinals.

Moments after the final whistle, Filhos do Terrão head coach William Batista spoke to the press and analyzed Timãozinho’s draw, stressing that he believes the team will advance to the knockout stage. He also praised center back Yago Melo, who scored for the second time this year, and once again reflected on his work in charge of the club from Parque São Jorge. The coach also explained why he accepted Corinthians’ offer in August of last year and praised Rayan, a forward he worked with at Vasco da Gama and who now represents the Brazilian National Team at the World Cup.

Photo: Rodrigo Gazzanel/Agência Corinthians

Check out the coach’s answers below in his interview with the press at Fazendinha:

Analysis of the draw against Flamengo and confidence in qualifying for the Brasileirão Under-20 quarterfinals

“We knew it was going to be a difficult game, qualification was on the line for us and also for our opponent. Flamengo had to win to try to overtake us and move into the qualification zone. We had the chance to qualify this round with either a draw or a win. We really wanted to win to secure qualification today, but we’re happy because I think the draw gives us the chance to go into the last round depending only on ourselves. When you get to this point in the competition depending only on yourself to achieve what you need, that’s a good thing.”

“About the game, I think Flamengo managed to find two attacking situations where their striker was very clinical. I think it was largely based on their transition against our pressure after losing the ball. We were successful for much of the game, but in those two moments when they managed to break out, they were very effective. In the second half we had a lot of volume, a lot of attacking presence in the box, a lot of shots. I think we managed to get a lot of players into the box in the second half, and that increased our ability to score a bit. We wanted to turn the game around, but we know the draw also isn’t a bad result given our situation going into the next round of the competition.”

Praise for center back Yago Melo

“If there’s one rule that works in football, it’s the ex-player rule. So it’s nice to see him (Yago) scoring, his second, in his second straight game, decisive goals against Cruzeiro and again today. It’s great to see because he’s a player who was Flamengo’s captain for almost the entire time he was there, he left for a few reasons that had more to do with that particular moment in the player’s career, perhaps, and today he’s a player who helps us, helps the group.”

“He’s a hard-working, dedicated guy, he deserved the goal he scored today. I think all of us — the staff, the players — everyone is very happy about the goal he scored and also about his performance, a solid performance. And I think Corinthians benefits from having a center back of Yago Melo’s level, just like there are others too who didn’t play; the others are good players as well. We’re happy for his goal and for his performance as a defender too.”

Rayan with the Brazilian National Team 

“I’m privileged to have worked with Rayan. Rayan is also a little privileged to have worked with me — I’ve got to pull things a little to my side. Rayan is a very special player, a very special person, a very hard-working guy, extremely talented, very talented, and I think he deserves what he’s experiencing. I had some great moments with Rayan. In one game, Rayan wasn’t doing some of the things I wanted, and I gave him a strong telling-off, trying to provoke him a bit so he would do more and all that.”

“To see if he’d get angry — Rayan doesn’t get angry — after the game I went to tell him to get angry. He said, ‘No, there’s no way I could be angry with you, William.’ And I think it’s nice to see all of this. I made my debut as a professional team coach at Vasco against Cuiabá, after Vasco had gone nine games without a win. And Rayan started that game; we won 1-0 against Cuiabá. So there are some things in this story that really connect well.”

“I’m happy, honored. It was the work of many people at Vasco, many coaches, and it’s important to point that out. I was part of a small piece of it, and with a lot of humility in knowing that, what he has done and where he is now are the result of his own work and of many people as well who helped him get to where he is.”

Work with Corinthians Under-20 and the reason for accepting a return to youth football

“I have to share the work I’ve done as a coach with the people around me, with the staff, with Di Fábio, assistant coach, with Moisés Campos, goalkeeping coach, with Íbson, analyst, Fernando, fitness coach, Emerson, fitness coach, with Damiani, who is our director and has given us support. At first it was a lot of diagnosis, understanding what we could do in relation to the players. I said this before: it was a complicated start because I spent four months at the club from August to December, until the Copinha, but I only coached five games. So it was a low number of games, with a high level of demand in the Copinha, while still knowing the squad very little. Now, with almost eleven months at the club, I have a much clearer diagnosis in my mind. The people around me, as I said, my staff, who have also given a lot of support, are important in this progress of ours. In the next round, if we win, we can get to 32 points. Over the last two years Corinthians earned 36 points, combining the 2024 and 2025 Under-20 championships. So in one season we could end up just four points short of those two campaigns combined.”

“So I think it’s good work. We improved the players individually, then we improved defensively, and now we’ve also been improving a bit more in the way we attack. It’s painstaking work, not easy, little by little, having to improve many things in the team to make it competitive, to develop our players, to make them even more valuable assets for the club, and to deliver sporting results. I think these three things are important at Corinthians and need to go hand in hand, because it’s a club with high demands in terms of results, but also in terms of development, so that when they reach the professional level they are better prepared. For all these reasons, I think the work, both mine and everyone I mentioned, is very meaningful and truly about rebuilding what Corinthians’ youth academy is.”

“As for returning to the Under-20 level, I really enjoy it and feel fulfilled being a coach — I really like being a coach. So I really enjoyed it when I was with Sumaré Under-15, 13 years ago. I really enjoyed it when I was at Atibaia, a small club, 12 years ago. In 2016, in the same way I really enjoyed it when I was with Chapecoense’s Under-13s and with América’s first team. Maybe I could have chosen to stay in professional football, at a Série C club, or maybe even Série B, but I had always dreamed of working at Corinthians because of the size of the club and what it represents. So when the opportunity came in August of last year, I think it was a moment in my career, after the recent pain of leaving América. I even think I left in a way I didn’t deserve, because I was runner-up in the Minas Gerais state championship, we knocked Cruzeiro out in a semifinal where Gabriel Barbosa alone cost more than my whole squad at América.”

“We reached the final against Atlético, América hadn’t beaten Atlético at Mineirão in 25 years, and we won the last game there, 1-0, and then I was three points off the G4, later four points off in the round when I was dismissed. So I went through a somewhat difficult period in those two months before arriving at Corinthians, a period of reflection as well, and then I saw Corinthians Under-20 suffering a lot too. So when the proposal came, you think these two things might fit well together, both me and Corinthians, and I also had a long-standing desire to work here at the club, to fulfill this dream, and to take advantage of that and help the players.”

“And I think it’s also a good moment for the club’s academy, where we have the freedom to do what we want, we can build our ideas, we can keep the best players in the age group, and we managed to let go of those who needed to leave the club. And there are some curious facts, including regarding the players who left the club themselves: so far, none of the players who left have found success away from the club, and I think that says a lot about how we were and how we are today. That analysis was necessary, that deep reflection like the one that was made, and now we’re looking a little at both the Under-20s and the Under-17s, but I think Coelhas’ medium- and long-term vision, in terms of what has been achieved, can be even more brilliant for the club.”

Next match

Before visiting Juventude next Wednesday (1), in the final round of the Brasileirão qualifying stage, Corinthians will have a derby in the São Paulo Under-20 Championship. Next Sunday (28), at 3 p.m., Timãozinho will visit Santos in the third round of the first stage of the state competition. The Alvinegro won its first two matches, against Mirassol and Portuguesa Santista, by 1-0 and 2-0, respectively.

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