Dorival Júnior on Corinthians win, hails keeper's record

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Central do Timão

·13 febbraio 2026

Dorival Júnior on Corinthians win, hails keeper's record

By Henrique Pereira / Central do Timão Editorial Team

On the evening of Thursday (12), Corinthians hosted Red Bull Bragantino at Neo Química Arena, in a match valid for the third round of the 2026 Brazilian Championship, and left the field with a 2-0 victory, with goals from Gabriel Paulista and Matheus Bidu. After the match, coach Dorival Júnior analyzed the duel and praised the team's evolution this season.

“A very significant process of evolution. All of this, for us, is due to the difficulties of the last match, to what we played, and maybe we failed to get the result that would have been fundamental. Today we really needed this result, with a good performance. We sought the goal at all times, even though we started with some mistakes. With the adjustments, we regained control of the match,” the coach began.

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Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Ag. Corinthians

The coach also spoke about tactical changes that made Corinthians take control of the match against Red Bull Bragantino. At the start of the game, the visiting team pressed Timão and created dangerous chances, but Dorival Júnior’s team began to control the game as time went on.

“We switched Raniele’s role with Carrillo, pushed Raniele forward so he could be the combative and aggressive man in that sector. We were able to push Bidu up on the side, brought out three men in the build-up, which created difficulties for the opposing team, who were marking our build-up with two men. Our full-backs started to relieve the pressure. We had great floating work from Memphis and Garro. By making these changes, we had a bit more of the ball, more possession, more connections,” the coach commented.

Dorival Júnior also spoke about the importance of the penalty saved by Hugo Souza in the second half of the match. The coach pointed out that he did not agree with the penalty call and praised the milestone reached by the goalkeeper, who equaled Gylmar dos Santos Neves as the third goalkeeper with the most penalties saved for Corinthians.

“It was fundamental in determining the result. I have my doubts regarding the penalty. Maybe it happened from the angle we had. Our impression was that it hadn’t. It was given. He made a brilliant save, and that helped us a lot. I’m happy to have reached a number like this, especially getting close to Gylmar, who was one of the greatest goalkeepers I’ve ever seen play in my life.” said Dorival.

After facing Red Bull Bragantino, Corinthians now turn their focus to the Paulista Championship. Next Sunday (15), at 8:30 pm (Brasília time), the Alvinegro will visit São Bernardo FC, at Estádio Primeiro de Maio, ABC Paulista, for the eighth and final round of the first phase of the Paulistão. The Corinthians team is not yet guaranteed a spot in the knockout stage and needs at least a draw to advance.

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