Forward with Corinthians youth spell lifts lid on his time at the club

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Central do Timão

·23 ottobre 2025

Forward with Corinthians youth spell lifts lid on his time at the club

By Fabio Luigi / Central do Timão Editorial Team

Currently playing amateur football, forward Thalisson Gabriel, who was part of Corinthians' youth categories from 2015 to June 2023, gave an exclusive interview to Central do Timão and recalled his time at Parque São Jorge at the age of 23. He even trained with the main team in 2022 when the team was coached by Portuguese manager Vitor Pereira.

Thalisson spent his childhood in the Povo Feliz neighborhood of Tietê, where he often skated and flew kites until, at the age of 11, his desire to become a professional football player grew due to the influence of his physical education teacher. He also recalled his father's career, who played for Capivariano, a team from the interior of São Paulo.

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Photo: Rodrigo Gazzanel/Agência Corinthians

His first trial was at Cruzeiro, but he didn't join the team from Minas Gerais, opting for União São João de Araras due to logistical issues and his family's inability to move: “My father played football, he was a professional at Capivariano. My brother also played football. But my first time (playing) was at school. Only at 11 or 12 did I want to be a player. I started doing trials at 12 or 13 as well”, he began.

Playing for the team from the interior of São Paulo, he caught the attention of Vinicius Marques, the coach of Corinthians' Under-12 and 13 categories at the time, who now works as the Under-20 coach for Santos: “Prayer goes, prayer comes. A month there, a coach arrives, gathers everyone, and we have a friendly against Corinthians at Parque São Jorge. I said: ‘I’m going and not coming back’. We lost 2-1. Five minutes into the first half, a kid pushes me, I fall on my arm. The shoulder came out, man… Then, the physiotherapist put it back, looked at my face and said: ‘the game is over for you’. When he looked away, I took off the sling and ran back onto the field.”

“At the end of the game, with about 10 minutes left, I asked to leave because I was in a lot of pain. Then, the game ended, Vinícius Marques (former Under-12 and 13 coach at Corinthians) came up: ‘I liked your attitude, the attitude of someone who wants to win, and that’s what Corinthians needs.”

In 2015, he joined Corinthians' youth categories to play in the Under-13, playing alongside goalkeeper Matheus Donelli (now in the professional team), and facing players like Kaio Jorge (revealed at Santos and now at Cruzeiro), Renê, and Yuri Alberto (current Corinthians forward). Thalisson Gabriel was considered one of the great talents of the Corinthians youth academy, but injuries along the way interfered with his career.

The young player left Corinthians at the age of 21, having gone through all the youth categories of the Alvinegro, from Under-13 to 20, but did not have opportunities in the main team. Despite this, the situation made him open his eyes to other aspects of his personal life.

“I’m without a club, without Corinthians' number 9 jersey, but I’m happy. I think what hurts most in an athlete’s life is this exit. Like, it’s over. I was already training with Corinthians' professionals and, out of nowhere, I was back in my neighborhood. Was I ‘all that’ in the first weeks, first months, first year? I was nothing. You let it take over because you think you can’t live life if you’re not a player. I did this my whole life for 13 years.”

“I went back to playing amateur football again. I’m running. I feel like the happiest, most complete guy, even though I still have my pains. You also learn a lot, you also meet a lot of good people along the way. So, like, today I say: if I had today’s mindset, a little more care with the people who worked with me in my personal management, my life would have been totally different, man”, he continued.

Later, he commented that his best moment in the Corinthians youth academy was between the Under-13 and 15. Thalisson's main characteristics were speed and a high number of goals scored. In the Under-17, however, besides disagreements with the coach at the time, he saw thigh and knee injuries become more frequent.

“When I turned 15, I was already in the Under-17. That was my best period. But, like, I’ll tell you the truth… Already in the Under-13, I went a bit wild, ‘bad boy’. ‘I don’t care, I score the goal and no one bosses me around’. Like, kid, I had to maintain a personality. The pressure on me, on the coach, on myself, already came from the responsibility of making the national team, of being this or that.”

“At the time, I didn’t get along well with the coach. We ended up having a disagreement, and he benched me for an entire year. He’d play me for five minutes in a game. I already had a bond with the guys, I already had respect there with the kids. When I played with the guys, I had four games and seven goals. I reached a higher category. What did the guys say? That’s it, man. He’s going to eat the ball. But then I also started having more problems at home. My mind started speeding up the process of wanting to solve things. There came a time when I realized that, like, I didn’t have the mind of a 15-year-old anymore. That’s when the decline in performance started, maybe not wanting to listen.”

Counting the Under-17 and 20 at Corinthians, he scored 12 goals in 38 games – all of them in the younger category, where he played 25 times. In the Corinthians youth academy, more specifically in the Under-20, he played with names like Breno Bidon, Arthur Sousa, Pedrinho, and Gustavo Mantuan.

Thalisson highlighted the importance of Arthur Sousa, who after leaving Corinthians in mid-2024, did not establish himself in any team: “I played with Arthur Souza, Bidon… All these athletes. Arthur, man, was essential for me in this comeback (from a knee injury)… He was in a much better moment than I was, and I got close to him and said: ‘what can you tell me to be as good as you on the wall’. Then he said: ‘damn, man, I also wanted to get some advice from you’. So, like, he was a guy who helped me a lot.”

Finally, Thalisson Gabriel revealed his frustration when he was cut from the list of registered players for the 2023 Copa São Paulo after building up expectations of being in the tournament and, perhaps, later having chances in the main team.

“I woke up in the morning, picked up my phone. A few weeks before, the guys said: ‘You’re going to Copinha’. The next day, I was out, man. I cried like a child out of anger, man. I found out from the headline, on the internet. If I had to eat grass, eat dirt, I was eating, I was doing everything, I was in my best phase (physically), being one of the worst phases of my life,” he concluded.

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