Gustavo Henrique, André Ramalho and psychologist eye Corinthians return | OneFootball

After nearly a month on vacation, the Corinthians squad returned to activities on the morning of Thursday (25) at CT Dr. Joaquim Grava, beginning preparations for the remainder of the 2026 season. The players’ return marks the start of the club’s mid-season training period, considered an important time for physical, technical, tactical, and psychological adjustments before official competitions resume.

Even before the players arrived, the coaching staff led by Fernando Diniz had already resumed work on Wednesday (24). The coach and his assistants met with members of the football department to plan the next few weeks of preparation.

Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Agência Corinthians

The rest period granted to the players lasted 25 days. The break came after an intense run of commitments over the past few months and took into account the club’s packed schedule since the end of last season, which only concluded in the final days of December due to the Copa do Brasil finals.

Upon arriving at CT Dr. Joaquim Grava, some members of the squad and coaching staff spoke with the press and shared their expectations for the return to work.

Center-back Gustavo Henrique highlighted the importance of the rest period and said he is motivated to begin preparations for the remainder of the season.

“It’s wonderful. We rested, made the most of it, and now it’s time to come back and make the most of every training session so we can keep going in the league. I’m excited to be back.”

Another player who spoke at the return was André Ramalho. The defender celebrated reconnecting with the fans and stressed the need to maintain physical care even during the vacation period.

“I’m happy, honored, because we know how important our fans are and how good it is to be in contact with them again. Very good. Always (I keep up my activities during the vacation), as always, you have to take care of yourself. We know that vacation is important, especially from a mental standpoint, but it’s also important to stay in good physical shape so you can come back well enough to train and prepare for the competitions.”

In addition to the players, the club’s psychologist, Anahy Couto, commented on the work that will be done during the mid-season period and explained that the psychological plan will be defined after evaluating the group upon their return.

“We’re now going to have a preseason period. So we’ll see how they come in, and from that we’ll draw up an individual plan and a collective one for everyone, in every area, including the psychological side.”

Corinthians’ first commitment after returning from vacation will be a friendly against FC Cascavel, scheduled for July 12 at Estádio Olímpico Regional in Paraná. The match will serve as preparation for the resumption of the official calendar.

The return to official matches will then come on July 23, when Timão host Remo at Neo Química Arena in the final round of the first half of the Brazilian Championship. The team currently sits in 10th place in the competition, with 24 points.

The expectation is that virtually the entire squad will take part normally in the mid-season period. The exceptions are Memphis Depay, who remains with the Netherlands national team for the World Cup, and André Carrillo, who will return to Brazil in the coming days after commitments with the Peru national team.

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