Maycon: Corinthians’ year, injuries, Cruzeiro not favourites

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Central do Timão

·08 de dezembro de 2025

Maycon: Corinthians’ year, injuries, Cruzeiro not favourites

By Henrique Pereira / Central do Timão Editorial Team

In the early afternoon of this Monday (8th), Corinthians organized a press conference at CT Joaquim Grava with goalkeeper Hugo Souza and midfielder Maycon. The midfielder evaluated Timão's year and revealed that he would have preferred to play the Copa do Brasil semifinal during the Brazilian Championship, but admitted that the date change helped avoid possible absences.

"Well, I think we need to be clear about everything we went through this year. We had many absences and a short squad. Regarding what I think would have been better, even to control our anxiety, it would have been better to decide at that time, because we would have wrapped up the Copa do Brasil within the Brasileiro."

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Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Ag. Corinthians

"But, considering everything that happened — the absences in important games — maybe at that semifinal and final moment we wouldn't have had key players. We managed to rotate the squad, recover players, and have almost everyone available for Dorival now. I don't know if Garro or Yuri will be fully available, but both are progressing well."

"I think it ended up being better for us. We managed to recover. Corinthians needs to be fighting at the top, for Libertadores and titles. What happened is not an excuse, it's reality: we had many important absences for a long time. We didn't deliver what we wanted in the Brasileiro, but we have the chance to end the year with a Copa do Brasil title, which would be very important for the players, fans, and club."

"It has been a difficult year for everyone. We will enter these two games against Cruzeiro fully focused on the goal. I can't guarantee that we will qualify, but we will give everything for it to happen."

The Corinthians midfielder also spoke about a possible favoritism of the Minas Gerais team in the clash due to the clubs' performance in the season. Maycon pointed out that the teams' results in the Copa do Brasil are similar and stated that both teams come to the decisive match at the same level.

"Regarding favoritism: we are Corinthians. We know that Cruzeiro's Brazilian championship was better than ours, they fluctuated less, but they had the same percentage of victories in the Copa do Brasil and also didn't concede goals. In the Cup, our team is equivalent to theirs."

"We have to keep our feet on the ground and know that these will be very difficult games. This is clear to us and to the fans. We will need their support to advance. The game in Minas will be extremely mental; our team cannot make mistakes. Any detail can cost the qualification. We have to be very strong mentally."

"Both games have the same weight. Here we have our Arena and our fans, and that is very positive. I don't consider them favorites. I think we arrive at the same level, despite their better Brasileiro. But we won the Paulista and they didn't win the Mineiro. We arrive with experience, knowing that we can win and advance."

The first leg of the Copa do Brasil semifinal against Cruzeiro takes place this Wednesday (10th) at 9:30 PM (Brasília time) at Mineirão, while the return match will be played on Sunday (14th) at 6 PM (Brasília time) at Neo Química Arena.

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