Raniele on makeshift defence, pitch and Corinthians' Copa do Brasil tie | OneFootball

Corinthians drew 0-0 with Athletico-PR on the night of last Thursday (30) at Neo Química Arena, in a match valid for the 21st round of the Brazilian Championship. With the result, Timão reached 29 points, with seven wins, eight draws, and six losses, in addition to 22 goals scored and 20 conceded, provisionally occupying eighth place in the table.

After the match, midfielder Raniele, who played out of position in defense, spoke in the mixed zone and talked about the condition of the Neo Química Arena pitch, the experience of playing in a new role, the refereeing, the team’s performance, and the preparation for the clash against Internacional in the round of 16 of the Copa do Brasil.

Photo: Reproduction / Instagram

Raniele criticizes the condition of the Neo Química Arena pitch

The player said the state of the pitch is well below the stadium’s usual standard and stressed that the situation harms both the athletes and the spectacle offered to the fans.

“The pitch, I already said it there, is far below what Neo Química Arena is, what we’ve had in recent years. They told us they were going to replace the grass and everything, and it really was replaced, but apparently it wasn’t delivered in enough time for it to be in full condition. I hope it can improve, because today everyone who fell to the ground came away really scraped up.

Fortunately nothing serious happened, but in training, for example, I had a knee collision that, if I showed you the photo here, you’d go crazy seeing what happened. So I think it’s important to improve it so that not only can we play good football, but the fans who come here can also get a spectacle with everything possible, everything they deserve, and the pitch is very important for that.”

Experience in defense

Raniele also explained how the possibility of playing as a center-back against Athletico-PR came about. According to him, the conversation with Fernando Diniz happened right after the game against Bahia.

“After the Bahia match, the next day he already told me that it was possible I would play in defense. I immediately accepted and told him I’d do it without any problem. I also wanted to, I really like living these experiences, I like playing in other positions, and today it was really cool, especially because of Athletico’s quality as well.

There are players there who are going through, who are in an exceptional moment, Leozinho too, very fast, very difficult to mark, Mendonza as well. So it was really cool to battle against them, it was a very physical, very tough game, and I think we managed to neutralize them. It was a really good game and I really enjoyed experiencing that.”

Refereeing and criteria

The midfielder also commented on the refereeing and said that the difference in criteria among referees has made it harder for players to adapt during matches.

“It is because we can’t say anything. First they tell us to speak respectfully, then we go and speak respectfully and they say we can’t talk, then if we say it in an interview we get punished, so we’re being left without a voice and what happens is that they’ll do whatever they want. I’m not talking specifically about Zanovelli, but this has been happening repeatedly here in matches with any referee, and we can’t talk, we can’t say anything. Even if you speak respectfully, all that’s missing is begging the referee, and he still won’t let you talk to him, so it’s kind of difficult. So I think, I don’t know, they need to review the criteria, review some things. There are fouls they call for one side and not for the other. I think the biggest difficulty in Brazilian football today is that the referees are different, so today Zanovelli gave some fouls that the referee on Sunday definitely won’t give, and Sunday’s referee is totally different from Thursday’s, so sometimes we have to know which referee is going to officiate so we know whether he allows more play or not, and a rule is a rule, the rule has to be followed, the standard has to be followed.

So I think it gets kind of difficult when we have to adapt to the referee’s style. It shouldn’t be like that. In football there are things you can do and things you can’t. If you can’t do it, it’s a foul, regardless of who it is. So I think that’s the hardest thing today. I’m not going to stand here saying the referee is bad, or good, or whatever, but referees are different, they have different criteria, and to me that’s wrong. If it’s a foul, it’s a foul; if it’s not, it’s not. Then today we play and there are fouls he doesn’t call, fouls he does call, and in the next game a little bump here is already a foul, the referee keeps stopping the game the whole time, so that makes it kind of difficult.”

Strategy worked on the field

Raniele explained that the game plan was built to neutralize Athletico-PR’s main strengths and believes the team managed to execute what had been worked on during the week.

“We tried to take away Athletico-Paranaense’s play on the flanks. We know they are very strong out wide with Leozinho and Mendonza, Gilberto also pushed forward a lot, and we also tried to neutralize Viveiros. So I think we managed it. It was something we trained a lot, in the time we had to work, and today I think it was put into practice. We managed not to suffer, the only chance they had there, Viveiros was offside too, so I think it was a very well-studied game, we managed to study them well, the coaching staff passed their key points on to us well, and we managed to cancel that out.”

Injuries to Yuri Alberto and Zakaria

The midfielder commented on the situation of his injured teammates and highlighted the squad’s support during the recovery period.

“Man, I don’t know, because I didn’t get to see their plays directly, but Zakaria’s maybe, I don’t know, because it was a play where his foot got stuck and his knee went one way, maybe there was impact, but I can’t say that because I didn’t see it up close. Yuri’s I think is a little harder, since it was a muscle injury, but they are players who are very important to us, they’re definitely very sad, nobody likes being out, but they know they have the support of our group. We’ll be hoping they can recover quickly. We have a good medical department that will certainly do everything possible so they can come back as soon as possible and be with us again, and I hope the players who come in for them can make up for those absences.”

Focus shifts back to the Copa do Brasil

Finally, Raniele said Corinthians is in a good moment heading into the Copa do Brasil knockout stage and stressed the importance of the first leg against Internacional.

“We’re coming off two draws, but we’re also on a four-game unbeaten run, so it depends on the way you look at it. I think it’s important to reach a decisive Copa do Brasil stage having gone four games without losing, and it’s been a long time since we’ve known what losing feels like, even because of the break we had, so I think that’s important, and I prefer to look at it that way.

In the Copa do Brasil there are two games and we know both games are key. We need to use the strength of our fans in the second leg, but the first leg is extremely important too, especially against an opponent playing at home, a tricky opponent, so I think we need to go in fully focused. Regardless of the results we’ve been seeing during this time, these are games where we need to stay alert, because any slip-up in a knockout match can cost you qualification, and we’re not going to let that happen.”

Corinthians return to the field this Sunday (2) at 7:30 p.m. (Brasília time), when they face Internacional at Beira-Rio in the first leg of the Copa do Brasil round of 16. The place in the next round will be decided on Wednesday (6) at 8 p.m. at Neo Química Arena.

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