Corinthians face Ituano amid chaos and uncertainty

The 1-0 victory over Guarani, in Paulistão’s debut, even cheered up the team’s fans. Corinthians, but the general panorama is one of distrust. When facing Ituano, at 7:30 pm this Wednesday, at Novelli Júnior, the team led by Mano Menezes will have to deal with the shadow of events that have raised questions about the performance of the new Corinthians management, led by president Augusto Melo.

At the press conference after Sunday’s match, Mano said he hoped to count on right-back Matheuzinho and Argentine midfielder Rodrigo Garro for the commitment in Itu. “We have a good chance of having both of them on the team, maintaining their level of performance,” he said. The coach’s expectations were not fulfilled, as Matheuzinho will no longer be signed to Flamengo and Garro has not yet been regularized.

The full-back was training at CT Joaquim Grava and participated in training open to fans held on Saturday, at Fazendinha. Even so, Corinthians gave up on signing him after failing to reach an agreement with Flamengo regarding the terms to have the athlete on a one-year loan. The midfielder is not registered with the IDB because the board still has issues to deal with with Talleres, from Argentina.

Apart from these situations that are still ongoing, the team experienced a blow on the eve of the duel with Guarani. After training as a starter during the week, defender Lucas Veríssimo did not train on Saturday and it was then revealed that he had accepted an offer from Qatari football. At the beginning of the month, Augusto Melo announced the permanent purchase of the defender, until then on loan from Benfica, but the player had not yet signed a contract, so he left without a fine.

Amidst all the internal confusion regarding reinforcements, the team started the year with the same standout on the field as at the end of last year: Ángel Romero. Scorer of a great goal in the opening round, the Paraguayan, often questioned, is enjoying a moment of connection with the fans and his confidence is high.

Romero and his teammates will challenge an Ituano team that didn’t make the best of impressions in their first game, in which they ended up defeated 2-0 by São Bernardo. Coach Marcinho Freitas recognizes that his team did not do well, but sees the possibility of surprising Corinthians, especially due to the confusing process of reformulating the capital club.

“What happened against São Bernardo, we have to, of course, observe what needs to be corrected, but keep our heads and concentrate to face Corinthians, who are a great team. Also take advantage of this moment of many changes on the side from there so that we can, within our behaviors, be more intense, get rid of the ball less and control better”, said Marcinho.

Ituano is in Group A of Paulistão, with zero points, as is Santo André. Portuguesa is the group leader, with the same three points as vice-leader Santos.

DATASHEET

ITUANO

ITUANO -Jefferson Paulino; Léo Duarte, João Vialle, Marcel and Jonathan Silva; José Aldo, Yann Rolim and Eduardo Person; Pablo Diogo, Mineiro and Salatiel. Coach: Marcinho Freitas.

CORINTHIANS – Cassio; Fagner, Félix Torres, Caetano and Hugo; Maycon, Raniele, Matías Rojas, Matheus Araujo and Ángel Romero; Yuri Alberto. Coach: Mano Menezes.

REFEREE – Matheus Delgado Candançan.

TIME – 7:30 pm.

LOCAL – Novelli Júnior, in Itu (SP).