Coritiba pays dearly for mistakes and returns to Series B; retrospective 2023

In January, expectations were high. The hard-earned achievement of staying in Série A in 2022 indicated that the Coritiba I could dream bigger. To increase fan excitement, so much has never been invested in signings in the club’s history.

Twelve months later, the consequences of analysis errors and poor planning appeared. During the season, Coxa collected eliminations and, at the end of the year, experienced its worst moment: once again relegated to Série B.

But beyond football, Alviverde’s year also saw profound structural transformations, with the transformation into SAF, led by Treecorp Investimentos. See the 2023 retrospective:

Early elimination in the State

The beginning of the year already gave signs of the disappointing year that Coritiba would present. Champion of Paranaense in 2022, Alviverde fell in the quarterfinals in 2023. In the first phase, they finished in third place, behind Athletico and Operário, with six wins, four draws and one defeat.

However, in the first knockout stage, he stopped at Cascavel. In the first game, they lost 3-1 at the Olímpico Regional. On the way back, a frustrating 0-0 draw at Couto Pereira. marked early elimination. In the stands, there was a lot of protest and screams of shame for coach António Oliveira.

Goodbye in the third phase of the Copa do Brasil

In the Copa do Brasil, Coxa reached the third phase of the competition, the board’s objective, but even so, the campaign was disappointing. After a 3-3 draw with Sport, in the first game at Couto Pereira, Alviverde lost 2-0 in the second leg.

The match also marked the debut of Antônio Carlos Zago in charge of Coritiba, a period that would become a nightmare for the Cox-Branca fan. With the elimination, in April, only the Brasileirão was left for Coxa.

Fasting under the direction of Zago

Zago came and went through the doors of CT da Graciosa without having won any victory with Coritiba. It was with the coach that Alviverde recorded one of the worst records in its history: the longest win streak since the club was founded in 1909.

In total, Alviverde went 18 matches without winning. Zago led the team for 12 games, had eight defeats and four draws. The other six were during the time of the Portuguese António Oliveira.

Despite the poor results, Zago only ended up being fired after a controversial interview, when he publicly complained about the athletes and stated that the squad needed to be reinforced to avoid being demoted.

Kosloski in charge

After Zago’s failure, the coach of the under-20 team, Thiago Kosloski, took over on an interim basis. The first results were encouraging, but soon afterwards Coxa lost again. And during this period, another negative record: the longest losing streak in the club’s history: eight consecutive setbacks.

Unable to avoid relegation, Kosloski was fired after the defeat to Fluminense, which declared Alviverde’s seventh fall in history. White-thighed since he was a child, Kosloski was in charge for 23 games, with eight wins, one draw and 14 defeats.

The arrival of the SAF

In mid-2023, the most profound change in Coritiba’s structure in history took place. The club sold 90% of its SAF to the Treecorp Investimentos group. The investment fund committed to investing R$1.3 billion in Coxa over the next ten years.

Of the total amount, R$500 million will be allocated to the modernization of Couto Pereira, R$270 million to fully pay off debts, in addition to R$100 million for the new CT. Another R$450 million goes to football operations (salary rolls and player recruitment).

With the drop to Series B, the group has the option of reducing the annual football budget by half (from R$120 million to around R$60 million), but the club’s CEO, Carlos Amodeo, stated that he will not restrict the budget.

The Alef Manga case

Another negative highlight of 2023 was the involvement of Alef Manga in manipulating results in the Brasileirão. In July, he became a defendant in Operation Maximum Penalty.

Banned from playing football for a year in Brazil, Coxa loaned the striker to Pafos FC, in Cyprus. He made six appearances and scored no goals. In November, after FIFA internationalized the athlete’s punishment, he terminated his contract and returned to Brazil.

In a recent interview with Globo Sport, the attacker stated that he regrets it and wants to return to Alto da Glória.

The embarrassment in the Brasileirão

Between negative records and changes of coaches, Coritiba had the worst campaign in history in the Brasileirão and suffered their seventh relegation.

Verdão finished participating in the 2023 Brasileirão with just 30 points in 38 rounds. In total, there were only eight wins, six draws and 24 defeats, with a negative balance of 25 goals.

In 2020, Coxa had finished the dispute with 31 pointswhich was then the club’s worst campaign – seven wins, ten draws and 21 defeats, with a negative balance of 23 goals.

Guto Ferreira and the planning of Series B

After relegation to Series B, the board hired Guto Ferreira to be the commander in the 2024 season. He returned to the club a year after being dismissed, at the end of 2022, when he guaranteed Coxa’s stay in the elite.

Before Guto arrived, Alviverde had already announced football executive Júnior Chávare to head football operations, such as player signing and squad analysis.

In December, sports head Artur Moraes was fired by Alviverde. Throughout the year, since the arrival of the SAF, the director was heavily criticized for the formation of the squad.

With the new faces behind the scenes at Coxa, the club defined a profile of specific signings for next year. So far, the three reinforcements announced by Coritiba, Arilson, Rodrigo Gelado, Matheus Frizzo and Vini Paulista are athletes who spent the year in Série B.

Some, like Arilson, with Criciúma, Frizzo, with Botafogo and Vini Paulista, with Juventude, have already participated in campaigns to gain access to the elite. Together, the three arrive with the challenge of taking Coxa back to the First Division.