Corinthians announced on Thursday (17) the resignation of coach Ramón Díaz. The 65 -year -old Argentine could not resist the poor performance of the team in the first rounds of the Brazilian Championship and was communicated from his dismissal at a meeting held at the Ecological Park Training Center. Dorival Júnior is the favorite to replace him.
The decision was made by the board just three weeks after the Paulista Championship, the first title of the association since 2019. The triumph over Arquirival Palmeiras had a great celebration of the fans and the club itself, which produced a documentary about the decision, but did not offer much survival to Díaz.
Ramón and his son, Emiliano, who shared with his father the tasks in conducting the team, had been questioned internally since last year. They shook in their positions until the sequence of nine wins that took Corinthians from the Brazilian relegation zone and led him to the preliminary phase of the Copa Libertadores.
In the continental competition, however, the team failed. Eliminated by Barcelona-EQU, it left South America’s main tournament and began to play the South American Cup-just one point in two games so far. In the Brazilian, there are four points in four rounds.
The latest failure was a 2-0 defeat at home for Fluminense on Wednesday night (16). To the final whistle, the shouts of “Play for Love or Play for Terror” at Itaquera Stadium made it clear that the tasty state conquest honeymoon over the biggest enemy had ended quickly.
Large cast star, striker Memphis Depay criticized Corinthians. The Dutchman left the arena talking openly about his restrictions on the style adopted by the Argentine commander, which made the leaders even more pressured to promote a change in the technical committee.
“I arrived here six months ago. Do you think the team is progressing? Or are we just looking at the results? I want to know that. Do you see progress? Because I have my doubts,” he said. “Sometimes we are positioned 50 meters away between the lines. In my opinion, this is not football.”
Ramón Díaz was hired in July last year, replacing the Portuguese António Oliveira, and received as its main mission to avoid relegation in the Brazilian. This goal was hit, and the team reached the semifinals of the Brazilian Cup and the South American Cup, falling against Flamengo and Racing.
The Argentine says goodbye with 60 games: 31 wins, 16 draws and 13 losses. The board has as a favorite name for its place that of Dorival Júnior, 62, recently fired from the Brazilian team. The first contacts have already been made, and there is optimism about a hit being made official in the coming days.
Until this negotiation is not confirmed, the group will be directed interim by Orlando Ribeiro, coach of the Alvinegra under-20 team. Corinthians’ next appointment is scheduled for Saturday (19), against Sport, at Itaquera Stadium, for the Brazilian Championship.
