The most successful coach of the Copa do Brasil, Dorival Júnior expressed relief with Corinthians’ victory this Sunday (21), at Maracanã.
After the 2-1 victory over Vasco, he stated that he only accepted the invitation to coach Corinthians as an ‘answer for himself’ in the face of the criticism he suffered during his time with the Brazilian team.
“I wasn’t there to work at the time, and I decided to accept it against my family, but because of everything that happened in the national team with mockery, jokes. And people do this without caring about human beings”, said Dorival, in a brief interview, interrupted by the players’ traditional bath.
“Everything about the selection was very heavy, and the protests were big. I really only got support from a few people at that time, and the funny thing is that I know a lot of people in football. I needed to give myself an answer, which is why I accepted Corinthians’ invitation.”
Dorival was announced by the Parque São Jorge club on April 28 of this year, almost a month after being fired by the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation). As head of the national team, he recorded seven wins, seven draws and three defeats.
Argentina’s 4-1 defeat in the World Cup qualifiers was the final straw.
“To those who believed in me, I thank you very much from the bottom of my heart. To those who were skeptics, jokers, mockers, unfortunately I just have to say good night and thanks, this only motivated us to improve and seek an achievement like today”, said Dorival.
Just like the coach, Corinthians was also not going through a good time at the end of April. Dorival arrived at the club with the challenge of rebuilding a team, which until then had conceded 33 goals in 29 matches.
And it was the defensive system that ended up being decisive in winning the Copa do Brasil. The team conceded just three goals in the competition, eliminating arch-rivals Palmeiras and favorite Cruzeiro, as well as Athletico-PR and Novorizontino.
“Nobody has any idea what we went through, the problems we faced. Some were commented on and others that, thank God, didn’t leave the CT [centro de treinamento]. And once again, a lot of objections, even from people who know everything that Corinthians went through in this process”, said the coach.
Champion this Sunday, Dorival is now tied with Luiz Felipe Scolari as the coaches with the most Copa do Brasil titles, but he is the only one to win with four different teams — Santos, Flamengo, São Paulo and Corinthians. Scolari won with Criciúma, Grêmio and twice with Palmeiras.
