“Here, madness transcends the game”, says Fernando Diniz, in the video produced to announce him as Corinthians coach. “My heart is already beating to the rhythm of Fiel”, he states, clearly reading a previously prepared text.
As the words are spoken, images of black and white fans appear, also called a “bunch of crazy people”. At the end of the video, a spontaneous Diniz appears, no longer bound by the script, getting rid of the microphone and joking: “Now, the madness is about to begin. Go, Corinthians!”.
Criticized for his explosive behavior on the sidelines, with bulging eyes and swearing at players, the 52-year-old coach hopes this will be a gateway into the hearts of the fans. His game proposal is also usually treated as insane, quixotic, however the tactical component – a football of approach and exchange of passes that seems appropriate for the main players of the current black and white squad – has been much less explored than the “blood in the eye” demanded by the stands.
“I live football in an intense way”, he stated, at his presentation ceremony, last Tuesday (7). “People think that the tactical part has a prevalence for me. It never will. There is no tactical mastery that can overcome the lack of enthusiasm, of will.”
While Diniz was saying this, fans protested at the door of the training center, asking for their will. The team was on a run of nine matches without a win – which led to the dismissal of coach Dorival Júnior –, and the players started to have their cars stopped, with aggressive demands: “Do you think we are idiots?”.
Asked about the demonstration, the technician called it “supernormal”. He was an attacking midfielder for Corinthians from 1997 to 1998 and was ambushed on the Imigrantes highway, on his way back from a defeat to Santos in Santos, with stones thrown at the club bus.
“The players need to learn to play for Corinthians. The fans who are there are the ones who go to the stadium and win the game with their presence,” he said, presenting a simple solution for the upset athletes: “What calms this down is winning the game.”
That’s what they did two days later. In their debut in the 2026 edition of the Copa Libertadores, the team defeated Platense 2-0, in Vicente López, Argentina, and interrupted a period of almost two months without a victory.
The result represented a relief, it is true, but that was not the triumph demanded in the protests. “If you lose on Sunday, you’re f…”, shouted the fans, referring to the classic against Palmeiras, at the Itaquera stadium, in São Paulo, for the Brazilian Championship.
“I know how important a Derby is,” said Diniz. “It’s the biggest classic for Corinthians, a traditional game. It’s a game that we will face as a game has to be faced when Corinthians and Palmeiras play.”
The clash will be in the east zone of São Paulo, where the boy Fernando arrived, aged nine months. Born in Patos de Minas, the Minas Gerais native put down roots near the black and white headquarters, which is located in Parque São Jorge. When Dorival was fired and the message from president Osmar Stabile arrived, Diniz was ready to go to the club and sign his contract.
“I live in the east zone, you know how many Corinthians fans there are here. This fan matters a lot, the stadium fan…”, he stated, minimizing the noisy portion of fans who disapproved of his signing on social networks and online polls.
“Everyone in football thought this would happen, they think I have a match with Corinthians. I also think I suit this here, because of my restless way, because of my courage to do things. It has everything to work out”, he bet.
To do this, Diniz will have to channel what he called “madness” in a productive way. His work in recent years has had a very high high – Fluminense winning the Libertadores in 2023 – and very low lows – his time with the Brazilian team was brief and terrible.
In the debut for Corinthians, cameras and microphones looked for the coach during a break for the athletes to hydrate. He was energetic in his instructions, but contained himself in an apparent eagerness to use bad words with right-back Matheuzinho.
Even though the eyes widened, the scream was contained. And the team won.
“I was close to making a deal with Corinthians four or five times, but I thank God that it didn’t work out. Today, I’m more prepared to face this challenge. I believe that the 17 years of my career have been preparation for arriving at a club of this size.”
