Igor Felisberto

Right Back - Corinthians
19 Jan 2033
Wednesday
Process

Marked for Igor Felisberto

332 Edition

The Corinthians Sentinel

6 Dec 2032
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Hugo Souza

There were 10 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Market

Corinthians turn down Flamengo for Gabriel Jesus

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Match

Nowhere to hide for Corinthians

0‑3 against Flamengo, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Market

Samuel Mendes agrees terms with Real Cartagena

The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Corinthians people have started saying his name in the past tense.

Market

Samuel Mendes asks to leave Corinthians

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Arthur Sales signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Arthur Sales and Corinthians agree another 3 years.

Boardroom

Henrique Trevisan has agreed to leave Corinthians for nothing

He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.

Squad

Matheuzinho in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Corinthians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Gabriel Jesus falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

In brief

Back issues
324 Edition

The Corinthians Sentinel

11 Oct 2032
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Corinthians tear Bragantino apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Bragantino, and it could have been more.

Player ratings

A brace, and Miguel Monsalve takes the afternoon — 9.18

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Miguel Monsalve provided it, and the 9.18 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Player ratings

Vintage Gabriel Jesus — 8.72

At 35 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.72, and nobody on the pitch better.

Market

Nadson hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Corinthians can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

A falling-out at Corinthians

Matheuzinho and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Corinthians

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wendel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Memphis Depay

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Gabriel Jesus is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.28 with 14 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Market

Igor Felisberto wants more than Corinthians are offering

“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.

In brief

303 Edition

The Corinthians Sentinel

17 May 2032
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Words exchanged at Corinthians

Matheuzinho and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

A row about effort at Corinthians

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wendel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Matías Abaldo the difference as Corinthians beat Fluminense

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Matías Abaldo. 1‑0 against Fluminense, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Rubens

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Player ratings

Nobody on the pitch touched Matías Abaldo

7.62, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Corinthians had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Interim Coach, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.

Market

Gabriel Jesus linked with a move away

The name of Gabriel Jesus keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Corinthians say nothing, which says plenty.

The dugout

Memphis Depay does not fit this one

Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Igor Felisberto

Defensive actions: 13. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

In brief

283 Edition

The Corinthians Sentinel

29 Dec 2031
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Memphis Depay

42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Corinthians lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Transfer targets

Fee done, terms next for Luís Guilherme

Corinthians and Sporting CP have settled on $17.6M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.

Squad

Gabriel Jesus is carrying Corinthians

31 goals and a season average of 7.47. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Match

No mercy from Corinthians

Mirassol will want this one forgotten quickly: 6‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Corinthians were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Market

Terms done: Paulo Azzi is going

Fee agreed, wages agreed, and ABC waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Corinthians is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.

Player ratings

A brace, and Matías Abaldo takes the afternoon — 9.58

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Matías Abaldo provided it, and the 9.58 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

A day Gabriel Jesus will not forget

3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Player ratings

Vintage Gabriel Jesus — 9.75

At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 9.75, and nobody on the pitch better.

Market

Corinthians sell João Borne for $4.4M

João Borne has left for Grêmio in a $4.4M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.

In brief

269 Edition

The Corinthians Sentinel

22 Sep 2031
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

No mercy from Corinthians

Internacional will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Corinthians were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Squad

Gabriel Jesus is carrying Corinthians

22 goals and a season average of 7.37. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Player ratings

Rodrigo Garro, 33, rolls back the years — 8.28

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.28 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Market

Alex Nascimento is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Corinthians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

A row about effort at Corinthians

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wendel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Tempers go at Corinthians

Nuno Santos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Matías Abaldo

Marked 8.09 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

The dugout

Ramon gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

Interim Coach: “That is the standard”

“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 3‑0, already talking about the next one.

In brief

268 Edition

The Corinthians Sentinel

15 Sep 2031
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

The longest week starts now for Corinthians

Beaten 1‑2 by Palmeiras in the one fixture that is never just a fixture. Work, school, the corner shop — there will be no getting away from this one.

Squad

Gabriel Jesus is carrying Corinthians

21 goals and a season average of 7.35. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Gabriel Jesus yet — 7.85

At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.85 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Market

Danielzinho has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Corinthians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Words exchanged at Corinthians

Matheuzinho and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Wendel falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

A move Nadson would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Nadson is living that version at Corinthians, and it tends to show in the first month.

Player ratings

Matías Abaldo was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

The dugout

When it matters, Gabriel Jesus plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

In brief

263 Edition

The Corinthians Sentinel

11 Aug 2031
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

7 saves: João Pedro was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Market

Only the photograph left for Paulo Azzi

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Paulo Azzi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Corinthians the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Market

Otávio raises the bar for Corinthians

“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Corinthians heard it as anything else.

Boardroom

Paulo Azzi signs for Fluminense while still at Corinthians

The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Paulo Azzi has agreed terms with Fluminense for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.

Squad

A falling-out at Corinthians

Matheuzinho and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Market

As if he never left: Agustín Cardozo returns

Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Agustín Cardozo is a Corinthians player again, and the town has its story of the summer.

Squad

A move Agustín Cardozo would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Agustín Cardozo is living that version at Corinthians, and it tends to show in the first month.

Squad

Wendel falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Igor Felisberto

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 22 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

In brief

245 Edition

The Corinthians Sentinel

7 Apr 2031
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout

Matías Abaldo says Corinthians went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Matheuzinho signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Matheuzinho commits to Corinthians for another 4 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Corinthians

Wendel was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Market

Rafael Juwer is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Corinthians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

A row about effort at Corinthians

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Otávio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Market

Eyes on Gustavo Milani again

The phone has started ringing about Gustavo Milani again, and this time the name on the line is Sporting Kansas City. Corinthians are listening politely and promising nothing.

The dugout

When it matters, Gabriel Jesus plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

Market

João Neto is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Corinthians has been clear about where João Neto stands, which is more than many ever get.

Market

The Rodrigo Garro talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Corinthians know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

244 Edition

The Corinthians Sentinel

31 Mar 2031
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Tempers go at Corinthians

Matheuzinho was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Words at Corinthians training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Otávio is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad

Igor Felisberto signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Igor Felisberto and Corinthians agree another 5 years.

The dugout

When it matters, Rodrigo Garro plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

Market

The Wendel question follows Corinthians around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Wendel’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

The dugout

A door opens for Erick Pulga

He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.

In brief

242 Edition

The Corinthians Sentinel

17 Mar 2031
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A falling-out at Corinthians

Matheuzinho and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Otávio falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Corinthians

7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.

The dugout

Memphis Depay gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Memphis Depay is on it.

The dugout

No hiding place for Paulo Azzi

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Paulo Azzi, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Matheuzinho asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

In brief