Corinthians continued, on Sunday morning (22), the sequence of achievements that it established in recent years in women’s football. With a 2-0 victory over São Paulo, in a packed Itaquera stadium, it won the Brazilian Championship title for the sixth time, the fifth consecutive.
The black and white team had already won the first leg 3-1 at Morumbi and reached the final match with a good advantage. And their favoritism was confirmed with goals from Jaque Ribeiro and Carol Nogueira in the second half, to the delight of the more than 100 spectators. 44,136 paying spectators – new record for Brazil in women’s club football.
The victory was led by Lucas Piccinato, chosen to replace the club’s most successful coach in women’s football. Arthur Elias was promoted to the Brazilian national team last year precisely because of his success at Parque São Jorge and led the team’s silver medal campaign at the Paris Olympic Games.
Without Arthur, even though they have a squad that is the basis of the national team, Corinthians had a more eventful campaign than previous ones. There were moments of instability, with absences due to injuries and due to call-ups for the national team. The team came first in the qualifying phase, but suffered a remarkable 7-2 defeat to Cruzeiro.
In the knockout stages, the difficulties were great. The quarterfinals against Bragantino were defined with a 1-1 draw and a hard-fought 1-0 victory. In the semifinals, after a comeback 3-1 victory over arch-rivals Palmeiras, the spot was secured with suffering, in a 2-1 defeat with pressure in the final minutes.
In the final, the black and white team finally reestablished its dominance in a firm manner. It was clearly superior to its opponent in the first leg. In the second leg, after a first half with few opportunities, it demonstrated efficiency in the opportunities it created to celebrate the fans who went to the Itaquera stadium early.
The score began to build 20 minutes into the second half. After a cross from Yasmim, Vic Albuquerque headed the ball into the penalty area, where Jaqueline appeared to head it in again. At the end, at 45 minutes, in a well-organized counterattack by Gabi Zanotti, Carol Nogueira advanced into the penalty area and beat goalkeeper Carlinha.