BRING THE NOISE. What to expect from the Corinthians team – and fans – against Arsenal
Corinthians are one of the best supported women’s teams in South America, and a lot of fans are flying over from Brazil for the FIFA Champions Cup Final against Arsenal at the Emirates.
Some are literally coming for under 24 hours to celebrate their brilliant team and their fluid football with passion, noise and instant atmosphere. Back home they’ll be watching live on TV, despite it clashing with the Corinthians men’s cup final game taking place at the same time.
Helen M Jerome spoke to three Corinthians stars, Ana Vitoria, Ivana Fuso and Andressa, and their head coach Lucas Piccinato – plus a handful of Gotham players and their head coach, the team they beat in the semi-final.
For good measure, we also quizzed football-loving Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor for her verdict on the Champions Cup tournament and final.
Ana Vitoria is one of Brazil’s and Corinthians’ biggest stars, who has also played for Atletico Madrid. She is very familiar with European football style and has also come up against some Arsenal players on international duty. She feels ready for something epic against the Champions League winners in their home stadium.
“We’re expecting a really tough game.
“We know they have a great team with great players.
“They’re strong and they’re really technical, so we’re pretty sure it’s going to be a good game.”
Having beaten Gotham – to the surprise of many – in the Champions Cup semi-final, I wondered how Corinthians might set up differently against Arsenal.
“To be honest, I think it’s a bit similar the way they play.
“The characteristics of the players as I was saying, are strong and technical, so I think it’s gonna be a little bit similar.
“But at the same time I think we need to pay attention to some things that I’m not sure if I should say right now, but some stuff that we could see in the videos that Arsenal does a little bit more often and that can be dangerous for us.”
Ana Vitoria has watched Arsenal from afar, and when she’s come up against their players, she is full of praise. Notably for Alessia Russo.
“Well, I know what I see when I watch the games.
“I played against Russo, for Brazil. She’s really good.
“She’s strong, she’s fast, she has good finishing.
“But all the players are pretty good, that’s why they are where they are.”
Of course, Ana Vitoria would rather we talk about the qualities of Corinthians.
“Also us, I think we have also a good team.
“You’re asking me a lot about Arsenal, but I think we have also a good team and we’re going to be prepared!”
Fluid
Above all, for Corinthians head coach Lucas Piccinato (above, right) it’s about playing to their own strengths.
“The best way for us to beat the other team is to play our way, to get the ball on the ground.
“We need to implement our own strategy, we understand that the opponent will have theirs, but we need to focus on our own and start playing our football in a fluid way, and stop their best players’ impact.”
With much experience in England, playing for both Manchester United and Birmingham City, attacking midfielder Ivana Fuso (below, left and centre) is on cloud nine about playing at the Emirates.
“I’m excited. I feel like the girls are excited.
“Emirates is a big stadium.”
According to Fuso, most of her Corinthians teammates were convinced this Champions Cup final was taking place in Wembley.
“All the girls said like, are we playing there?
“That is a big stadium.
“I said, guys, no, we’re not playing in the Wembley.
“They didn’t know about the Wembley, but then when they heard about it, we were just like laughing about.
“But the Emirates stadium is also amazing.
“And I hope a lot of fans can come and join us and see that incredible game as well.”
Crazy
When she talks of the Corinthians fans, Fuso’s face lights up.
“Yeah, they’re crazy.
“If you come to Brazil, you will see they will just sing the whole time and Corinthians fans, they’re like crazy, crazy, crazy guys, crazy people I would say.
“They always sing, they’re always loud and I feel like it’s so good to have them here because it’s helping us as well because we’re here in London and for people fly from Brazil to see us, that is amazing and that’s all about football and for the growing of women’s football.”
Only too familiar to Arsenal players Mariona Caldentey and Laia Codina is the exciting Andressa (above, right), who previously played with them at Barcelona.
She is looking forward to meeting them again, and adamant that Corinthians not only knew how to set up against Gotham, but were also fearless. Which is what we can expect against Arsenal.
“We knew we would have to suffer to win, and we were very conscious of that.
“We knew Gotham are a very strong team and that the first and second balls were very important, that’s why Gotham pushed us behind in the first half in the first 10 minutes.
“We were not afraid to do the one-on-ones and that’s what we had in our minds from the beginning.”
Fantastic
Gotham Head Coach, Juan Carlos Amoros agrees that Corinthians are a “fantastic team” with good, experienced players too.
“Obviously they are the best team, I would say, in South America, the last 15, 20 years for sure.
“And they have, as you said, a lot of experience.
“They’ve added some good players, like Vitoria who comes now from Atletico Madrid, and now they’ve got a lot of experience in the likes of Tamires.
“They know how to win, but they also are producing young players that are now starting to be in the international scene like Jhonson.
“You know, they’re a very difficult team.
“And I think Lucas has done a fantastic job as well with them the time that he’s been there.”
Entertaining
Gotham defender Jess Carter (below, left) might have been on the losing side, but really rated the Corinthians fans, who were non-stop throughout the game.
“Yeah, they’re incredible.
“I think all of the fans that came today were, to be honest, there were more fans than I anticipated.
“You know, two teams that probably aren’t well-known here in England, so it was great to play for the crowd and the Corinthians fans also definitely made it entertaining.”
Of the game itself, Carter admitted it was obviously chaotic at times. But she was disappointed at her own team’s response.
“I just feel we knew they would counter-attack us and we should have been prepared for that.
“Also, they’re great at what they do. They were hard to break down and so dangerous on the counter.”
Gotham goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger (below, centre) wasn’t quite so generous with praise for Corinthians, saying: “I expected better, to be honest.
“I think we really stopped that flow to actually not get them into the game.”
Talking to Gotham stars Jaedyn Shaw, Mandy Freeman and Jaelin Howell (R to L, above right) they all had different expectations of the Champions Cup tournament.
Jaedyn Shaw said they’d been looking forward to “obviously playing great opponents; playing some good football in this incredible stadium. So it’s awesome for us.”
Looking out at the conditions, Mandy Freeman said she was unfazed: “We’re used to the rain and the weather, so that’s not going to get us down.”
Main highlight for Jaelin Howell, however, is just being in England for the competition.
“It’s amazing being in a country where football is the whole culture and we love to be a part of that.”
Beauty
Watching with interest and some envy throughout, has been Sonia Bompastor, the Chelsea head coach.
“Yes, I was watching the game; it’s always interesting to watch different teams in different competitions.
“Of course our ambition is to be in that competition. We want to play in as many competitions as possible at the highest level, so our job is to make sure we are in that competition in future.”
When pushed to predict who might win, Bompastor is happy to sit on the fence.
“In football you never know. And that’s the beauty of the game.
“Obviously as the Chelsea manager I can’t think of any name other than Chelsea!
“Arsenal is a great team and they have a big chance to win.
“But in football you can’t underestimate people or teams.”
