Corinthians seeks success that it has not achieved with a foreign coach since 1930

“For now, winning titles,” said Vítor Pereira, 53, citing his first goal of being introduced as coach of Corinthians. “I like to win with quality of game, but winning is fundamental. In a club of this size, with a huge crowd, it’s important to fight and compete for titles. I can promise a lot of work in search of titles.”

The word “titles”, as can be seen, was often repeated in Portuguese. It has not been easy, however, for foreign coaches to catch up with them at the Parque São Jorge club. In the role of solo commander, only one non-Brazilian raised a trophy for the alvinegro team, the Italian Virgílio Montarini, in the 1929 and 1930 editions of the Paulista Championship.

Some time ago.

Before, even at the time when they were the captains of the teams that played the role of coaches, Corinthians became champion with Casemiro González in this role. It was with the Spanish defender as responsible for the lineups that the formation founded by immigrants in Bom Retiro, near the central region of São Paulo, took their first cups in football, in the states of 1914 and 1916.

After moving to Parque São Jorge, in the east side, and the success of Montarini, the team still won a title with a foreigner on the bench. It was the Portuguese Antônio Pereira, one of the five founding workers of the club in 1910, but he shared the role with the former player Neco (Manuel Nunes), a great black-and-white idol, who was the one who effectively called the shots.

“Although Antônio Pereira is listed as a coach […], there is no doubt that, at least on the field, Neco, who had stopped playing, was giving guidance to the team sitting on the bench. The photo of Manuel Nunes, in a suit, fraternizing with the players in Filó’s 3rd goal, which in 1937 gave Corinthians the title of champion, is worth more than any statistical data”, says chronicler Lourenço Diaféria, in the book “Coração Corinthiano” (Coração Corinthiano) ( 1992).

After that, no foreigner was champion by Corinthians. The Argentine Joseph Tiger (1944), the Portuguese Joreca (1948 and 1949), the Argentine Jim López (1960), the Paraguayan Fleitas Solich (1962 and 1963), the Argentine Filpo Núñez (1966 and 1976), the Argentine Armando Renganeschi (1978), the Uruguayan Darío Pereyra (2001) and the Argentine Daniel Passarella (2005).

Previously, the Italian Rafael Perrone (1910 and 1911) and the Portuguese Casemiro do Amaral (1912) were captains-players. In the era of professionalism, the team was led by the Uruguayan Pedro Mazzulo (1933 and 1934).

With Casemiro González (1912 to 1914 and 1916 to 1917), Virgílio Montarini (1929 to 1931), Antônio Pereira (1937) and, now, Vítor Pereira, Corinthians officially has 15 foreign coaches. But only the Italian Montarini can say that he was champion for the club in the role of coach as we know it today.

He debuted in a friendly against England’s Chelsea in July 1929, a 4-4 draw at Parque Antarctica. He took over a team that was São Paulo champion in 1928 and led it to the third championship with the conquests of 1929 and 1930. In addition, he participated in two other emblematic moments.

Montarini was the alvinegro coach in the 3-1 victory over Barracas, from Argentina, in a friendly at Parque São Jorge, in 1929. The following day, sports columnist Tomás Mazzoni, from A Gazeta, praised the “musketeer fiber” of the players. And the musketeer became a symbol of the club.

Then, in 1930, Apea (São Paulo Association of Athletic Sports) promoted a kind of contest between the champions from São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Corinthians beat Vasco 4-2 in the first game, at Parque São Jorge. In São Januário, he lost by two goals, but sought the turnaround by 3 to 2 and earned the nickname sung in his anthem, “the champion of champions”.

Now, it’s time for a Portuguese to seek glory in black and white. His first step in this attempt will take place this Saturday (5), at 4 pm, at Morumbi, in a duel between the Campeonato Paulista and São Paulo. The match will be broadcast on HBO Max and TNT Sports Stadium.