Even with a contract until the end of the year, Fábio Santos reached his eighth consecutive game playing the full 90 minutes for Timão
Corinthians did not adopt the same strategy towards the left-back as they did at the start of last year. Where in 2022 signs were that the club was moving to ‘pass the torch’ to a successor to Fábio Santos in charge, this year the experienced 37-year-old has once again dominated the industry.
TO Defeat of Corinthians 2-0 against Remo, on the night of last Wednesday (12), for the Copa do Brasil, Fábio reached his eighth consecutive game playing 90 minutes. It is true that in this interval the alvinegro club went 25 days without playing, due to the early elimination in Paulistão, also in the quarterfinals, by Ituano. However, in the confrontation against Leão, for the third stage of the national competition, coach Fernando Lázaro carried out some load controls. Balbuena, for example, didn’t even travel to Pará. And athletes like Fagner, Fausto Vera and Róger Guedes started the game among the reserves.
It was the opportunity for the Corinthian coach to choose Matheus Bidu, hired at the end of last year and who, so far, has played three games with the Corinthian shirt, two as a starter and none for the whole time.
– It has nothing to do with Bidu. The athlete has evolved very well in training and has participated. We built the game with some changes in mind. Since we didn’t want the amount of changes in the front line, the returns of players like Bruno (Méndez), Adson, normal for the context in which the team was playing – Lázaro said in a press conference after the defeat against Remo, justifying the new absence of Bidu.
Bidu has a contract with Timão until the end of 2025, but the alvinegro club has only 20% of his economic rights. In order for the people’s team to buy another 50%, which belongs to Guarani, the player will have to play at least 45 minutes of half of Corinthians’ matches during the year. So far, this has far from happened.
EX-DETAIL
Before the new renewal of Fábio Santos, signed at the beginning of this year and valid until the end of the season, Corinthian’s strategy was to alternate the number 6 shirt with that of Lucas Piton, negotiated with Vasco at the end of 2022. So much so that the now Vasco player has played 52 games, against the 41 of his position partner.
However, Piton’s technical instability meant that Fábio was coach Vítor Pereira’s favorite in the most important matches, such as the two semifinals and finals of the Copa do Brasil, against Fluminense and Flamengo respectively, the confrontation at the Bombonera against Boca Juniors, from Argentina, for the last 16 of the Libertadores, etc.
When he signed a young player like Lucas Piton, who is 22 years old – Bidu is 23 -, it was thought that Corinthians would follow the model of the relay and would have bet on the reinforcement as the “heir” of the Corinthian left-back. However, what you see is exactly the opposite. Fábio is dominating the position, and what was indicative of a possible retirement at the end of the year, could also mean a new contract renewal for one season.
At no point have conversations been opened between the Corinthians management and the player’s staff, but their relationship is quite friendly. Fábio Santos has already guaranteed, even before the latest renewal, that if he doesn’t stay at Timão, he won’t play for another club. Negotiations for the renewal of the last contract only started in September, were quickly resolved and the document was only signed in the first few days of January.
Although he has not been in the starting lineup in two matches this season, the number 6 shirt has been present in all of Corinthians’ commitments in 2023. Against Inter de Limeira, for the third round in Paulistão, the team entered three minutes from the end of regular time. Already struggling with São Bernardo, also for the State, he came on at 3pm in the second half and played 30 minutes, plus reinforcements.
Source: Terra
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