The Corinthians president recalls the choice for Cuca and does not see Tite as “ungrateful”

The president of Corinthians Duilio Monteiro Alves recalled the repercussions of his choice for coach Cuca, shortly after the farewell of Fernando Lázaro. In an exclusive interview with Gazzetta dello Sportthe coach also spoke of the negative received from Tite, not sharing the label of “ungrateful” that the former commander of the Brazilian national team received from some people.

Cuca was announced by Corinthians on April 20 and was in charge of the team for just six days, until he asked to leave. Convicted of sexual abuse of vulnerable subjects in 1989 in the “Berne case”, several fans contested his arrival and his name was the subject of protests on social media, at the CT, at Parque São Jorge and at the stadium. Duilio was also heavily criticized at the time.

“If I say that I didn’t know there could be problems, I wouldn’t be being honest. We had consultations, we talked a lot with Cuca. Defending Cuca. We knew it would have repercussions, but believe what he passed on us, his innocence, who is running after trying, trying. And it would be really cool if he can turn this game around, if he proves he’s innocent. But I didn’t think it would be that big,” commented Duilio.

For Corinthians, Cuca played two matches: a 3-1 defeat against Goiás for the Brazilian championship and a 2-0 victory against Remo, for the third stage of the Copa do Brasil. Given the strong repercussions with the arrival of the coach, Duilio says he regrets the choice made at the time.

“He has already gone through several clubs in Brazil after the fact, he has trained, played, been in the Brazilian national team, participated as a commentator on several programs, worked on television, along with several who are trying to kill him. “I did not imagine that it would be like this, because it was not like that anywhere. There was no such thing with Cuca. Corinthians’ last match in 2022, when Vítor Pereira left, was against Atlético-MG do Cuca. When I hired him, he had been at Atlético for three months and nothing was said about this case, today thinking about it I would not have done it, if I had known that it would have this repercussion I would not have taken that risk. He wouldn’t have accepted it. We were the main losers, mainly him. He’s a great coach, he won several titles, then he arrived here and everything is bigger at Corinthians,” he added.

Before Cuca, Tite was wanted. Multi-champion of the club, the manager’s name is always speculated when Timão is looking for a new commander. As he had already said during the World Cup dispute with the national team, the coach favored invitations from abroad and rest with his family, which caused him to be described as “ungrateful” by some fans. Duilio disagrees with this point of view.

“He had made it clear in the national team that he would not work in Brazil, that the plans were to work in Europe. I have to try, whether it works or not, I tried. I have to make decisions, have an attitude. I can be wrong, I can be right, but I have to. Who could be the best coach of Corinthians at that moment? Tite. I can’t call him ungrateful, if I already knew it, if he said it publicly. I tried to change his mind, but he has his own life, his own priorities… We have to respect his moment, I can’t get past the point. He has a commitment to his family” Duilio said.

Tite led Corinthians in three spells (2004-05, 2010-13 and 2015-16) and won with the club: two Brazilian championships (2011 and 2015), one Copa Libertadores (2012), one Club World Cup (2012 ), a Paulista Championship (2013) and Recopa Sul-Americana (2013).

Source: Terra

Rose

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