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SC Corinthians

Corinthians was named after Corinthian FC, an English team that had toured Brazil. The name did not please everyone. There were those who preferred that the name of the club honor a renowned Brazilian such as Santos Dumont or Carlos Gomes. Corinthians was founded by a group of humble workers. The first president, for example, was a tailor. The players themselves helped build the field where the team would play its friendlies.

The club's mascot, the Musketeer, emerged from a chronicle in the newspaper A Gazeta Esportiva after a friendly match against Barracas, from Argentina. The text compared the grit of Corinthians players with The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. Corinthians lived for four years without having a shield. The first one was only designed in 1914. The first Corinthians uniforms were cream colored. The shade, however, faded easily after washing, and as there was no money to replace the fabric, it was decided to adopt white as the official color.

The verse “Champion of champions” in the Corinthians anthem makes reference to an achievement in 1930, when a match was played between the champion of São Paulo (Corinthians) and the champion of Rio de Janeiro (Vasco): Timão, 3 x 2. Significant dates in the history of Brazil bring back happy memories for Corinthians fans. The club was champion of São Paulo in 1922, the year of the centenary of independence; in 1954, year of the IV centenary of the city of São Paulo; and in 1988, the centennial year of the abolition of slavery; in 2000, in the 500 years of Brazil, the club was world champion.

Corinthians' first idol was Neco. He played in the 1910s and 1920s and was marked by a strong temper. Once, in a derby against Palestra Itália, he took off the strap of his shorts to attack the goalkeeper Alviverde. Once, Neco robbed the Corinthians headquarters and took home balls, trophies and other belongings. Because of debts, the team ran the risk of having their assets seized. The robbery, then, was a way to keep everything safe.

Interestingly, the nickname “Timão” emerged during one of the worst moments in the club's history: the lack of São Paulo titles that lasted from 1955 to 1977. referring to the squad as the “Timão do Corinthians”. He took it. Corinthians is the greatest Brazilian champion of the era of consecutive points, which began in 2003: it has already won four.

Vicente Matheus was one of the greatest presidents of Corinthians. In all, he presided over the club for 18 years between 1959 and 1991. Famous for pearls such as “Sócrates is unsalable and useless”, “this is a double-edged sword” and “with or without me, Corinthians will be champions”, the The folkloric leader used to spend days trapped in his room when Timão lost.

Famous technicians such as Oswaldo Brandão and Tite were consecrated, Corinthians also won important titles with interims who were hired at the club. In 1995, Eduardo Amorim won the Copa do Brasil and Campeonato Paulista; in 1999, Oswaldo de Oliveira won Paulistão and Brasileirão, also winning the World Cup in 2000; in 2017, Fábio Carille won a State and a Brazilian Championship. Before that, in 2005, Márcio Bittencourt commanded the team for a good part of the journey of the Brazilian tetra.

Corinthians provided four coaches to the Brazilian national team in the last 20 years: Vanderlei Luxemburgo, in 1998; Carlos Alberto Parreira, in 2002; Mano Menezes, in 2010; and Tite, in 2016. Interestingly, the four were replaced by coaches who failed and spent little time in office (Evaristo de Macedo, Geninho, Adilson Batista and Cristóvão Borges, respectively).

When it was relegated to Série B of the Brazilian Championship in 2007, Corinthians had in its squad Vampeta, the club's idol at the beginning of the decade. The coach was Nelsinho Batista, Brazilian champion with the club in 1990. In addition to renowned names in the past, the squad that experienced the worst moment in the club's history was formed by players who would become famous in the future: cases of William, Dentinho and Éverton Ribeiro .

When Corinthians won its first Brazilian title, in 1990, 19 other teams had already won that title. Twenty-seven years later, Timão has already become the third biggest national champion, with seven titles. Corinthians was the first FIFA Club World Cup champion. In 2000, playing as national champion of the host country, Timão defeated Vasco in Maracanã on penalties and took the title. The dreamed Libertadores of America was won by Corinthians undefeated in 2012: eight wins and six draws in 14 games. No other team has ever won the tournament by playing so many games without losing any.