The duel between Athletico- PR and Corinthians this Sunday (23), at 16h (from Brasilia), for the 11th round of Brasileirão, will mark the reunions of technicians Cuca and António Oliveira with their former clubs.
Living completely different situations in the season, the two coaches arrive for the match "haunted" by different pressures.
Deep in crisis and fighting the downturn, António Oliveira's team does not win in six games and has only one triumph in 10 rounds. Last Friday (21), a protest of the main organized club was made in São Jorge Park, leaving the climate even heavier before departure.
Before the boiling that lives in Corinthians, the Portuguese commander may decide his future in Corinthians Just against Athletico, where he had a short passage in 2021.
At the time, despite being in the quarterfinals of the Brazilian Cup and in the semifinals of CONMEBOL South Americana, António left the position at the disposal of the athletic board and ended up fired. The last straw was the elimination for Cascavel, in the semis of the State. He returned to Portugal to defend the team B of Benfica before returning to Brazil to take over Cuiabá in 2022.
Now, a new defeat, which would be Timão's second consecutive, may cause the Alvinegra board to fire Portuguese. According to ESPN, President Augusto Melo no longer sees Antonio's stay with the same security.
There is the understanding that, in fact, the club needs reinforcements in the transfer window, which opens on July 10, but still the performance in the field is disapproved at this time.
Another ingredient that worries behind the scenes is the proximity of the classic against the Palm trees. The change before the duel would be an attempt to accelerate an improvement in the team.
Cuca finds the Corinthians
If the weather for Antonio is not the best in Corinthians, Cuca's in Athletic is also not good – of course in a different situation. Hurricane's doing a great campaign here, but he left his fan with a flea behind his ear in the last two games.
The Paraná red-black yielded two draws in a row at the end for Flamengo and Botafogo in the last rounds. The results made the team lose the chance to resume the leadership of the competition.
Now, a stumbling block of the technician, precisely in his reunion with the São Paulo club, where he had a short and turbulent passage last year, may leave the Athletico further away from the top squad of the table.
What happened to Cuca in Corinthians?
At the time, Cuca arrived at São Jorge Park to replace Fernando Lázaro. The trajectory, however, lasted only a week, since the coach was still dealing with the case of sexual abuse against a minor in 1987 in Switzerland. Faced with the protests and pressure from the fans, who never accepted his hiring, he resigned after the penalty rating against the Remo, in the third stage of the Brazilian Cup.
After that, the coach had the sentence annulled by the Berne Court due to the prescription of the crime and ended up hired by Athletico for the position of Colombian Juan Carlos Osorio in March this year. Since then, he has been a champion from Paraná.
This Sunday, Cuca will have the chance to resume the path of victories, precisely against the Corinthians, to leave the pressure only on Sao Paulo.
