Goodbye Paulinho (written by a Corinthians supporter)

Goodbye Paulinho (written by a Corinthians' fan)

Paulinho holding the World Club Championship medal. Photo by Ferreira/Lancenet

Paulinho is brazilian football player who have been playing in Corinthians for the last three years. For us Corinthians' supporters, his farewell will be a great loss for the cast, not only because of his greatly recognized skills but also in terms of charisma and leadership.

Although today the player is an unanimous figure in most lists which regard the best players in Brazil, and for some commentators (including me), he is the very best, he was only three years ago an unknown guy, a defensive midfielder who grasped little success in a second division team. Contracted in order to just compose the bench, as Corinthians team had a good couple of midfielders at the time, Paulinho started to achieve his position in the first team little by little. In three years he aided Corinthians to win the international hat-trick, including the World Club Championship against Chelsea.

But you would certainly want to know better his abilities more than his path, so let me get straight to the point. 

I just said Paulinho is a midfielder, but it may be better to describe him as a false defensive midfielder. The guy has some very peculiar features, and among it the stands out that he is a natural scorer. The numbers talk for themselves:

In 168 matchs playing by Corinthians' colors, Paulinho scored more than 35 goals. Also, in the Brazilian team he scored more 5 goals in 15 matchs. That is a significant fact considering that he is responsible for marking the left side of opponent's forwarders. 

The main reason for that numbers, i dare to say, is that Paulinho has a very smart sense of position in the field. Some people say that it seems the ball is seeking for Paulinho, and not the opposite. Most of his goals he appears as a surprise element in the penalty area, as you may see in the video i put in the end of the post. 

That is not the only reason i depicted him as a false defensive midfielder. He sudden turns as a classic striker, for not only he has an eye for a goal, but more, he is specially skilled in dribbling and shooting with the right leg and has a talent in heading technique that reminds us some classic brazilian strikers that could "hover" in the air. 

I could and i will show you the most significative goal for Corinthians supporters that Paulinho has scored in the way i just described. Please note his' and his mates' reaction after the goal and you would see how much charisma he has before his name. That goal means a lot for us, so much that some fans say that was the Libertadores championship title goal. That was emblematic.

And Is not by coincidence that he is a definitive name in the national team now and in the World Cup.

Paulinho is a definite name in Brazilian first team. Photo: Uol esporte.

But a warn must be made. Corinthians cast has a recent historic of very good midfielders like Paulinho. I can cite now Elias, who played in Atletico de Madrid, and now is back to Brazil, Cristian who plays in Fenerbahce and Jucilei who is an Anzhi (Russia) player. They all have in common that they did not had or have the same success that they had in Corinthians. 

The reason is that Corinthians has been playing in the same tactics by the last 5 years, a way of play that favours some midfielders who tend to attack but also sacrifice some strikers putting then to mark by pressure and covering the midfielders absence. 

Aside from that, i greatly congratulate Tottenham for the acquisition and hope that Paulinho can help your team achieve the League title and even more. 

I also want to apologise in advance for some mistranslations, vocabulary and grammar mistakes, as i got rusty by the lack of practicing another language.

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