Five months after a historic day, on December 16.; the streets of São Paulo were witness to an achievement until then unprecedented. After more than 10 years in their quest, Corinthians had secured their second Club World Cup title colorWithRed byClub’s official website With Tite at the helm, they went on to win the final against Chelsea with a slim 1-0 victory from their topscorer Paolo Guerrero.
But, over the years since, that magical unit has slowly dissolved. Most significantly, star “Peruvian Pistolero” Paolo Guerrero, moved to Flamengo in Rio last May. The 31-year-old striker who calls himself Peru’s most beloved son had racked up 50 goals while playing for Corinthians and remains the São Paulistas’ second-biggest scorer of all time. And Romarinho isn’t the only player of that era: Raja’s key forward now plays for Al-Ittihad alongside Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kanté.
All four of the stalwart defenders from that match — Alexsandro, Chico, Paulo André and Fábio Santos — have retired by now, as has the holy trio of Danilo, Jorge Henrique and Emerson Sheik in attack. And in midfield, Paulinho’s old partner Ralf is growing long in the tooth back home with Vila Nova in Brazil’s Serie B.
Other names in that team included Felipe, who went on to Atlético de Madrid and Nottingham Forest before retiring, as well as current Panathinaikos midfielder Willian Arão. Their architect, Adenor Leonardo Bacchi, more commonly known as Tite, is currently coaching in Brazil with Flamengo.
If Paulinho does leave, Corinthians will be left only with the trophy from their heroic victory and the memory of what is.
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