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Former West Ham United, England and Manchester United forward Jesse Lingard made his Brazilian Serie A debut for Corinthians in today’s 3-1 defeat at Fluminense.
A start is a start, albeit not the one the well-travelled 33-year-old would have hoped for.
Lingard swapped South Korea for South America a month ago, his globetrotting career taking him from FC Seoul to Sao Paulo.
The West Ham United fan favourite made his long-awaited Corinthians bow at the iconic Maracana Stadium in midweek; Jesse Lingard keen to take in the legendary sights and sounds at an arena which famously hosted two separate World Cup finals.
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Andre Hernan, the highly-experienced Brazilian football reporter, certainly enjoyed the sight of Corinthians’ Warrington-born newbie familiarising himself with a pitch upon which Pele scored his 1,000th career goal.
Former West Ham United hero Jesse Lingard misses big chance on Corinthians bow
Wearing the number 77 and playing the entire second half away to Fluminense, Lingard had a glorious chance to mark his debut with a goal. Only a commanding save from home goalkeeper Fabio kept the Man United academy graduate off the scoresheet.
Photo by LAURENCE GRIFFITHS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
“There was a great buzz surrounding his debut,” Hernan explains on ESPN. “The chance he missed was entirely down to Fabio, who is a beast of a goalkeeper.
“The coaching staff understand it’s an adaptation process and that missing those chances is natural. He needs time to mature within the squad. Overall, the staff viewed his debut as very positive. What was actually bad was the game itself and the result.”
While Lucas Paqueta’s Flamengo homecoming is threatening to turn sour – Carlo Ancelotti left the ex-West Ham playmaker out of his Selecao squad following a poor start to life back in Brazil – the feeling around Lingard is that it will take a few weeks for Corinthians coach Dorival to work out his most effective position and get him playing at full throttle again.
Corinthians coach Dorival under fire for Lingard ‘mistake’
Dorival, who was replaced by Ancelotti in 2025 following just 16 games in charge of the national team, has some early doubts to dispel on a night his utilisation of the marquee free-agent came into question.
“[Striker] Yuri Alberto is very isolated up front,” Gustavo Theodoro said on The Sports. “That’s what’s missing. Not only Memphis [Depay, injured], but also Lingard, who I expected to come in as a second striker and stay closer to the goal.”
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The frustration of Papo Fiel, on Faithful Talk, arose from the fact Lingard started on the bench. If he could only play 45 minutes, why not make it the first 45 minutes?
“Why not start with Lingard and see what happens?,” argues Fiel, who saw Fluminense go 2-0 down before Lingard’s introduction. “[Dorival] could have just taken him off in the second half, since the guy only had 45 minutes in him.
“But no, it was another mistake by the coaching staff.”
The eventual 3-1 scoreline means there is a nine point gap between Fluminense in second and mid-table Corinthians; Lingard’s new side falling well adrift in the title race after only eight matches of the current campaign.
Paqueta’s Flamengo are in fourth, five points off the top.
Hammers News can confirm that Lingard was offered to West Ham when the former London Stadium loanee opted to leave FC Seoul, though Nuno Espirito Santo quickly slammed down the shutters.
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