Corinthian head coach praises team for opening victory

BRASILIA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Mano Menezes, head coach of the Corinthians soccer team, praised on Sunday the performance of his players after their 3-2 opening victory over CRB in the second division (Serie B) of the Brasileiro championship.

The team descended into the second division after a dismal performance in last year's tournament and hopes to win the second division title in order to regain their status in the first division.

"We have had more positive aspects to our team than negative. I am certain that what we are interested in is winning. Season openers were made to win. We are off to a great start," said the coach.

"Corinthians were the only traditional big team to win in Sunday's openers," he added, comparing his team to others such as Palmeiras and Gremio.

Despite Corinthians' victory on Sunday, some players of the team were unsatisfied with their performance.

Goalkeeper Felipe was on the receiving end of two goals by way of headers from his opponents.

"We ended up getting scored on twice off a stopped ball. We didn't respect them and we almost lost to them, which would have complicated our confidence," said Felipe.

On the bright side, midfielder Douglas scored his first goal with dressed in a Corinthians jersey.

Menezes rewarded the athlete the highly coveted jersey No. 10. Despite his goal, the player lamented Sunday's performance, believing that he could have been more active offensively.