Corinthians: Jesse Lingard scores first English goal in Copa do Brasil. Former Manchester United forward Jesse Lingard became the first English player to score a goal in the Copa do Brasil with Corinthians. The Englishman secured Corinthians' 1-0 win over Barra, from Santa Catarina. Lingard was presented by Corinthians in March and has a contract until the end of the year. He is the second English-born player to wear the club's jersey. The first was Colin Kazim, who was born in the country but naturalized Turkish and played for the team between 2017 and 2018. Lingard's debut took place on April 1st at the Maracanã, in Corinthians' 3-1 loss to Fluminense. At that time, the team was going through a turbulent phase, with eight consecutive games without a win - a sequence that led to the dismissal of coach Dorival Júnior and the hiring of Fernando Diniz, former interim coach of the Brazilian national team. In his first major interview since arriving in Brazil, Lingard spoke exclusively to BBC News about adapting to the country, Brazilian football, and his relationship with the Corinthians' passionate fan base. "They [fans] give 100% all the time. And when the team is not doing well, they come to the training center, talk to us... I've never experienced this before. You can see how passionate they are and how much they want us to play well and win. That gives us even more motivation to win on game day", he said. He also spoke about the expectation of a match against Neymar, currently at Santos. "It's always good to play against players of a world level. You can test yourself against these guys", he said. At 33 years old, Lingard played in England for almost his entire career. In 2024, he moved to Asia to play for FC Seoul, from South Korea, where he stayed until December 2025. According to the Englishman, what attracted him to Brazil was the "competitiveness" of football. He recognizes that the decision is unusual for a European player, but says he would recommend it to other colleagues. "It's still a high-level football. I believe I can play at this level. For me, it was a lot about the competition - the size of the club, the size of the league. I had other proposals, but I wanted to challenge myself", he said, making it clear his goal: "I came to win a title. I came to win." Less than two months before the World Cup, the player sees Brazil, England, and France as very strong teams. His last World Cup was in 2018, when England reached the semifinals. This year, he believes the English will go far. "We've always had good chances. In big tournaments, we usually do well. I believe in the guys, I know how good they are - so I don't see why not."