Fabinho Soldado, the executive director of Internacional, admitted that the club’s campaign in the 2026 Brazilian Championship has fallen short of expectations after a 3-1 defeat to Red Bull Bragantino on Sunday, May 31, in Bragança Paulista, in the 18th round. Internacional finished its last match before the World Cup break in 14th place with 21 points, far from the position the board had hoped to reach by the end of the first half of the season.
Soldado said the team’s current standing is disappointing and will require important corrections during the long pause in the tournament. He stressed that the club must take responsibility for its poor results, but also emphasized that Internacional is operating under a different reality than expected. According to him, there will be no attempt to avoid accountability, and the group will continue working to improve the situation after the break.
In his comments, the director also defended head coach Paulo Pezzolano, making clear that the poor campaign is not being attributed solely to the manager. The message from the club leadership was that the problems are broader than one individual and that the entire project must be assessed as Internacional tries to recover in the second half of the competition.
The Brazilian Championship will now pause for almost two months because of the World Cup. Internacional’s next match is scheduled for July 22 against Cruzeiro at Beira-Rio, when the team will return with the task of improving its position in the standings and rebuilding confidence after a disappointing first semester.
