I must warn you before you read this that I am a Manchester City fan and my worldview and my choice of Corinthians is directly influenced by this. Corinthians is perhaps Brazil's best-supported club, unless you ask supporters of Rio de Janeiro's CR Flamengo, the club of Zico.

Corinthians, nicknamed 'Timao' were actually given to me by someone I chatted to about which team I was going to support. The conversation I had on arrival in Brazil for the first time in 1995 ran roughly as follows: "What's your team over here then?" "I don't know, not decided yet" "What do you mean?" "My team in England is Manchester City, and we only really have extreme success or failure - we won 4 major cups in 3 seasons in the late 60s/70s but we've been relegated loads of time and we know how to screw up a game we should have tied up - and the fans are 'muito fiel' (very loyal) I want to support a team like that here." The upshot was that the man basically told me that only Corinthians could fit the bill becuase their support is known as 'O Fiel' and because they too regularly snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

I asked who their famous players were and he said Socrates, Rivelino and Casagrande. My dad used to gush about Socrates and that nailed it for me. As an English lad doing a year of his degree in Brazil it further enthused me that the club's home ground is the Parque Sao Jorge (Saint George Park). However, the club mainly plays home games at the Morumbi Stadium, home of one of their hated rivals, São Paulo (the other rival being Palmeiras, the former team of Roberto Carlos and, later, Luis Felipe Scolari).

It's said of Corinthians that where most football clubs are followed by their fans, Corinthians is a set of fans who happen to drag a football club in their wake. Their most controversial group of supporters, the organised supporters network 'Gavioes da Fiel' (Hawks of the Faithful) organise a massive carnival parade and if football were banned, then as long as there was anyone left in Brazil in the first place, the Gavioes would celebrate Corintianidade ('Corinthian-ness') with drums and dancing anyway. They also famously invade other clubs' grounds and make away games feel like home matches, as they did in the 70s with a legendary clash with Flamengo at the Maracana in the Rio-Sao Paulo Cup.

Brazilian club football has taken many batterings over the years with corruption and low attendances, but if you want a team that will never provide a dull moment, this is it. And their kit looks cool.

www.corinthiansfutebol.com.br/pt-br/

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