SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — Corinthians hired Clarence Seedorf on Sunday for the Netherlands playing great’s first coaching job since 2019 — and a relegation fight in Brazil's top tier.
The Brazilian club said in social media posts that it gave the 50-year-old Seedorf a contract until the end of next year. Corinthians is 16th in the 20-team Brazilian league, one place above the relegation zone.
Seedorf replaces Fernando Diniz who was fired Wednesday after losing seven straight league games with a squad that includes Dutch forward Memphis Depay.
Seedorf last coached with the Cameroon national team more than seven years ago and previously coached at three clubs including his former team AC Milan.
Still the only player to have won the European Cup or Champions League with three different teams, Seedorf has had limited success as a coach.
His three club coaching jobs, including at Milan in 2014, each lasted under six months, and the most recent was in 2018 with Deportivo La Coruña.
Seedorf's playing career as one of the standout midfielders of his generation finished in Brazil with Botafogo.
Seedorf won a Champions League aged 19 with Ajax in 1995 and won further titles with Real Madrid in 1998 and twice with Milan, in 2003 and 2007.
See AP’s full soccer coverage here
FILE - Former soccer players Clarence Seedorf smiles during an interview prior to the Champions League quarterfinal second leg soccer match between Inter Milan and Bayern Munich at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)
CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — Chase Briscoe is getting the hang of winning close races.
Briscoe held off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell to win his second straight NASCAR playoff race in a photo finish on Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, vaulting him into contention to earn his first Cup Series championship.
The two drivers traded paint on the final lap, but Briscoe maintained control of his No. 19 Toyota and reached the finish line about a half-car length ahead of Bell.
“I don’t know what it is about these finishes. I have to quit making it so exciting at the end,” said Briscoe, who had to hold off playoff points leader Kyle Larson to win last week at Las Vegas.
It was the eighth win of Briscoe's career and third this season. He led 62 laps.
Briscoe said he felt like his right front tire was going down on the final laps, but was able to hold it together.
“When I got beyond those final lapped cars with five or six (laps) to go, I felt like I was going to knock the wall down,” Briscoe said. “At one point it just quit turning.”
Ryan Blaney finished third, followed by Josh Berry, Denny Hamlin and Larson.
Briscoe was 123 points behind Larson prior to last week's win, but the back-to-back victories have cut the deficit to 65 points and put him in fourth place with four races left.
Gibbs said he was just happy his drivers didn’t wreck each other.
“That’s always when I’m the most nervous, when a couple of our guys are running up front,” Gibbs said. “I know how badly all of our guys want to win. ... That's when my blood pressure and heartbeat gets accelerated.”
Hamlin is now 49 points behind Larson in the Chase, followed by Bell, who is 51 points back.
Larson called it a “good, solid day” and was happy to extend his playoff lead by nine points.
Hamlin won the regular season championship, but has struggled to find victory lane in the playoffs. He seemed perplexed why he hasn’t been able to regain the speed he had before the postseason.
“We got to execute better, be a little faster — all of the above,” Hamlin said. “We’re giving it all we got right now.”
It didn't help that Hamlin was sent to the rear of the field for a loose tire penalty on pit road on his first stop.
Larson, who entered the race with five top five finishes including two wins in the postseason, started on the pole based on NASCAR's metric system after Saturday's qualifying was rained out.
He made the most of the pole position, dominating the race early by leading 68 of the 80 laps in the first stage to collect the maximum number of points in stage one.
Bell caught Larson and won the second stage.
Several Chase contenders ran into problems in the first stage.
Ty Gibbs broke a toe link in his No. 54 Toyota causing him to hit the outside wall. Joey Logano, with nowhere to go, slammed into Gibbs from behind. Gibbs headed behind the wall for repairs and fell several laps behind, while Logano was sent to the back of the field.
And, near the end of the first stage, Alex Bowman's car got loose and ran up the track and into Bubba Wallace's car, collecting William Byron in the mix. Wallace climbed out of his car, but was taken to the infield medical center in an ambulance.
The crash sent all three cars behind the wall.
“I just got loose," Bowman said. “Honestly, I had been really tight. As soon as it got to the exit of the corner, it snapped and it kind of didn’t stand a chance. Unfortunately, I grabbed too much wheel, overcorrected it and got in those two guys’ (Wallace and Byron) way. I hate that for the No. 24 and No. 23 teams. It’s one thing to get loose and crash, but to ruin their days too really sucks.”
After eight years, CMS and NASCAR said goodbye to the “roval,” changing the fall race from a road course back to the traditional 1 1/2-mile oval course. That came as NASCAR shifted away from road courses and placed more emphasis on intermediate oval tracks before the season.
Drivers seemed to be in favor of the change.
“I appreciate the roval for what it was, and I’ve enjoyed the handful of years that we did it to start," Chris Buescher said. "Charlotte has so much character. It’s put on some really good races and I think that was the big push to get us back on the oval.”
The Cup Series heads to Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona next Sunday.
See AP’s full auto racing coverage here
Chase Briscoe and his team celebrate after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)
Chase Briscoe does a burnout after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)
Chase Briscoe (19) beats Christopher Bell (20) to the finish line to win a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)
Chase Briscoe (19) and Christopher Bell (20) compete through Turn 3 during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)
The pit crew for Austin Dillon rushes to complete a pit stop during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)
Christopher Bell competes down the front stretch during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)
A pack of cars come to a green flag restart during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)
