Leao also defied a reporter who suggested that his players were not trying and poked fun at Flamengo over an incident 19 years ago when they refused to play the team he was coaching at the time.

With only nine matches to play in the Brazilian championship, Corinthians are 17th in the 20-team table in which the bottom four teams go down.

Relegation is still considered unthinkable at a club regarded as one of the biggest in Brazil and which has spent lavishly since signing a controversial partnership with London-based Media Sports Investments in 2004.

"I'm ashamed of this and I apologise to the Corinthians supporters," Leao told reporters. "But you can be sure that somebody will pay for this. We will have to put vanity to one side."

Leao, the seventh coach at the club since MSI's arrival, has already dropped midfielder Carlos Alberto after he protested at being substituted in a Copa Sudamericana game against Lanus last week.

Asked if he felt the players were deliberately not trying in a bid to get him fired, Leao said: "I'll bring the players out so you can ask them that."

He added: "When I took over at Corinthians (in August), they were in the relegation zone at the time."

"I began coaching in the second division with Sport Recife in 1987, and that lot over there (Flamengo) were scared to play us," he added, referring to Flamengo's refusal to play Sport that year.

Brazil's biggest clubs played a breakaway tournament known as the Copa Uniao in 1987 which Flamengo won.

But the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) said they would only officially recognise Flamengo as champions if they played Sport Recife, who won the CBF's own tournament.

Flamengo declined and Sport represented Brazil in the following year's Libertadores Cup.