What to expect from The São Paulo Cup of Jr Football
The São Paulo Cup of Jr Football will come to an end on 01/25/2023, the 469th anniversary of the city of São Paulo, where the Copinha final is traditionally played. As usual, the Copinha was a success, with many goals, exciting and disputed games, historic last minute goal score and beautiful performances by the youngsters. Those responsible for the show in the final of the 53rd edition of Copinha will be two teams that did very well in the competition, witch provided large scores allied to a well played football, Palmeiras and América Mineiro.
We will make a brief analysis of both teams.
Index
Palmeiras
The current Copinha champion went all out in the competition to defend its title, even without any player from last year’s campaign, which had stars who are already in the main squad, such as Endrik, Vanderlan, Fabinho, Jhonatan (Jhon Jhon) , Gabriel Silva, Gustavo Garcia among others.
Palmeiras had the most regular campaign of Copinha with incredible numbers, in all there are 8 wins in 8 games, with 28 goals scored and only 3 conceded.
For a few years now, Palmeiras has been the best base in Brazil, with a unique structure that provides outstanding names, great performances and, consequently, titles. Last year alone there were 18 championship titles.
Squad
Verdão has several gems that demonstrate a lot of potential, in all 30 boys were enrolled, they are:
Goalkeeper: Addi, Aranha e Natan
Left/right back: Gilberto, Ian, Thauan e Thiago
Center back: Gustavo Mancha, Henri, Michel, Pedro Felipe e Talisca
Midfielder: David Kauã, Léo, Luis Guilherme, Patrick, Pedro Lima, Thalys, Vitor André e Yago
Striker: Allan, Carlos Matheus, Daniel, Edney, Estêvão, Kauan Santos, Kevin, Ruan Ribeiro, Vitinho e Wendell
Style and formation
Verdão proved to be a very aggressive and incisive team throughout the Copinha, which seeks to finish the play whenever there is an opportunity, which justifies the 28 goals scored in the 8 matches played. In addition to the lethal attack, Palmeiras has a very strong structure, which is difficult to break, and on the occasions that the opponent managed to get through the Palestrina defense, the goalkeeper Aranha did his job.
Since the start of the competition, it seems that the Alvi-Verde team has a very well defined style of play. In the offensive phase, they play in a 4-3-3, with a defensive midfielder (Léo), a box-to-box midfielder (Pedro Lima) and a midfielder with a strong attacking approach (David Kauã and Vitinho), who alternate position many times with the wingers and even the striker. The team’s big offensive difference is the high rotation between the four attacking players, in addition to the great support that this quartet has from midfielder Pedro Lima and the left and right backs.
The boys in attack stood out a lot in the competition, those who played most as a starter were Kevin on the left wing, Ruan Ribeiro in the center and on the right wing, David Kauã on the wings and as an offensive midfielder, as well as Vitinho.
It is evident that the Palmeiras attack is very fast and decisive, there is no traditional striker (the number 9 who performs the wall), but the boys, mainly Ruan Ribeiro, the team’s 9, compensates it by attacking the spaces very well and finishing whenever possible. It’s no surprise he is the competition’s top scorer with 8 goals scored.
In addition to Ruan Ribeiro, who deserves mention is Kevin, the skilled winger scored 5 goals and 5 assists in this edition of Copinha, including one of the most beautiful goals of this edition in the semifinal played against Goiás.
The outstanding performance of the two players mentioned above, is the result not only of their individual role, but of the Palestrina team as a whole, the synergy between these boys is something very rare to find in football, especially in youth football. Coach Paulo Victor managed to perfectly fit the parts of this team. Each one of them know their role and their space on the field. It is impressive the chemistry between Verdão players, plus the tactical discipline allied with the technical capacity that this team offers.
The attack comes from a wing 1v1, overtaking the sides, passes in the middle and on the final third of the pitch, always combined with intensity and switching positions.
On the defensive level, Palmeiras seems to prefer to defend in a 4-1-4-1, with midfielder Léo being the main factor for interception and ball recovering, in addition to the line of four in front of him that makes the transition of the opposing team very difficult. , either by the flanks (with the recomposition of the Palmeiras wingers) or by the middle. Allied to all this is an impeccable defense duo, two strong and fast boys, Talisca with a little more grip, while Henri is more technical, in addition to being a relentless leader.
The Copinhas’ path
Group phase:
- 1st Round, Palmeiras 2 x 0 Juazeirense
- 2nd round, America SP 1 x 3 Palmeiras
- 3rd Round, Rio Preto 1 x 2 Palmeiras
Second Phase: Palmeiras 6 x 0 Sampaio Corrêa
Third Phase: Palmeiras 4 x 0 Juazeirense
Round of 16: Mirassol 0 x 4 Palm trees
Quarterfinals: Palm trees 5 x 0 Forest
Semifinal: Palmeiras 2 x 1 Goiás.
After an impeccable campaign, one of the best in the history of Copinha, Verdão goes all out against América to win the second championship in the long-awaited final.
América Mineiro
Equally popular and with a lethal attack, Coelho will do everything to repeat the feat of 1996 and be champion once again of the biggest youth competition in the world. América does an exceptional youth academy work, with a lot of professionalism and with a great structure, which justifies the great campaign made and also the rise in which the professional team has been in recent years.
The Coelho even revealed Richarlison in the 2015 season, a World Cup player with world projection.
The team from Minas Gerais, not unlike its rival, is 100% in this edition of the cup. They won the 8 games they played and eliminated traditional clubs like São Paulo and Santos. They scored a total of 22 goals and conceded only 3, the result of a very consistent, talented and extremely tactically disciplined team.
Squad
Goalkeeper: Cássio, Carlos, Eduardo e Lucas Marques
Center back: Heitor, Jonathan, Júlio e Rafa Barcelos
Left/right back: Mateus Henrique, Matheus Schultz, Paulinho e Samuel
Midfielder: Kanté, Kauã Diniz, Breno, Theo, Vinícius e Yago
Striker: Adyson, Diogo, Guilherme, Guilherme Papaléo, Jurandir, Luan Campos, Marquinhos, Renato Marques e Wanderson.
Style and formation
The Coelho, like Verdão, has presented themselves as a very incisive team, which is all the time seeking to build and finish plays, especially by the flanks, where most of the dangerous moves of the Mineiro team happen, reason why, it counts on outstanding players such as, Luan Campos and Adyson, as well as Renato Marques, who appears as an option inside the box.
America is a team of quick triangulations that attacks the spaces to receive the ball in good condition. This is possible because it has a solid structure that can make the transition in a few touches, especially because it has a defensive midfielder that goes well with the ball, and that if necessary, also makes the box-to-box (Breno), as well as an offensive midfielder with good dynamics and game distribution (Theo) and left/right backs that are capable to build plays and reach the bottom line.
The Minas Gerais club imposes a hallucinating pace early in the match, pressing on their opponent and making an aggressive marking on the ball. Thus, America usually stacked chances and scoring goals in the first 20 minutes of the match, making it very unlikely for the opposing team to react..
It is no surprise the Coelho arrives 100% in the great final, besides having a very skilled attack and midfield, America also has a solid defense, which only conceded 3 goals so far, too, due to its goalkeeper Cassio , which seems to be the best goalkeeper of this cup. The 3×0 against Santos in the semifinal could not have happened if it were not for his performance.
America seems to be more comfortable playing 4-2-3-1 both in offensive and defensive phase, which provides a block output when it takes back the ball, being very dangerous by the ends.
The Copinhas’ path
Group phase:
- 1st Round: América MG 3 x 1 Retro
- 2nd round: Ponte Preta 0 x 1 América MG
- 3rd round: VOCEM 1 x 5 América MG
Second phase: America MG 3 x 0 CSP
Third phase: Sao Paulo 1 x 3 America MG
Round of 16: America MG 1 x 0 Red Bull Bragantino
Quarterfinals: America MG 3 x 0 Ituano
Semifinal: America MG 3 x 0 Santos
América simply didn’t give chances for mistakes in this Cup, they showed themselves to be a team that was always incisive and tactically committed, with many plays working on, mainly triangulations and long passes to attack empty spaces. Whenever they needed to, they managed to stand firm and achieve victory.
Palmeiras vs América MG
After a brief analysis of those responsible for Wednesday’s show that will take place at Canindé stadium, we can only expect a great game.
The two teams, along the Copinha, demonstrated a very similar football, especially regarding the verticalization of the game and the impetus to finish the plays. These are two teams that look like grown ups, with tactical discipline combined with great players on the pitch.
There is no doubt that it will be one of the best Copinha finals we have ever seen, if not the most disputed. And who will win the title for the second time?
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Written por João Felipe Miller and Vitor F L Miller.
