Rafael Toloi needed just his comeback to break São Paulo's record this year | OneFootball

Rafael Toloi finally made his return debut for São Paulo. Announced as a reinforcement for the tricolor team back in mid-August, the 34-year-old veteran was a starter in the 1-0 victory over Botafogo on Sunday (14) at Morumbi, and wore the club's jersey again 3,683 days after the last time, on August 15, 2015, in a 3-0 defeat to Goiás, also at the São Paulo stadium.

Well, the 90 minutes against the Cariocas were enough for Toloi to justify the Tricolor's bet on his name. The defender made eight tackles in the game and matched Ferraresi's previous record for the most such actions by a club player in a single match of the Brazilian Championship.

Moreover, Toloi shone by completing 90% of his passes (36 out of 40) and 50% of his long balls (two out of four). He also won 69% of his duels (nine out of 13) and made 14 defensive actions, including, besides the eight tackles, seven ball recoveries, five clearances, and one interception.

The interval between Toloi's games is the fourth longest in the club's history, behind only teammates Lucas Moura and Oscar — the record holder with 5,519 days, which corresponds to more than 15 years — and Kaká, with whom he also played during his first two stints, between 2012 and 2015.

"I am very happy," he said, leaving the field. "It's a great emotion to return to this beautiful stadium, with an incredible crowd, but the most important thing was to win the game. It was a tough game, but a deserved victory. Everyone is to be congratulated. Now, let's think about the Libertadores." His return debut also had a special presence at Morumbi: "A memory I have is of my little daughter, and today (Sunday) she is here at the stadium, now 11 years old. Whether he will remain in the starting 11 to face LDU in the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores is something we will only know on Thursday (18).

If he starts again, Toloi might take the place that was Sabino's against Botafogo. However, it's worth noting that the colleague also performed well against Botafogo, with 24 defensive actions (ten clearances, ten ball recoveries, three interceptions, and one tackle). Regardless of the competition, Sabino only had words of praise for his teammate.

"Talking about Toloi is like stating the obvious. He has a great history at the club, left here as a champion, and made a beautiful history at Atalanta, perhaps the best Atalanta of all time, with important titles. Since he arrived, he has committed to helping the team, not just by playing, but by sharing his experience with younger people like me. I am very happy for his debut and very happy for everything he did in the game. He was an important guy for us, and we hope he can continue," he said.

However, something that might weigh on Toloi's starting position is his physical condition. After the game, in the press conference, coach Hernán Crespo revealed that the defender had suffered an injury in recent weeks, probably when he disappeared from images of five consecutive training sessions, which was treated as a strengthening process. The coach did not provide details, preferring to stick to the overall picture.

"I am very pleased with Rafael because he had an injury and recovered, but everything was very familiar to him. The place, which he already knew, and the system, in which he played at Atalanta, have many things in common for defenders. So, the situation was very natural. It was just a matter of seeing if he could sustain that intensity for the full ninety minutes. He finished the game very tired, but he did very well. I am very pleased for him. He deserved it," the coach concluded.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.