Chicão Castelo Branco debuts as Brazil beach soccer coach in final | OneFootball

Chicão Castelo Branco will make his debut as coach of the Brazilian Beach Soccer Team in a title-deciding matchCredits: Personal Archive

Chicão Castelo Branco's first time as coach of the Brazilian Beach Soccer Team already has a set date and location. On March 7 and 8, Brazil and Paraguay will face off in the final of the Conmebol Liga Evolución 2025, in Guarujá, on the coast of São Paulo. Training will begin on February 28, at Granja Comary.

The competition brings together the adult and under-20 teams of the ten main national teams on the continent. Chicão was the coach of the Brazilian Under-20 Team in the first edition of the tournament in 2017, when he lifted the trophy as champion of the first of four Brazilian titles. Nine years later, he returns to the tournament, right in the direct contest for the title.

“I accepted the invitation from the CBF with great pride and already aware of my responsibility. It so happened that my debut in command of the Brazilian National Team is already in a title dispute, which, for me, is an honor. I am sure we will have great preparation and two great games in pursuit of the title,” said the coach.

For this competition, Chicão maintained the list of players he called for the International Tournament in Chile, which was supposed to happen this February but was canceled by the Chilean Federation. Among the 12 athletes called to pursue the fifth championship of the Liga Evolución, the coach mixed new talents in the sport, such as Maranhão's Gin, Potiguar's Túlio Silva, and Capixaba's Breno Xavier, with already established stars like Rodrigo, Catarino, Mauricinho (all three-time world champions), and also promoted the return of the star Datinha.

The Brazilian Beach Soccer Team won the Zona Norte group of the Liga Evolución in 2025Credits: Conmebol Disclosure

Brazil reached the final of the Conmebol Liga Evolución 2025 after winning the Zona Norte group. Paraguay secured their spot after winning the Zona Sul group.

The title will be decided in four matches, one from each category on Saturday and Sunday. The champion will be the country that accumulates the most points at the end of the confrontation.

See the list of players called up:

GOALKEEPERS

Bobô (Sampaio Corrêa-MA)

Teleco (Botafogo-RJ)

DEFENDERS

Antonio (Flamengo-RJ)

Catarino (Sportivo Luqueño-PAR)

Thanger (Flamengo-RJ)

WINGERS

Benjamin Jr. (Flamengo-RJ)

Breno Xavier (Anchieta-ES)

Datinha (Sampaio Corrêa-MA)

Mauricinho (Vasco da Gama-RJ)

Túlio Silva (Anchieta-ES)

PIVOTS

Gin (Sampaio Corrêa-MA)

Rodrigo (Flamengo-RJ)

Understand the competition

The Conmebol Liga Evolución was created in 2017 with the aim of supporting the development of the sport in the South American continent. In the tournament, the under-20 and adult teams take the field, and the champion will be the country that accumulates the most points at the end of the confrontations in both categories.

Chicão Castelo Branco is back with the Brazilian Beach Soccer Team; in 2017, he was the assistant coach in the world title Credits: Disclosure / FIFA

The ten participating countries are divided into two groups of five, Zona Sul and Zona Norte. The winner of each group competes in the final of the competition.

Brazil has won the group stage in all editions (2017, 18, 19, 22, 23, and 24). In the title dispute, the Brazilian Team was champion four times, in 2017, 18, 19, and 22 (the last shared with Paraguay).

The Paraguayans were the champions in 2022, 23, and 24 (the last two years defeating Brazil in the final).

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