Palmeiras line-up: right-back makes progress in recovery

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Nosso Palestra

·23 July 2026

Palmeiras line-up: right-back makes progress in recovery

Palmeiras returned to training on Thursday morning (23) at the Football Academy, one day after beating Coritiba 3-1 at Couto Pereira in the 19th round of the Brazilian Championship. Leading the competition with 44 points, Verdão closed out the first half of the season with the best campaign in its history in the round-robin era, surpassing the mark of 39 points won in 2025.

Now, the focus of Abel Ferreira’s team is on the clash against Atlético-MG, scheduled for Sunday (26) at 7:30 p.m. at Nubank Parque, in the opening round of the second half of the Brasileirão.

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The players who played more than 45 minutes in Curitiba followed the recovery schedule, doing regenerative activities in the gym and in the recovery and neuroscience rooms. The rest of the squad went out onto the pitch for technical training with one-on-one drills.

Making progress

Among the updates, right-back Agustín Giay took another step in his recovery from a sprained right ankle and carried out specific field activities alongside professionals from the Health and Performance Center. Forward Vitor Roque, who is in physical transition, and attacking midfielder Felipe Anderson, who missed the match against Coritiba due to swelling in his left thigh, took part normally in the entire training session with the group.

Heittor lives out a dream come true with first-team debut

In addition to center-back Alexander Barboza’s debut, another memorable moment from the win over Coritiba was the introduction of forward Heittor. At 18 years old, the Academy graduate replaced Ramón Sosa in stoppage time of the second half and made his first appearance for Palmeiras’ senior team.

At the club since 2018, the forward has gone through every youth level and celebrated the opportunity to wear the first-team shirt.

First of all, I want to thank God for this moment I’m living. I was very happy when they called me from the bench to go into the game. I was, of course, a little anxious. I’ve been at Palmeiras since I was little, so it’s a dream. When I got to the locker room, I was selected for doping control and couldn’t call anyone because I didn’t have my phone. When I finished, I was able to call my father, who was very happy too, and my family. He was at the game as well, along with my mother, living a dream

Heittor also highlighted the support he has received from the more experienced players since he started training with the senior squad.

And it’s also a dream to be sharing and training with the professionals. When we’re in the youth ranks, we keep thinking about what it’s going to be like, but the older guys have always supported me, always helped us, and it’s been an enormous joy to share all of this with them

Since 2025, the forward has started playing as a more mobile center-forward in the youth categories. The change in role has brought impressive results: this season, he has 13 goals and three assists in 19 matches for the U-20s.

We have to work hard, we have to be doing a good job down there, and I’m living a very happy moment in my life, both with the U-20s scoring goals and here with the first team

Champion of the Brazilian U-20 Championship (2025), Brazilian U-17 Championship (2023), and Paulista U-15 Championship (2022), Heittor became the 52nd Academy Graduate to make his debut for Palmeiras’ senior team since 2020, reinforcing the club’s tradition of developing talent.

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