São Paulo begin Copa do Brasil with only nine from 2023 chasing repeat | OneFootball

São Paulo make their debut in the Copa do Brasil this Tuesday (21), hosting Juventude at Morumbi at 7:15 p.m. (Brasília time). The Tricolor will try to win their second title in the tournament, after lifting it for the first time in their history three years ago.

The campaign begins amid the turbulence surrounding head coach Roger Machado, who has been in the job for just over a month but is already facing strong rejection both from the fans and from people close to president Harry Massis Júnior.

Of the 35 São Paulo players called up for at least one match during the victorious 2023 campaign, ten will be chasing another title, although one of them (Arboleda) will probably not be able to take part in any match because of the dispute that is expected to lead to his departure from the club. Curiously, three other players were registered for that edition but were not called up, and today they are still part of the squad: Maik, Moreira, and Ryan Francisco.

Curiously, one member of that title-winning squad is still at the club, but in a different role. Former captain Rafinha is now the football manager and works alongside the football department’s board.

With 35 appearances for the Tricolor in the Copa do Brasil, Luciano is already the club’s second-most capped player in the history of the competition, having passed França in last year’s edition and trailing only Rogério Ceni, who has 67.

Arboleda, with 30 matches, could also catch França, but because of the already mentioned dispute, he is not expected to add to that total and could still be overtaken by Calleri (22) and Lucas Moura (21), provided the team reaches the final. He could also be matched by Pablo Maia (20).

As for goalscoring, Luciano currently ranks third among São Paulo players in Brazil’s main knockout competition: his 15 goals leave him behind only Luís Fabiano (24) and França (21). If we consider only matches at Morumbi, his eight goals put him level in third place all-time with striker Reinaldo, who played for the club between 2002 and 2003.

In the rest of the current squad, only Lucas Moura has more than two goals in the Copa do Brasil: he has found the net four times.

But the most intriguing number among all the Copa do Brasil context in the table beside this article is the one showing that Nelsinho Baptista and Rogério Ceni are the two coaches who have managed São Paulo the most in Copa do Brasil matches at Morumbi. Not so much because of them, but because one surprising name is completely absent from that list: Telê Santana. The legendary coach was never on the bench at São Paulo’s stadium in the tournament, either because the club did not take part (1991, 1992, and 1994) or because he left an assistant (Márcio Araújo or Muricy Ramalho) in charge of the Expressinho team (1993 and 1995). He himself was there in only two home matches for the Tricolor (in the 1995 quarterfinals), but those games were played at Pacaembu.

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