São Paulo in Copinha semi at Morumbi, key man out, midfielder deal close | OneFootball

São Paulo remains on a roll in pursuit of their second consecutive Copinha title, after eliminating Botafogo 3-1 and advancing to the semifinals of the country’s main youth competition, where they will face the surprise team Ibrachina this Thursday (22), at 9:30 PM (Brasília time). And the Tricolor received authorization from the Paulista Federation to play the match at home, in Morumbi.

According to the club’s announcement this Tuesday (20), information about tickets for the semifinal will be released soon. It’s a chance for fans to attend two days in a row at their stadium, since on Wednesday (21), the main team will host Portuguesa for the Paulistão.

The Tricolor’s unbeaten campaign in the Copinha helped secure the semifinal at Morumbi. Allan Barcellos’ team remains undefeated in the competition, with six wins and one draw, against Bragantino, which ended in a victory in the penalty shootout.

São Paulo is the current Copinha champion and is aiming for their sixth title in the under-20 tournament. The team has already won the competition in 1993, 2000, 2010, 2019, and 2025.

NOTABLE ABSENCE

One of the Tricolor’s standouts in the youth tournament is midfielder Matheus Ferreira, who has already won over the fans with his grit and fighting spirit on the field, always interacting with the stands, or even provoking rivals.

And that’s why the youngster ended up being sent off in the thrilling victory over Botafogo this Monday (19). Already booked in the first half, Matheus received a second yellow card at the end of the match and was sent off for over-celebrating the Tricolor’s third goal, ‘blowing provocative kisses towards the opposing bench, specifically at Botafogo’s goalkeeping coach, Mr. Fabio Noronha de Oliveira’, according to the match report.

Thus, he is suspended for the clash against Ibrachina at Morumbi in the semifinal, but will return to the team if they advance to the grand final, which traditionally takes place next Sunday, January 25, the anniversary of the city of São Paulo.

The other spot in the Copinha final will go to the winner of the match between Grêmio and Cruzeiro, who face off this Wednesday at 9:30 PM (Brasília time), in Taubaté.

TRANSFER HIGHLIGHT

Matheus Ferreira’s midfield partner, Djhordney is another breakout star who has been performing very well in the competition, including scoring another goal in the quarterfinals against Botafogo.

He is on loan from Grêmio Novorizontino, but will be permanently signed by Tricolor for R$1 million, as initially reported by UOL.

Djhordney has been one of the main highlights of the Cotia team, with two goals already scored in this knockout stage. Besides finding the net against Botafogo, he also scored in the match against Portuguesa. Thus, São Paulo wasted no time and sped up the signing of the youngster.

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