São Paulo thrash Copinha surprise, face Cruzeiro for second title | OneFootball

São Paulo is once again in the big Copinha final! Under the guidance of the excellent Allan Barcellos, the U-20 team thrashed Ibrachina, the sensation of the tournament so far, in a packed Morumbi stadium, winning 4-1 in the semifinal match held on Thursday night (22). There were 21,294 fans present at the stadium, more than the nearly 17,000 who attended the professional team’s home debut in the Paulistão against São Bernardo.

Once again, Tricolor was dominant, even though they had a scare at 2-1, but regained control with the brilliance of their main standouts. Paulinho, Isac, Gustavo Santana, and Igor Felibesberto, with a beautiful free-kick goal, scored in the team’s qualification for the final of Brazil’s main youth tournament.

The final, in pursuit of their sixth title—which would be the second in a row—will be this Sunday (25), against Cruzeiro, at 11 a.m. (Brasília time) at Arena Pacaembu. The team from Minas Gerais has one title in the tournament, won in 2007.

TO SHOW WHO'S BOSS!

Just three minutes into the match, Paulinho received a great through ball inside the box and, with all the composure of a number 9—reminiscent even of Luis Fabiano—gently slotted it into the left corner. At 21’, Tetê advanced down the left, dribbled past his marker, and hit the crossbar with a powerful shot, almost scoring the second, which didn’t take long to come.

From a corner kick, Pedro Ferreira—yes, the same one who assisted Calleri’s goal against Portuguesa yesterday—was the provider again, this time for defender Isac, who took advantage of a goalkeeper error and rose high to extend the lead.

A LITTLE SCARE

At 27’, a penalty was awarded to Ibrachina after a handball in the Tricolor box. Luiz Fernando converted it masterfully, high into the right corner, giving goalkeeper João Pedro no chance and reducing the deficit.

But Tricolor wasn’t shaken and scored the third goal at 41 minutes of the first half. Isac surged forward like an attacking midfielder and took a wayward shot. The ball deflected off the opposing defender and fell to Gustavo Santana. Showing grit, he battled with the defenders and scored another for São Paulo: 3-1.

Right after halftime, Ibrachina had their defender GB sent off for pulling Tetê, who was through on goal. Immediately from the resulting free kick, Igor Felibesberto struck with great skill into the corner, turning Cotia’s youngsters’ victory into a rout. After that, it was just a matter of managing the game and celebrating at the final whistle. Chasing another trophy!

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