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

São Paulo is once again in the grand final of the Copinha! 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, winning 4-1 in a semifinal match held on Thursday night (22nd). 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; they even had a scare at 2-1, but quickly reasserted themselves with the brilliance of their main stars. Paulinho, Isac, Gustavo Santana, and Igor Felibesberto, with a beautiful free-kick goal, scored as the team secured their place in the final of Brazil’s top youth tournament.

The final, in pursuit of their sixth title—and second in a row—will be this Sunday (25th), 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 struck the crossbar with a powerful shot, nearly scoring the second, which didn’t take long to come.

From a corner kick, Pedro Ferreira—yes, the same player who assisted Calleri’s goal against Portuguesa yesterday—provided the pass 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 cutting the deficit.

But Tricolor wasn’t shaken and scored the third at 41 minutes of the first half. Isac surged forward like an attacking midfielder and shot off target. The ball deflected off the rival defender and fell to Gustavo Santana. Battling hard, he fought off the defenders and scored another for São Paulo: 3-1.

Right after the break, Ibrachina had their defender GB sent off for pulling Tetê, who was through on goal. On the ensuing free kick, Igor Felibesberto struck with great skill, into the corner, turning the youngsters’ victory from Cotia 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.