São Paulo
·18 de junio de 2026
2000 Paulista champions

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Yahoo sportsSão Paulo
·18 de junio de 2026

On June 18, 2000, São Paulo and Santos decided the Campeonato Paulista at MorumBIS. After winning 1-0 in the first leg, with a goal by França just 44 seconds into the first half, the Tricolor needed only a draw to once again be crowned state champion. And that was the result achieved after goals by Rogério Ceni and Marcelinho Paraíba (2-2). It was São Paulo’s 20th Paulista title.
The decisive match began nervously, with the opposing team pressing and Rogério, as usual, making great saves in front of goal. However, in the 29th minute of the first half, full-back Baiano crossed from the right, Dodô headed it, and the ball deflected off São Paulo’s Belletti, opening the scoring for the coastal club.
The unfavorable scoreline brought ten minutes of great tension, until goalkeeper Rogério placed theball just outside the box for a free kick. With mastery, striking it precisely into the top corner, the number 1 leveled the match.
“Aesthetically, it was one of the most beautiful of my career. The ball hit the crossbar, bounced on the ground and went in, barely even touching the net. It was an important goal, we had just conceded a goal to Santos and we were playing for the draw. I remember it was still in the first half, but it gave us calmness to come back for the second half on the way to winning that year’s title,” Ceni recalled.
With that goal, Rogério Ceni once again put his name in football history. This time, the feat was becoming the first goalkeeper in the world to score a goal in a championship final.
In the second half, Santos resumed their attack and, in the 9th minute, Rincón entered the box, dribbled past three São Paulo players, and was fouled by Vágner for a penalty. The Colombian took it himself and made it 2-1. But the Tricolor did not waver and did not lose control of the contest.
The heavy pressure on the opposing defense paid off: the Tricolor attack was stopped only through repeated fouls. On one of them, São Paulo equalized in the 23rd minute, once again with a masterful strike from outside the area.

Marcelinho Paraíba also found the top corner, and goalkeeper Carlos Germano could not stop it.
2-2 was the final score of the match that added another title to the gallery of São Paulo FutebolClube, the 20th state title in the club’s history.


POSTS ABOUT THE TITLE
THE FINAL MATCHES
06/10/2000Campeonato Paulista: Final (First Leg). São Paulo (SP), Estádio Cícero Pompeu de Toledo – MorumBIS.SANTOS 0 x 1 SÃO PAULO

SPFC: Rogério Ceni; Belletti, Edmílson, Rogério Pinheiro and Fábio Aurélio; Claudio Maldonado, Vágner and Raí (Fabiano); Edu (Souza), França and Marcelinho Paraíba (Sandro Hiroshi). HEAD COACH: Levir Culpi. GOAL: França, 44s/1. OPPONENT: Carlos Germano; Baiano, André Luís, Claudiomiro © and Rubens Cardoso; Anderson Luiz, Rincón, Valdo and Robert (Deivid); Caio (Eduardo Marques) and Valdir (Dodô). HEAD COACH: Giba. SENDING-OFF: Anderson Luiz, 37/2.REFEREES: Paulo Cesar Oliveira and Salvio Spinola Fagundes Filho. ASSISTANTS: Válter José dos Reis and Wilian Valdemir Zaccaria. GATE RECEIPTS: R$ 535,515.00. PAID ATTENDANCE: 57,101.
06/18/2000Campeonato Paulista: Final (Second Leg). São Paulo (SP), Estádio Cícero Pompeu de Toledo – MorumBIS.SÃO PAULO 2 x 2 SANTOS

SPFC: Rogério Ceni; Belletti, Edmílson, Rogério Pinheiro and Fábio Aurélio; Claudio Maldonado, Vágner and Raí (Fabiano); Edu (Carlos Miguel), Evair (Sandro Hiroshi) and Marcelinho Paraíba. HEAD COACH: Levir Culpi. GOALS: Rogério Ceni (free kick), 39/1; Marcelinho Paraíba (free kick), 23/2. OPPONENT: Carlos Germano; Baiano, André Luís, Claudiomiro and Rubens Cardoso (Aílton); Anderson Luiz, Rincón, Valdo (Deivid) and Robert; Caio (Márcio Santos) and Dodô. HEAD COACH: Giba. GOALS: Dodô (header), 29/1; Rincón (penalty), 9/2. SENDING-OFFS: Anderson Luiz, 30/2.REFEREES: Alfredo dos Santos Loebeling and Ilson Honorato dos Santos. ASSISTANTS: Flávio Lúcio Magalhães and Márcio Luiz Augusto. GATE RECEIPTS: R$ 674,160.00. PAID ATTENDANCE: 74,916.

THE CAMPAIGN
Second Phase03/08/2000 – Santa Cruz: 2 x 0 Botafogo03/12/2000 – MorumBIS: 2 x 1 Palmeiras03/18/2000 – Herminião: 2 x 2 União S. João03/22/2000 – MorumBIS: 5 x 1 Rio Branco03/26/2000 – MorumBIS: 1 x 0 U. Barbarense04/01/2000 – Brinco de Ouro: 3 x 2 Guarani04/09/2000 – MorumBIS: 4 x 2 Portuguesa St.04/12/2000 – Marapé: 1 x 3 Portuguesa St.04/16/2000 – MorumBIS: 1 x 0 Guarani04/22/2000 – Toca do Leão: 4 x 1 U. Barbarense
Third Phase04/30/2000 – MorumBIS: 1 x 1 Portuguesa05/07/2000 – Brinco de Ouro: 3 x 1 Guarani05/10/2000 – MorumBIS: 1 x 2 Santos05/13/2000 – Vila Belmiro: 1 x 1 Santos05/17/2000 – Canindé: 4 x 2 Portuguesa05/20/2000 – MorumBIS: 3 x 0 Guarani
Semifinal05/28/2000 – MorumBIS: 2 x 1 Corinthians06/03/2000 – MorumBIS: 2 x 0 Corinthians

Maldonado, Alexandre, Fábio Simplício, Sandro Hiroshi, Axel, Fabiano, Vágner, Belletti, Alencar, Rogério Ceni, Paulo Sérgio, Fábio Aurélio, Edu, Álvaro, Carlos Miguel, Marcelinho Paraíba, Ricardinho and Souza; Juca Pacheco, Marco Antônio Ângelo, Wellington Válquer, Manoel Almeida, Ricardo Sasaki, Jean, Pimentel, Evair, Wilson, Raí, Allan, Edmílson, França, Paulão, Rogério Pinheiro, Luisão, Aílton Rodrigues, Ratinho, Cícero; Gilberto Moraes, Roberta Rosas, Roberto Rojas, Milton Cruz, Luis Roberto Mátter, José Teixeira, Roberto João Julião, Joaquim Lacerda, José Dias, Paulo Amaral, Jorge Magalhães, Flaviano Furtado, José Carlos dos Santos, Carlinhos Neves, Sérgio Rocha, José Sanches, Luís Augusto Gaspar and Cristina Soares

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