Gustavo Santana eyes Copinha glory to join São Paulo seniors | OneFootball

If São Paulo ended the 2025 season in crisis, the under-20 team, once again, finished as champions. After lifting the Copinha trophy at the very start of the year, the team led by Allan Barcellos secured yet another title, the Copa do Brasil.

The second most-featured player for Tricolor’s under-20 squad, Gustavo Santana was the team’s second top scorer, with 13 goals, behind only Paulinho, who scored 16, forming a great partnership at the youth level. The forward also provided three assists to his teammates this season, in which he celebrated his first title with the club.

“I’m very happy with the achievement of my first title wearing this shirt and I hope many more will come to celebrate. I’m also very happy for the run of games and for being able to help my teammates throughout the campaign, whether with goals or assists,” celebrated the striker in a statement to AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR.

Already signed by São Paulo after an agreement with Cuiabá, the club he was loaned to, Gustavo received the approval of coach Hernán Crespo and his staff to remain with Tricolor, where he hopes to get a chance with the professional team. However, before that, he has one last and no less important challenge at the youth level: the 2026 Copinha.

“Everyone knows the importance of the Copinha in the under-20 calendar, every player dreams of playing in this competition that opens so many doors. Our group is very focused and prepared to have a great tournament and, who knows, maybe celebrate the title once again, as we did this year and on other occasions as well,” said the youngster.

Time to celebrate before chasing a new title

After winning the Copa do Brasil last week, the Tricolor under-20 youngsters have a short vacation before starting preparations for the Copa São Paulo de Juniores, the main national youth tournament.

São Paulo already knows when they will make their debut in the competition. It will be on January 4, 2026, a Sunday, at 11 a.m. (Brasília time), against Maruinense from Sergipe.

Tricolor are the current champions of the Copa São Paulo, after a historic title won at the start of 2025, and are also the second biggest winners in history, with five titles, alongside Fluminense and Internacional, behind only Corinthians (11 titles).

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