1987 Paulista champions | OneFootball

On August 30, 1987, São Paulo drew 0-0 with Corinthians at a packed Morumbis, with more than one hundred thousand people in attendance, and won the Campeonato Paulista for the 15th time in the club’s history, after beating them 2-1 in the first leg of the final a week earlier.

It was the Tricolor’s second major title of the year. In fact, the second triumph in just six months. On February 25, São Paulo had won the 1986 Campeonato Brasileiro — in epic fashion — by beating Guarani on penalties (3-2), after drawing 3-3 in regular time and extra time, with the last São Paulo goal scored by Careca in the closing moments of the match.

Clear favorites, Pepe’s side began the state championship amid another competition that drew all the attention because of the so-called “Tokyo Project”: the Copa Libertadores, qualification for which had been secured by winning the previous national tournament. But the objective was not an easy one.

A TROUBLED START

While in the Paulista the Tricolor remained unbeaten through the opening seven rounds, in the Libertadores, the defeat in the rematch against Guarani — their debut in the competition — cooled spirits. To make matters worse, São Paulo had been playing without the team’s main player: center-forward Careca.

The idol was nearing the end of his contract with the club and was in the middle of renewal talks, while offers from foreign teams kept coming and going all the time. Napoli, from Italy, which eventually signed the Brazilian striker in May, even pulled out of the negotiations in March. The entire month of April was lost in back-and-forth talks. After Careca’s move to Europe was finalized, timed for the start of their season, the player wore the São Paulo shirt again in a friendly precisely against the Neapolitan side — part of the agreement — at the San Paolo Stadium.

Maradona and Careca, in Italy

Meanwhile, São Paulo had won only once (2-1 over Cobreloa) and had already piled up two defeats in the Libertadores: they lost 2-1 to Colo-Colo at Morumbis. (That result, by the way, marked the start of a run of 38 unbeaten home matches in international competitions, and 30 Copa Libertadores matches under those conditions — the streak only ended in 2006, against Guadalajara).

If not having the Team’s main scorer was worrying, losing the coach who had won the Brazilian title was alarming. Pepe left São Paulo on April 21, right after the 3-2 defeat to Santos at Vila Belmiro. In his resignation, the coach cited exhaustion and the need to deal with personal matters.

Midfielder Neto was one of Tricolor’s bets for the season (photo: Sergio Berezovsky)

Without their top scorer and without a coach, São Paulo carried on under Zé Carlos Serrão, at least temporarily. In the Paulistão, the Tricolor was outside the qualification zone, having lost to leaders Palmeiras and drawn 0-0 with Corinthians, who at that point were bottom of the table.

After the crushing home defeat to Bandeirante de Birigui (0-2), São Paulo appointed a new coach to lead the team for the rest of the season. New, in fact, is not exactly the best word. Cilinho returned to the role that had made him famous as the coach who unveiled the Menudos do Morumbis years earlier.

Ziza, Edílson and Adílson, new bets from Cilinho, on the right (photo: Nelson Coelho)

NOW IT’S HAPPENING

The Tricolor still took time to hit their stride and get back on track. There were seven games without a win after Cilinho’s return — and Careca’s as well, incidentally — and then came definitive elimination from the Copa Libertadores, with draws against Guarani (2-2, at home) and Colo-Colo (2-2, away), and a loss to Cobreloa (1-3, away).

Now definitely and exclusively focused on the Paulistão, and with no more impasse involving Careca (who effectively transferred to Napoli), São Paulo took off! They put together a run of 10 unbeaten matches — only to have it ended by modest XV de Jaú, in Jaú. Their record in derbies, however, still left something to be desired: they only beat Santos (1-0) in the second half of the competition, having drawn with Palmeiras (0-0) and Corinthians (in a comeback that took the latter to the final phase of the tournament, 3-3).

Edivaldo celebrates a goal in the 3-3 draw against Corinthians. (photo: Abril Imagens/Placar issue no. 898)

At the end of the two rounds, the Tricolor had 46 points, finishing third, behind Santos (48) and Palmeiras (47), and ahead of Corinthians (45). That set up a Choque-Rei in the semifinal.

In the first game, on August 15, it was a 0-0 draw at Morumbis. In the other semifinal, Corinthians thrashed Santos 5-1 and virtually secured a place in the final (in the return leg: 0-0). With goals by Müller (2) and Neto (from a free kick, with huge help from Zetti, then the rival goalkeeper), São Paulo sealed qualification for the final by beating Palmeiras 3-1 on August 23.

In the semifinal, São Paulo saw off Palmeiras. (photos: Carlos Fenerich and Edu Garcia)

Both legs of the final were played at Morumbis. 95,493 people watched the Tricolor beat Corinthians 2-1 in the first match, on the 26th. São Paulo went ahead with Edivaldo in the 30th minute of the first half and doubled the lead through Lê, with a header, in the first minute of the second half. Shortly afterward, in the seventh minute, João Paulo pulled one back for Corinthians.

Lê’s goal that secured the São Paulo victory in the first clash. (photo: Carlos Fenerich)

THE DECIDER

The grand final, played exactly 30 years ago, brought 109,474 people to Cícero Pompeu de Toledo. With the result of the first leg, the Tricolor held the “draw advantage” to be crowned champions. And even if Corinthians had won in the 90 minutes, São Paulo would still have kept that advantage in the ensuing extra time because of their better overall campaign in the competition (that is, one more point earned over the whole tournament).

The Tricolor, aware of the pressure the opponent would have to apply to change the situation, controlled the match in the first half, containing their rival’s drive without giving up attacking. In the first chance, in the 11th minute, a blunder by Jatobá almost led to a São Paulo goal. The defender clumsily played the ball back to Waldir Peres, then Corinthians’ goalkeeper, who got rid of it as best he could, only for it to be intercepted by Müller with a header. The striker from the Most Beloved also got tangled up and could not finish on goal.

On another occasion, São Paulo even found the net through left winger Edivaldo, after a fine move by Pita and a cross from Silas, but the officials disallowed the goal for an alleged offside.

In the second half, with the clock on their side, the Tricolor pushed forward and dominated the game in the opponent’s half. In all, São Paulo had nine shots to the other team’s four. In one of those attacks, Müller received from Silas and poked it with the tip of his boot to Edivaldo, who got there before Waldir Peres and sent the ball into the back of the net again! A pity that once more the goal he scored was disallowed by the officials.

After almost celebrating two goals, at the sound of the final whistle from Dúlcidio Vanderlei Boschilia, the Tricolors were finally able to celebrate the 1987 Campeonato Paulista title, the 15th in the history of São Paulo Futebol Clube.

THE FINAL MATCH

08/30/1987. Campeonato PaulistaSão Paulo (SP). Cícero Pompeu de Toledo Stadium – MorumbisSÃO PAULO Futebol Clube 0 X 0 Sport Club CORINTHIANS Paulista

SPFC: Gilmar; Zé Teodoro, Adílson, Darío Pereyra and Nelsinho; Bernardo, Silas and Pita; Müller, Lê (Paulo Martins) and Edivaldo (Neto). Coach: Cilinho.

SCCP: Waldir Peres, Édson, Mauro, Jatobá and Dida; Biro-Biro, Eduardo (Marcos Roberto) and Éverton; Jorginho, Edmar and João Paulo. Coach: Formiga.

Referee: Dulcídio Wanderley BoschillaGate: Cz$ 9,725,190.00Attendance: 109,474 paid

Bernardo, Adilson, Gilmar, Darío Pereyra, Nelsinho and Zé Teodoro; Müller, Silas, Lê, Pita and Edivaldo (photo: Nelson Coelho)

THE CAMPAIGN

First phase – First round03/22/1987. Morumbis: 2×1 Santo André-SP03/29/1987. Vail Chaves: 2×2 Mogi Mirim-SP04/01/1987. Morumbis: 3×0 Inter de Limeira-SP04/05/1987. Morumbis: 2×2 Portuguesa-SP04/07/1987. Morumbis: 3×2 XV de Jaú-SP04/12/1987. Morumbis: 1×1 Novorizontino-SP04/15/1987. F. Luminosa: 1×1 Ferroviária-SP04/19/1987. Vila Belmiro: 2×3 Santos-SP04/22/1987. Morumbis: 4×0 Ponte Preta-SP04/26/1987. Santa Cruz: 1×1 Botafogo-SP04/29/1987. B. Serra Negra: 2×0 XV Piracicaba-SP05/02/1987. Pacaembu: 0x1 Palmeiras-SP05/10/1987. Morumbis: 0x0 Corinthians-SP05/13/1987. M. Mendonça: 2×1 América-SP05/17/1987. B. de Ouro: 0x0 Guarani-SP05/20/1987. Morumbis: 0x2 Bandeirante-SP05/24/1987. Morumbis: 0x0 Juventus-SP05/26/1987. Alfredão: 1×2 Noroeste-SP05/28/1987. Morumbis: 0x0 São Bento-SP

Müller and Lê celebrate a goal against Palmeiras. (photo: Carlos Fenerich)

First phase – Second round05/31/1987. Morumbis: 0x0 Mogi Mirim-SP06/06/1987. Rua Javari: 0x2 Juventus-SP06/10/1987. Brunão: 4×0 Santo André-SP06/21/1987. CIC: 2×1 São Bento-SP06/24/1987. Canindé: 0x0 Portuguesa-SP06/28/1987. Pedrão: 1×0 Bandeirante-SP07/01/1987. Morumbis: 1×1 América-SP07/05/1987. Morumbis: 3×2 Botafogo-SP07/08/1987. Quirinão: 3×2 Novorizontino-SP07/12/1987. Majestoso: 1×1 Ponte Preta-SP07/15/1987. Morumbis: 2×2 Guarani-SP07/19/1987. Morumbis: 0x0 Palmeiras-SP07/22/1987. Morumbis: 4×1 XV Piracicaba-SP07/26/1987. Z. Magalhães: 0x2 XV de Jaú-SP07/29/1987. Morumbis: 3×2 Noroeste-SP08/02/1987. Morumbis: 1×0 Santos-SP08/05/1987. Morumbis: 2×0 Ferroviária-SP08/09/1987. Morumbis: 3×3 Corinthians-SP08/12/1987. Limeirão: 0x2 Inter de Limeira-SP

Müller, alongside his then-wife Lilian Ramos, was Tricolor’s second-highest scorer in the tournament.

Lê was the leader. (photo: João Farah Historical Archive)

Cilinho is celebrated by the fans after the title win. (photo: Osvaldo Jurno)

POSTERS

THE CHAMPIONS

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