CBF president hails success of the Copa do Brasil Under-15 | OneFootball

Samir Xaud and Branco present the trophy to the championsCredits: Rafael Ribeiro / CBF

CBF president Samir Xaud attended the final of the first edition of the U-15 Copa do Brasil, played on Saturday afternoon (August 1) at Granja Comary, in Teresópolis (RJ), and praised the success of the competition, which brought together 32 clubs and had more than 600 registered players. He congratulated all the participants, especially the finalists Internacional and Palmeiras.

“We’re wrapping up our first U-15 Copa do Brasil on a high note, a unique opportunity for clubs and for these kids to get closer to the home of Brazilian football, inside the National Team environment. They’ll carry this with them for life. We want to invest more and more in our youth development, to create this integration with all the youth staffs together with the senior National Team to develop Brazilian football. This Saturday, we saw a very intense, hard-fought match here between two teams that played very well throughout this Cup. We’re finishing the U-15 Copa do Brasil today already with that feeling of wanting more next year, and that is CBF’s commitment to Brazilian football and especially to the youth foundation of our game,” said Samir, right after presenting the trophy to the champions.

Samir Xaud, Julio Avellar and Branco during the medal ceremonyCredits: Rafael Ribeiro / CBF

For CBF Competitions Director Julio Avellar, the success of the U-15 Copa do Brasil was the result of integrated work among several departments and the federation’s presidency.

“First of all, I’d like to highlight the changes that took place in the youth calendar. We have a total of 711 matches in the boys’ youth categories on this year’s calendar. And this specific competition, the U-15 Copa do Brasil, is something we had been trying for a few years to get off the ground. Under the new management of President Samir and the entire new CBF leadership group, we were finally able to launch it, with the icing on the cake being bringing the final stage of the competition here to Granja Comary. It carries a lot of symbolism. Holding this tournament, and its final stage here at Granja, the birthplace of many renowned players and a site used in preparations for countless World Cups. It is very important for the development of Brazilian football,” said Julio Avellar.

Guilherme Dalla Déa, coach of the U-15 National Team, and Carlos Eduardo Patetuci, coach of the U-17 National Team, also took part in the medal ceremonyCredits: Rafael Ribeiro / CBF

Four-time world champion Branco, who is CBF’s coordinator of the men’s youth national teams, was also very pleased with the outcome of the U-15 Copa do Brasil.

“First of all, yes, I’d like to thank President Samir Xaud, the entire CBF board, Rodrigo Caetano, our executive, Cícero Souza (general coordinator of the Men’s National Teams), always ready to exchange ideas, and Julio Avellar, our Competitions Director. We had been fighting for this competition for four, five years. And thank God it happened. I’m very happy and proud. It was an idea from all of us to help grow Brazilian football. We see these kids at the root level, and you can tell everyone is happy, everyone praised it. It’s the first one, for sure, and it was a spectacular success. Congratulations to all the clubs, the 32 that started, and those that reached the final, in this case Inter and Palmeiras. This is the path to the future of Brazilian football,” commented Branco.

Euphoric about the title, Internacional coach Douglas Rodrigues highlighted the seriousness of the work done by the club since the start of the season.

“We know how hard these kids have worked, everything they did, you know? And our staff, the effort everyone made for this to work out, and it worked out. And we knew it was going to be very difficult. Palmeiras has one of the best youth systems in Brazil. Our group was committed, everyone gave their all. We dedicated this whole half of the season to competing in this tournament. The kids improved and earned it,” Douglas stressed.

Team captains and referees pose for photos before the matchCredits: Rafael Ribeiro / CBF

Asafe, who scored one of the goals that secured the title — the one that started the comeback — said he was fulfilling a triple dream: becoming champion, winning at Granja Comary, and finishing as one of the tournament’s top scorers — he scored 9 goals and tied with Gabriel Bueno of Palmeiras.

“I have to thank God, who has been blessing me and honoring me always. I’m very happy, because I always aimed for this, I always had the hunger to score goals, to be the top scorer. And I want to congratulate the entire staff for the opportunity, and the whole group for their dedication and focus. And for this historic title, right? Because it’s the first U-15 Copa do Brasil and we became champions. I can only thank God, my team, and the opportunity given by the coaches. I want to thank my family. I love them. And being champion on a field, in a place where so many great players have trained and played, that is the fulfillment of a dream, right? Many youth players dream of coming to Granja Comary. The feeling is really great, very rewarding, full of happiness and joy.”

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