Rogério Ceni's debut for São Paulo | OneFootball

Rogério Ceni arrived at Tricolor in September 1990, but it was on June 25, 1993, during a tour of Spain, that the future idol took the field for the first time with the senior team. Curiously, the São Paulo goalkeeper’s debut also marked the end of another great chapter: a few days earlier, Raí had ended his first spell with the club when he left for Paris to play for PSG.

As fate would have it, the next match after the number 10’s “see you later” was precisely the debut of the number 01.

Rogério Ceni made his debut far from MorumBIS. During the 1993 midseason break, the team traveled to Europe to play in a friendly tournament called the Santiago de Compostela Trophy. There, in the famous city that is part of the “Sacred Ways of Santiago,” the athlete’s holy journey began. The first match was against modest Tenerife. Alongside him, striker Guilherme and midfielder Juninho also made their debuts — the former scored four goals in the match!

“At the time, Zetti was with the Brazilian National Team and the opportunity to make my debut came up. When I traveled to play in the tournament, I expected to be on the bench, but in the team talk I was told I would be playing. I was very happy and anxious, because I was only 20 years old and was going to represent São Paulo for the first time,” Rogério Ceni recalled.

And it started in the best possible way: a penalty save right on his debut and another in the match that earned the first professional title of the idol’s career. An even greater reward was being revered, on his knees, by the victorious Toninho Cerezo, who credited that triumph to the newcomer.

“When I saved the penalty against Tenerife, I gained more confidence, and from then on I started to establish myself. In the final against River, I managed to save another penalty and we became champions. Making my debut, saving two penalties in a row, and winning an international tournament was very important to me,” said Ceni, also referring to the Santiago de Compostela Tournament final against River Plate, held on the 27th, two days after his debut, when Tricolor won 4-3 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in regular time. Rogério’s penalty saves were essential to the title. And they were the first two of the 51 penalty kicks he saved throughout his career.

After those first steps, Rogério Ceni remained on Tricolor’s bench for another three years. In 1997, he became the team’s starting goalkeeper. That same year, he scored the first goal of his career. And not only that: more than a thousand matches (1,237), more than a hundred goals (131), and 12 titles won on the field, in addition to several world records and one certainty alone: that he etched his own name into the history of São Paulo Futebol Clube and world football.

SÃO PAULO 4 x 1 TENERIFE

Venue: Estádio Municipal San Lázaro, Santiago de Compostela (ESP)Date: 06/25/1993Referee: Puentes Leira de Ferrol (Spain)Attendance: 2,000 peopleGoals: Guilherme (4)

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