São Paulo fall to Cruzeiro, lose Copinha final at Pacaembu | OneFootball

São Paulo found a worthy rival in this Copinha 2026, fought and battled hard until the end, but ended up defeated in the grand final of the under-20 tournament by 2-1 against Cruzeiro on the morning of this Sunday (25), at Arena Pacaembu, which had a good attendance of 16,922 people.

The Cruzeiro team was superior for most of the final and deserved the title. They took the lead, conceded the equalizer still in the first half, but remained firm to score the second goal and secure the victory in the country's main youth tournament.

THRILLING FROM THE START

Just 2 minutes in, the first scare. Gabriel received a cross in the middle of the area, controlled it, turned on the defender, and shot, but the ball went to the left, posing a threat to the tricolor goal.

São Paulo tried to respond, but the team from Minas kept attacking, not giving the Tricolor much time to breathe at Pacaembu. After much persistence, Cruzeiro opened the scoring.

With a series of consecutive corners, goalkeeper João Pedro poorly handled a very tight delivery, and William took advantage to head firmly at the far post, making it 1-0 for Cruzeiro, 11 minutes into the match.

Tetê gave a good response at 15’, making a good individual play and shooting hard, forcing a good save from the rival goalkeeper. The game was end-to-end, with both teams not giving up on attacking with speed.

The Tricolor continued to struggle during the first half with the opponent's strong pace, but improved their defensive concentration and cleared Cruzeiro's main dangerous plays. At 44’, Rayan broke free in front of the São Paulo goal, but goalkeeper João Pedro made a beautiful save with his feet.

FIGHT UNTIL THE END

But the brave São Paulo almost equalized at the end of the 1st half. Igor Felisberto shot from afar, the goalkeeper gave a rebound, which Gustavo Santana struck first-time, but the keeper performed a miracle to prevent the São Paulo goal. But it came shortly after.

In the aerial play, Isac, a standout defender in this Copinha, took advantage of Santana's setup and pushed it into the net to tie the final at 1-1 and head into the break with confidence.

RIVAL REMAINS BETTER

Cruzeiro returned with the same intense pace, creating the main dangerous plays against the São Paulo goal. The Tricolor sought their top scorer Paulinho, who posed a threat especially in aerial balls.

At 28 minutes of the second half, Gustavinho, who had just entered for the rival, took a shot from outside the area with extreme precision to score a stunning goal for Cruzeiro, making it 2-1.

LEFT WANTING MORE…

In the next play, the referee awarded a penalty to São Paulo! Paulinho received the ball, entered the area, and was brought down on the line. However, the VAR booth reviewed the play and indicated that the foul occurred outside the area. Felisberto took the free kick well, but the Minas goalkeeper parried it. Subsequently, the Tricolor lost their main attacking force. Paulinho felt pain and had to be substituted.

São Paulo was left with one less player in the final minutes of the match, with another injury to Felipe, and no more substitutions available. Only with grit and determination, they sought the equalizer but couldn't achieve the result and ended up as runners-up.

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