João Paulo Sampaio faced Palmeiras in Copinha 33 years ago | OneFootball

Palmeiras will face Vitória this Tuesday (13th) at 7:30 PM (Brasília time) at Arena Barueri, in the second phase of the São Paulo Junior Football Cup, in a match that pits João Paulo Sampaio, coordinator of Palmeiras' youth categories, against his former club. 33 years ago, however, the then young Sampaio was on the field for Vitória in a match against the Palmeiras team in the Copinha.

Today a prominent figure in Palmeiras' youth categories, João Paulo Sampaio tried his luck as a player before becoming one of the most respected directors in Brazil. He was part of the Vitória squad that played in the 1993 São Paulo Junior Football Cup and was in the Palmeiras group at the time.

With João Paulo wearing the number 8 jersey for the Bahia team, the teams met in the opening game for group C of the competition, on January 7, 1993. Palmeiras won 2-0. In a play, retrieved by the Instituto Palestrino de Estatística on X and published by the EVC Memória channel on YouTube, you can see a move by JP in this duel, being dribbled for the first Palmeiras goal. Watch:

The teams were filled with players familiar to Palmeiras fans. Besides João Paulo Sampaio, Vitória had Wesley Carvalho, former coach of Verdão's under-20 team, as the backup for goalkeeper Dida. In the Palmeiras goal, the one defending the net was “Saint” Marcos.

The two goals were scored by Juari, a midfielder revealed by Palmeiras, who was part of the team that won the Paulista championship that same year.

Vitória finished the competition in third place overall – they fell in the semifinals to the champion São Paulo and won the third-place match against Portuguesa. Verdão, on the other hand, was eliminated in the second phase, in a group with São Paulo (qualified), Matsubara-PR, and Comercial-SP.

The duel was the first meeting between Palmeiras and Vitória in the Copinha. The 2026 match will be the sixth, making the Bahia team the third most faced opponent by Palmeiras in the competition, tied with São Paulo and Nacional, all with six duels.

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João Paulo followed other paths

Despite playing for Vitória on the field, João Paulo Sampaio took a different professional path off the pitch. In 2000, he became an assistant coach for the club's youth team and between 2001 and 2007 became a coach. For this career transition, he graduated in physical education and completed an MBA in sports management.

In 2009, he became the coordinator of the youth division and won the titles of Brazilian Under-15 Champion and Under-20 Brazil Cup. In 2015, he was promoted to football director. However, in the same year, he left the position for Palmeiras to become the youth coordinator.

At the São Paulo club, he has more than 200 titles in the youth categories, winning in all categories (Under-11 to Under-20). It was under his management that the club became the biggest champion of the Under-20 Brasileirão, with four trophies, and won two editions of the São Paulo Junior Football Cup, in 2021 and 2022.

One of JP Sampaio's titles was even against Vitória. The 2018 Under-20 Brasileirão victory, Palmeiras' first in the competition, came with wins of 4-1 at Barradão and 5-2 at Allianz Parque.

In search of the third championship

Palmeiras ended the first phase of the 2026 São Paulo Junior Football Cup with the best overall campaign in the competition, having won all three matches played. There were 16 goals scored and two conceded – the team's top scorers in the tournament are forwards Eduardo and Sorriso, with four goals each.

In the last round, Lucas Andrade's team defeated Remo 3-0, with goals from Juliano, Juan Gabriel, and Sorriso. The Palmeiras Under-20 team reached a streak of 21 unbeaten matches, with 16 wins and four draws – the last defeat for the category happened in July 2025.

The Academy's Creations are in pursuit of their third Copinha title. In 2022, Verdão won the tournament for the first time by thrashing Santos 4-0 in the final at Allianz Parque, with goals from Endrick, Giovani, and Gabriel Silva (twice). The following year, the second championship came with a 2-1 victory over América-MG in the final at Canindé, with goals from Ruan Ribeiro and Patrick.

Palmeiras fans will be able to attend the match at Arena Barueri for free. Tickets for all matches in the competition will be available through the website Sou da Liga. Access to the stadium will be through a facial recognition system.

See Palmeiras' upcoming matches in the Copinha:

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