Rafael Toloi needed just his comeback to break São Paulo’s record this year | OneFootball

Rafael Toloi finally made his re-debut for São Paulo. Announced as a reinforcement for the tricolor team back in mid-August, the 34-year-old veteran was a starter in the 1-0 victory over Botafogo on Sunday (14) at Morumbi Stadium, and wore the club's jersey again 3,683 days after the last time, on August 15, 2015, in a 3-0 defeat to Goiás, also at the São Paulo stadium.

Well, it only took the 90 minutes of the match against the Cariocas for Toloi to justify the Tricolor's bet on his name. The defender made eight tackles in the game and matched Ferraresi's previous record for the most such actions performed by a club player in a single match of the Brazilian Championship.

Moreover, Toloi shone by completing 90% of his passes (36 out of 40) and 50% of his long balls (two out of four). He also won 69% of his duels (nine out of 13) and made 14 defensive actions, including eight tackles, seven recoveries, five clearances, and one interception.

The interval between Toloi's games is the fourth longest in the club's history, behind only teammates Lucas Moura and Oscar — the record holder, with 5,519 days, which corresponds to more than 15 years — and Kaká, with whom he also played during his first two stints, between 2012 and 2015.

"I am very happy," he said as he left the field. "It's a great emotion to return to this beautiful stadium, with an incredible crowd, but the most important thing was to win the game. It was a tough match, but a well-deserved victory. Everyone is to be congratulated. Now, let's focus on the Libertadores." His re-debut also had a special presence at Morumbi: "A memory I have is of my little daughter, and today (Sunday) she is here in the stadium, already 11 years old. Whether he will remain in the starting 11 to face LDU in the Copa Libertadores quarter-finals is something we should only know on Thursday (18).

If he starts again, Toloi could take the place that was Sabino's against Botafogo. However, it's worth noting that his colleague also performed well against Botafogo, with 24 defensive actions (ten clearances, ten recoveries, three interceptions, and one tackle). Regardless of the competition, Sabino only had praise for his teammate.

"Talking about Toloi is like stating the obvious. He has a great history at the club, left here as a champion, and made a beautiful story at Atalanta, perhaps the best Atalanta of all time, with important titles. Since he arrived, he has committed to helping the team, not only by playing but also by sharing his experience with younger players like me. I am very happy for his debut and very happy for everything he did in the game. He was an important guy for us, and we hope he can continue," he said.

However, something that might weigh on Toloi's starting position is his physical condition. After the game, in the press conference, coach Hernán Crespo revealed that the defender had suffered an injury in recent weeks, probably when he was absent from images of five consecutive training sessions, which was treated as a strengthening process. The coach did not provide details, preferring to stick to the overall picture.

"I am very pleased with Rafael because he had an injury and recovered, but everything was very familiar to him. The place, which he already knew, and the system, in which he played at Atalanta, have many things in common for defenders. So, the situation was very natural. It was just a matter of seeing if he could maintain that intensity for the full ninety minutes. He finished the game very tired, but he did very well. I am very happy for him. He deserved it," the coach concluded.

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