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 brought his first spell at the club to a close when he left for Paris to play for PSG.

Fate would have it that the match following the number 10’s “see you later” would be the debut of the number 01.

Rogério Ceni made his debut far from MorumBIS. During the 1993 mid-season 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, forward Guilherme and midfielder Juninho also made their debuts — and 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 for the tournament, I expected to be on the bench, but in the pre-match talk I was told I would play. 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 could not have started better: a penalty saved right in his debut, and another in the match that brought the idol the first professional title of his career. An even greater reward was being honored, 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 kept establishing myself. In the final against River, I managed to save another penalty and we became champions. Making my debut, saving two spot kicks 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 penalties he would save throughout his career as a goalkeeper.

After these first steps, Rogério Ceni spent three more years on Tricolor’s bench. In 1997, he became the team’s first-choice 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 pitch, along with several world records and one certainty: that he etched his own name into the history of São Paulo Futebol Clube and world football.

SÃO PAULO 4 x 1 TENERIFE

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

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