Corinthians, Palmeiras and São Paulo fulfilled their role and fully placed the so-called Trio de Ferro in the semifinals of the Campeonato Paulista. Santos, in a new disappointing campaign, fell by the wayside, punished by Novorizontino at the last minute.
Thus, the semifinals of the state tournament were drawn, with single-game duels scheduled for the next weekend. On Saturday (28), at 8:30 pm, Novorizontino will host Corinthians at the Jorge Ismael de Biasi stadium, in Novo Horizonte. On Sunday (1st), at 8:30 pm, Palmeiras will host the game against São Paulo at Arena Barueri, in Barueri, as Allianz Parque, in São Paulo, is reserved for shows.
The road for the big three to the penultimate stage of the competition was bumpy. They had to overcome setbacks of different natures to join the surprising owner of the best campaign.
In the case of São Paulo, the trepidation exceeded the limits of the four lines. Just over a month ago, on the day of a police operation against an alleged scheme to illegally sell boxes for shows at the Morumbi stadium, Julio Casares resigned as president – and was replaced by Harry Massis Junior.
On the same day, the Tricolor team lost at home to Portuguesa, and the most pessimistic fans began to see relegation as a real possibility. Hernán Crespo’s men, however, did enough to get sixth place in the first phase and, in the quarterfinals, beat Bragantino 2-1 in a tough game in Bragança Paulista.
“Thinking about what happens on the field is the easiest part,” said Crespo, after qualifying. “The problem is that we had problems off the field. We tried to focus on our work, but it wasn’t easy.”
São Paulo’s opponent in the semifinals is experiencing much greater stability, but the victorious Abel Ferreira era comes from his first season without a title. And, last month, Palmeiras suffered its worst defeat since the arrival of the Portuguese coach in 2020: 4-0 to Novorizontino.
“I can’t lie, it’s a hard blow”, said the coach at the time, criticized for having adopted a lineup with a few boys in Novo Horizonte. He was questioned again by the fans, something he remembered after another 4-0 victory over Capivariano in the quarterfinals.
“I want to say to our fans: when we play together, we are stronger. If we all play together… It’s enough to play against our opponents. Many are against it. I ask the Palmeiras fans to play together”, he stated.
At Corinthians, Dorival Júnior does not need to make this appeal. He has nothing but praise for Fiel, who won last Sunday (22) the suffering she enjoys so much. The black and white team sought a 1-1 draw with Portuguesa in the 48th minute of the second half, at Canindé, in São Paulo, and counted on goalkeeper Hugo to advance on penalties to the semi-finals.
The team comes from recent titles in the Copa do Brasil and Supercopa do Brasil, but the marathon of games is taking its toll. Important players have just returned from injury, in the case of Breno Bidon, or are still out, in the case of Yuri Alberto.
Dorival had to use reserves that were generally little used, such as center forward Pedro Raul, and was not surprised by the difficulty faced at Canindé. “We knew it would be like this due to wear and tear. We had another tough week”, he observed.
This week will also be heavy, with a visit to Cruzeiro on Wednesday (25), for the Brazilian Championship, before the clash with Novorizontino, which is in the national Series B –not yet started– and has been dedicating itself exclusively to Paulista. The formation from the interior has a 70.4% success rate in the state competition and reaches the semi-finals with high morale after the 2-1 victory over Santos defined by a header from Léo Naldi in the 51st minute of the second half.
“We were not a team that faced a giant like Santos and fell behind. We sought the game”, declared coach Enderson Moreira, who hinted that arbitration favored the bigger team and embarked on the “financial fair play” wave – his next rival has a debt of close to R$3 billion and recent punishments for default.
“Sometimes, the teams that invest the most, bring the most players, pay the most exorbitant salaries, are the ones that do not fulfill what was proposed at all. This hurts the soul, because the Grêmio Novorizontino project is very well done and we have to compete on the same cake”, stated Enderson.
In the quarterfinals, he defeated Neymar’s Santos. In the semifinals, they will face Memphis Depay’s Corinthians.
