Vitória scored 85% of the points won in Series A with the white uniform

In Bahia, Friday means wearing white to attract protection and good energy. And, in a land that is culturally charged with mysticism and traditions, of course football clubs would cling to superstition when the ball doesn’t go in. It was like that with Vitória in 2024. Hoping to turn things around, they adopted the white uniform as their main uniform at the worst moment of the season.

Leão started the Brazilian Championship led by Léo Condé. During this period, there were five rounds and only one point scored, precisely against rival Bahia. The use of just 6% made the management rethink the technical command. Thus, Condé was fired and Thiago Carpini arrived to fill the role. Right at the beginning of the spell, an elimination for Botafogo in the Copa do Brasil, a defeat at Barradão to a direct rival in the fight against relegation and two draws away from home.

The scenario only began to change for Vitória on June 16, when the team hosted Internacional in Salvador. At the time, Leão had just launched the white shirt for the season, and took advantage of the confrontation to debut the piece. On the field, Willian Oliveira opened the scoring at the beginning of the game, in the 7th minute. At 36, Wesley equalized for Colorado, but Wagner Leonardo took responsibility in the last play of the match and converted the penalty, guaranteeing the club’s first three points in Series A.

After that, the team took to the field in white for another 22 matches. They won 11 matches, drew another four and were defeated in seven. There were 40 points achieved in this section, which is equivalent to a 58% success rate. Only seven points were added with other uniforms – which makes the current number 2 account for 85% of all Leão’s scores in the competition.

In addition to the 23 rounds already mentioned, Vitória chose the color in two more games, drawing one and losing the other. However, the uniform worn on both occasions was that of last season.

On the other hand, red and black – the club’s traditional colors – only appeared in 11 matches in the Brazilian Championship. For those who don’t believe in superstition, they may even think that the red and black uniform was used as a scapegoat for the team’s bad form at the beginning of the competition. The fact is that Leão didn’t win a match that way. There were three draws and eight defeats.

According to the president of Vitória, Fábio Mota, the use of the white shirt in most duels in Série A initially occurred due to the uniform’s fabric. “Firstly, it started because Salvador is very hot. It started like that, the incessant sun, the guys started to complain [dos uniformes pretos]. The white one was lighter. So it was like that, but then he started winning and that was it”, he explained.

Uniform 3, in turn, was used in just two games, with one victory and one defeat.