Previous episodes: Flamengo, Vasco, Fluminense, Grêmio, Botafogo, Atlético Mineiro, Internacional, Corinthians, Santos, Palmeiras, Cruzeiro
In this series I will present each of the 12 Brazilian teams that together compose the "Big 12". My point is to make them more knowledgeable to you, since each one of these teams have their share of the Brazil national team success and of Brazilian club football accomplishments as a whole. I'll try to be as smooth, efficient and non-boring as I can. If the feedback is positive, I'll keep bringing more to this series. So ok, let's do this!
Method: I'll present the teams in a chronological order, from the oldest foundation (Flamengo-1895) to the latest one (São Paulo-1930). The order will be: Flamengo, Vasco, Fluminense, Grêmio, Botafogo, Atlético Mineiro, Internacional, Corinthians, Santos, Palmeiras, Cruzeiro, São Paulo. How many of these have you heard of?
Extra clubs: Due to a high number of requests, I'll also present 3 teams who don't belong to the Big12, but are also considered big clubs in Brazil: Bahia, Athletico Paranaense and Coritiba. Welcome to the club!
Geographical reference: Before we start, I'd like to ask something very simple from you. I want you to keep in mind that these 12 teams are spread in 4 different States in Brazil. The club's State name is written below, next to the club's name. It has a direct link to Google Maps, so that you can check it out to make this experience more accurate.

Episode 12/12: São Paulo (State: São Paulo), founded in 1930

State rivals: Corinthians, Palmeiras, Santos

Stadium: Morumbi

Mascot: Saint Paul

Major achievements: 3 Intercontinental/Club World Cup (1992, 1993, 2005), 3 Copa Libertadores (1992, 1993, 2005), 6 Brazilian Leagues (1977, 1986, 1991, 2006, 2007, 2008), 1 Supercopa Libertadores (1993)

State League titles: 21 (Against Corinthians' 30, Palmeiras' 23, Santos' 22)

PLAY AND LISTEN TO SÃO PAULO'S ANTHEM WHILE READING - Click here
São Paulo FC, the biggest Brazilian club
São Paulo seems to be the only team in Brazil that has all the major ingredients that make a team, the biggest: lots of international and domestic titles, big fanbase, big stadium, big idols and historical teams. Clubs like Santos or Flamengo come close, but lack one or other ingredient - that's why São Paulo, the only 3x Club World champion and the youngest of the Big12, is considered the biggest club in Brazil!

Brazilian Club	International titles	Domestic titles	Total
São Paulo	12	6	18
Santos	8	9	17
Flamengo	5	12	17
Palmeiras	3	14	17
Cruzeiro	7	10	17
Corinthians	4	11	15
Grêmio	6	8	14

Not only São Paulo leads the title rank, but also the runner-up rank, as you can see below:

Brazilian Club	International runner-ups	Domestic runner-ups	Total
São Paulo	8	8	16
Cruzeiro	9	7	16
Palmeiras	6	5	11
Santos	2	9	11
Internacional	2	8	10
Grêmio	6	4	10

In the entire South America, São Paulo is only behind Boca Juniors and Independiente in international trophies:

South American club	Intercontinental/Club World Cup	Copa Libertadores	Others	Total
Boca Juniors	3	6	9	18
Independiente	2	7	5	14
São Paulo	3	3	6	12
River Plate	1	4	5	10

However, you have to consider that in Argentina there are only 5-7 big clubs (Boca, River, Independiente, San Lorenzo, Racing, Estudiantes, Vélez), while in Brazil there are at least 12, making things more difficult to São Paulo.
São Paulo is also the only Brazilian club to win 3x the Intercontinental/Club World Cup, which is considered their biggest feat:

Event	Match	Goals
Intercontinental Cup 1992	São Paulo 2-1 Barcelona	Raí (2x), Stoichkov
Intercontinental Cup 1993	São Paulo 3-2 Milan	Palhinha, Cerezo, Müller, Massaro, Papin
Club World Cup 2005	São Paulo 1-0 Liverpool	Mineiro

The beginnings
São Paulo was founded in 1930, and accepted people from any origin, social class or ethnicity since their early days. They won their first trophy in 1931, a State League title, led by Friedenreich - who scored 103 goals in 5 years at the club. After a few fusions with other clubs, the team would begin to really shine in the 1940s.
The 1940s: five State League titles
Due to Brazil's huge size and weak infrastructure, there wasn't a National League until 1959 - until then and even afterwards, the State Leagues were the main tournaments.
In the 1940s, São Paulo won 5 of them. At this time, the club also received the nickname "The Dearest Team", because they dared to bring and show a huge São Paulo State Flag in the inauguration of the Pacaembu stadium, in front of 70.000 spectators, including the hated Brazilian dictator Getúlio Vargas.
Leonidas da Silva
The first big idol of the club was Leonidas, present in the 5 State League titles in the 1940s. The Black Diamond had played in two World Cups (1934, 1938) and joined the club in 1942. He scored 140 goals in 212 matches, and retired from football in this same club, in 1950.
It was in this decade that São Paulo gained the respect of the best teams of the city, Palmeiras and Corinthians, who already had 10 State League titles on their account.
In 1943, during a State League draw, a Corinthians' director said that the draw was unnecessary: he flipped a coin and said that if it falls head Palmeiras will be champions, if it falls tail it will be Corinthians. After being questioned about São Paulo, he replied, laughing: "if the coin stands, it will be São Paulo, if it stops in the air, it will be Portuguesa". São Paulo were the champions, and had a huge coin standing on their car during the celebrations at night.
The Steamroller dominated the decade, got the respect of Corinthians and Palmeiras and were now considered a rival. These 3 teams received the nickname of Iron Trio from the media.
1950s-1970: construction of Morumbi, the biggest private stadium in the world
The club destined all their money in the 1950s to the construction of their stadium Morumbi, which would be the biggest private stadium in the world. Without funds to build a strong team, they only won two State Leagues in this period (1953, 1957), with the legendary Hungarian coach Béla Guttmann commanding them in the 1957 title, with 1950 World Cup Golden Ball winner Zizinho on their side.
While São Paulo built their stadium, a young kid named Pelé arrived at Santos, and gave no chance to them, or to the Iron Trio teams in the 1960s.
1970s: back in the game
In this decade, São Paulo won their first Brazilian League title in 1977, and also 3 State Leagues (1970, 1971, 1975), besides one Copa Libertadores runner-up (1974), and one Brazilian League runner-up (1973).
Curiously enough, the 1977 São Paulo wasn't a great team, and nobody bet on them to become Brazilian champions. They beat Atlético Mineiro in the final, on the penalties, after two 0-0 ties. São Paulo missed their first two penalties, but managed to overcome Atlético, who sent three shots away. No São Paulo player was elected to the League's Best XI.
The São Paulo players who stood out in this decade were: Gérson, World Cup champion in 1970, Pedro Rocha, elected to the League's Best XI in 1973, Mirandinha, elected to the League's Best XI in 1973 and called to the 1974 World Cup, Waldir Peres, excellent goalkeeper who won the League Golden Ball in 1975 and played in 3 World Cups (1974, 1978, 1982), Chicão, centre-back who played 312 matches for São Paulo in the 1970s and got called to the 1978 World Cup, and Serginho Chulapa, the club's greatest topscorer, who scored 242 goals in 399 matches for São Paulo between 1973-1982, and played in the 1982 World Cup as a starter, after Careca's injury.
1980s: State dominance
In the 1980s, São Paulo watched their rivals Palmeiras and Santos struggle, as they took home 5 State League titles (1980, 1981, 1985, 1987, 1989).
But it was in the 1986 Brazilian League that São Paulo proved their worth. Led by Careca, they ended the 1st stage undefeated (7W-3D). On the second stage, they kept the good shape, with only 2 defeats in 16 matches, and with 3 wins scoring 5 goals or more.
On the knock-out stage, São Paulo first met Inter de Limeira in the ro16, the current São Paulo State League champions. São Paulo lost the 1st leg 1-2, but gave a 3-0 back in the return leg, with Careca scoring once on each match.
In the quarter-finals, they would play Fluminense, and lost the 1st leg 0-1. In the 2nd leg, Careca opened the score at '67 with this crazy goal, and Müller scored the second ten minutes later.
In the semi-finals, they would face América, a traditional team from Rio de Janeiro, that was big in the old days. América's goalkeeper worked hard, but at '80, Careca finally scored with this shot. In the return leg, Careca scored this genius lob goal from inside the box. The team held América's pressure, and left with a 1-1 tie and the spot in the big final.
The big final would be against Guarani. In the 1st leg at the Morumbi, the topscorers of the tournament, Evair and Careca, scored once each, and the match ended 1-1. The 2nd leg was one of the craziest Brazilian League finals. It ended 1-1 with two own goals, and went to extratime. São Paulo did 2-1 with Pita at '91, but Guarani tied at '97 and scored the 3-2 at '110, with this goal of guts. São Paulo needed a goal in 10 minutes, and at '119, Careca scored to tie the match 3-3 and become the league topscorer. On the penalties, Careca missed São Paulo's first shot, but so did Guarani. São Paulo would score all their 4 other penalties, while Guarani's João Paulo sent it away, so that São Paulo were crowned Brazilian League champions for the 2nd time.
São Paulo had 6 players elected to the League's Best XI: Gilmar, Dario Pereyra, Nelsinho, Bernardo, Pita, and the Golden Ball and league topscorer with 25 goals, Careca.
Also in 1986, São Paulo had 5 players called to the 1986 World Cup, notably the starters Müller and Careca, as well as Oscar, Falcão and Silas. They lost on the penalties to France in the quarter-finals.
1991-1994: Telê Santana Era, the team that dominated the world
Johan Cruyff said, after his Barcelona lost to São Paulo in the 1992 Intercontinental Cup: "if you are to be run over, better be by a Ferrari".
This São Paulo superteam dominated Brazil, South America and the World in these years. They won 2 Intercontinental Cups, 2 Copa Libertadores, 1 Brazilian League, 1 State League, 2 Recopa, 1 Supercopa Libertadores and 1 Copa Conmebol, not to mention the Tereza Herrera (4-1 against Barcelona) and the Ramón de Carranza (4-0 against Real Madrid) in Spain.
Everything started in 1990, with the arrival of Telê Santana, the celebrated Brazil 1982 coach. With him, São Paulo finished 2nd in the Brazilian League, losing to their rival Corinthians on the final.
In 1991, São Paulo began the season in great fashion, winning the Brazilian League by June, with a 67% rate. They led the first stage, then knocked Atlético Mineiro out in the semis after two ties (1-1, 0-0), before beating Bragantino in the final (1-0 and 0-0), with this goal from Tilico on the 1st leg. São Paulo were crowned Brazilian League champions for the 3rd time. Two São Paulo players were elected to the League Best XI: Ricardo Rocha and Leonardo.
On December 1991, São Paulo had their revenge against Corinthians in the State League final: in front of 102.000 spectators at the Morumbi, Raí scored a hat-trick and ended the conversation. 3-0 to São Paulo on the first leg, and a 0-0 tie in the second leg to secure the State League title against Corinthians.
1992: the first Copa Libertadores and Club World titles
In this season, São Paulo won the Copa Libertadores on the first semester, then the Intercontinental Cup and the State League titles on the second.
At the beginning, the coach Telê used the reserves in the Copa Libertadores, considering it a way too disloyal competition. But after a 0-3 defeat and with the pressure from the board to take it seriously, he changed his strategy and qualified from the group stage on the 2nd place, with 3W-2D-1L, behind Criciúma.
São Paulo passed through Nacional (Uruguay) in the ro16 without much problems and 2 wins (1-0, 2-0).
In the quarter-finals, São Paulo suffered, but beat Criciúma 1-0 at home with this goal from Macedo. In the 2nd leg, Criciúma opened the score at '10, but Palhinha tied with this great goal at '55, qualifying his team to the semis.
In the semis against Barcelona (Ecuador), São Paulo smashed them 3-0 at home, with another great goal from Palhinha. In the 2nd leg in Ecuador, São Paulo goalkeeper Zetti performed this huge mistake as Barcelona scored 2-0 at '87, but it was too late and São Paulo qualified to the final.
In the big final against Newell's Old Boys (Argentina), São Paulo lost the 1st leg in Argentina, 0-1. At home, with a crowd of 105.000 at the Morumbi, Raí scored 1-0 from a penalty at '65. The match ended and went to the penalties. The Argentines hit the post on their first shot, but São Paulo lost their third one. The Argentines missed their 4th shot, while Cafu scored. Zetti saved Newell's 5th shot - and São Paulo were crowned South American champions for the first time.
Palhinha was the Copa Libertadores topscorer with 7 goals. This title qualified São Paulo to the Intercontinental Cup, to play against European champions Barcelona in December.
São Paulo 2-1 Barcelona: the 1992 Intercontinental Cup title
In August, São Paulo had already beaten Barça 4-1 for the Tereza Herrera Trophy (5mn video), with Müller scoring this nice goal. Four months later, they would meet in Tokyo for the Intercontinental Cup trophy.
Bulgarian Stoichkov opened the score at '12 with this amazing goal. São Paulo, led by Raí, quickly dominated the match and tied at '27: Müller did a great Cruyffesque turn and assisted Raí to score. Minutes later, Müller almost scored this great lob goal. In the second half, Barcelona almost scored again, but Ronaldão saved on the line. At '78, Raí scored from this no-chance free-kick on the GK side to overcome the score to 2-1 in São Paulo's favor. Not much else was done, the match ended, and São Paulo were crowned for the first time Club World champions.
Raí, who scored a brace, was elected Man of the Match.

São Paulo - 2	1 - Barcelona
1. Zetti	1. Zubizarreta
2. Vítor	2. Ferrer
4. Ronaldão	4. Koeman
3. Adilson	3. Guardiola
6. Ronaldo Luís	5. Sacristán
5. Pintado	6. Bakero (Goikoetxea)
8. Toninho Cerezo (Dinho)	7. Amor
10. Raí	10. Witschge
11. Cafu	11. Beigiristain (Nadal)
7. Müller	8. Stoichkov
9. Palhinha	9. Laudrup
Telê Santana	Johan Cruyff

One week after the title, on the 20th December, São Paulo played the 2nd leg of the São Paulo State League final, against rivals Palmeiras. São Paulo had won the 1st leg 4-2, with a hat-trick by Raí and this great goal by Cafu. In the 2nd and final leg, in front of 111.000 spectators, São Paulo won 2-1, with goals by Müller and Cerezo, to secure their 18th State League title and tie with Palmeiras in the State League title ranking.
São Paulo played 84 matches in 1992, with 45W-21D-18L (66% rate) and 133 goals scored. Raí was the topscorer with 31 goals, folllowed by Palhinha (25) and Müller (24).
1993: International Quadruple Crown, São Paulo dominates the World again
São Paulo started the season playing the São Paulo State League. However, the 1990s was a Golden Era of Brazilian football, and the State League was dominated by a rich Palmeiras sponsored by Parmalat, with Roberto Carlos, César Sampaio, Edílson, Zinho and Edmundo - so that São Paulo finished 3rd.
São Paulo were focused in the 1993 Copa Libertadores, which they entered in the ro16, as returning champions. At first they had a 1992 rematch against Newell's Old Boys (Argentina): they lost 0-2 in Argentina, but stomped them 4-0 at home in the 2nd leg (3mn29 video).
In the quarter-finals, they met Flamengo. Palhinha scored this beautiful lob goal at the Maracanã, in the 1st leg that ended 1-1. At home, Dinho almost scored from this crazy free-kick, but Müller didn't forgive and scored this nice goal at '24. Right-back Vitor saved São Paulo with the goal empty moments later, and then he assisted Cafu to score the second and qualifying goal at '68.
In the semis, São Paulo sent Cerro Porteño (Paraguay) home, after a 1-0 victory at home and a 0-0 tie away. In the 2nd leg, after a corner kick by Arce, Ronaldo Luís saved São Paulo on the goal line.
In the big final, São Paulo destroyed Universidad Católica (Chile). In the 1st leg at home, they were leading 5-0 at '70, before the Chileans scored their goal of honor at '85 - goals and highlights here (7mn13 video). In the 2nd leg in Chile, São Paulo lost 0-2, and were crowned back-to-back Copa Libertadores champions.
Raí left to French club PSG after the Libertadores title. In this first span (1987-93) at the club, he scored 111 goals in 306 matches, as a midfielder. He would come back later, from 1998 until 2000.
In September, São Paulo won their 2nd international trophy of the year - the Recopa Sudamericana, against Cruzeiro (0-0, 0-0, p.k. 4-2).
In November, São Paulo won their 3rd international trophy of the year - the Supercopa Libertadores, which gathered all the 16 Libertadores champions in history. After beating Independiente (Argentina) (2-0, 1-1), Grêmio (2-2, 1-0), Atlético Nacional (Colombia) (1-0, 1-2, p.k. 5-4) and Flamengo (2-2, 2-2, p.k. 5-3) in the final, they only needed a win in the Intercontinental Cup against the AC Milan of Fabio Capello to claim the unique International Quadruple Crown.
São Paulo 3-2 Milan: the 1993 Intercontinental Cup back-to-back title
The early 1990s Milan was legendary - Gli Invicibili (The Invincibles) that won the 1991/92 Serie A unbeaten, reaching a 58-match run with no defeats. Baresi, Costacurta and Maldini, one of the strongest defences in football history, also Desailly and Donadoni in midfield, plus Massaro and Jean-Pierre Papin in attack. This Milan had 5 starters of the 1994 WC final against Brazil - São Paulo had none, actually only 5 bench players (Zetti, Ronaldão, Leonardo, Müller, and Cafu - who was subbed in during the final).
This 1993/94 Milan only conceded 25 goals in 54 matches, but São Paulo somehow found a way to score 3 against them.
Milan started the match better, with this crazy shot from Massaro. But it was São Paulo who opened the score at '19 with Palhinha, after this cross from Cafu. Massaro tied at the beginning of the 2nd half, but Cerezo scored the second at '59 after a cross from Leonardo. Papin tied it 2-2 at '81 from a header. But 7 minutes later at '88, this funny back/knee goal happened, scored by Müller. São Paulo held the pressure, the match ended and the World belong to São Paulo once again, for the second year in a row.
Toninho Cerezo was elected Man of the Match. With this title, São Paulo joined Pelé's Santos record of winning two back-to-back Copa Libertadores and Club World titles - they are the only South American teams to have done so until today, and probably, forever.

São Paulo - 3	2 - Milan
1. Zetti	1. Rossi
2. Cafu	2. Panucci
4. Ronaldão	6. Baresi
3. Válber	4. Costacurta
6. André Luiz	3. Maldini
5. Dinho	8. Desailly
8. Doriva	5. Albertini (Tassotti)
11. Toninho Cerezo	7. Donadoni
10. Leonardo	11. Massaro
9. Palhinha (Juninho Paulista)	10. Papin
7. Müller	9. Raducioiu (Orlando)
Telê Santana	Fabio Capello

With this title, São Paulo won the International Quadruple Crown, and is the only team in the South American history to have achieved it.

Date	International Trophy	Adversary
May 26th	1993 Copa Libertadores	Universidad Católica (Chile)
September 29th	1993 Recopa Sudamericana	Cruzeiro
November 24th	1993 Supercopa Libertadores	Flamengo
December 12th	1993 Intercontinental Cup	Milan (Italy)

In 1993, São Paulo played 98 matches, with 46W-30D-22L (62% rate), scoring 163 goals. Palhinha and Raí were the topscorers with 22 goals each, followed by Cafu (20) and Müller (15).

Player	Period	Apps	Goals	Brazil NT Caps	Goals	World Cup att.
Zetti	1990-97	432	-	17	-	1 (1994)
Cafu	1990-94	273	38	150	5	4 (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006)
Valber	1992-97	159	5	12	-	-
Ronaldão	1986-93	300	3	14	3	1 (1994)
Ronaldo Luís	1992-95	109	2	-	-	-
André Luiz	1993-96	90	9	12	1	-
Pintado	1992-93	116	2	-	-	-
Doriva	1991-94	81	1	14	-	1 (1998)
Dinho	1992-93	113	12	1	-	-
Toninho Cerezo	1992-93	72	7	73	5	2 (1978, 1980)
Raí	1987-93, 98-2000	393	128	49	17	1 (1994)
Leonardo	1990-91, 93-94, 2001	112	17	60	7	2 (1994, 1998)
Müller	1984-88, 90-94, 1996	191	110	59	12	3 (1986, 1990, 1994)
Palhinha	1992-95	229	71	16	5	-
Juninho Paulista	1993-95	141	22	50	5	1 (2002)

1994-95: the end of the Telê Era
Before Telê started to get sick in 1995, he had time to collect the 1994 Recopa Sudamericana and the 1994 Copa Conmebol - the latter with the reserve team, called Little Express, with upcoming talents such as Rogério Ceni, Juninho Paulista, and Denílson, who even beat the traditional Peñarol (Uruguay) 6-1 in the final - the largest score in a South American final ever.
He also reached the 1994 Copa Libertadores final, but lost it on the penalties to Vélez Sarsfield (Argentina) (0-1, 1-0, p.k. 3-5).
Telê passed away in 2006, at the age of 74, and is considered the best Brazilian coach in history. He inspired a series of world class coaches, namely Marcelo Bielsa, Arrigo Sachi and Pep Guardiola - notably with his Brazil 1982 and São Paulo 90-94 sides.
1996-2004: Rebuilding times, the club that almost wins
In this period, São Paulo was known for building good teams and revealing great players, but without collecting trophies. They only won 2 State Leagues (1998, 2000), 1 Rio-São Paulo Tournament (2001), and an irrelevant Copa Master da Conmebol (1996).
On the other hand, they finished 2nd in three State Leagues (1996, 1997, 2003), two Rio-São Paulo (1998, 2002), 1 Copa dos Campeões (2001), 1 Supercopa Libertadores (1997) and one traumatic Copa do Brasil (2000), losing the title in the last 10 minutes. They also reached 1 Copa Libertadores semi-final (2004), 1 Copa Sudamericana semi-final (2003) and finished 3rd in two Brazilian Leagues (2003, 2004). Meanwhile, their rivals Corinthians and Palmeiras were collecting trophy after trophy, while Santos started to reemerge to big titles.
The highlights of this period were the return of Raí in 1998 and his performance (7mn video) against Corinthians in the State League final, the performances of Rogério Ceni, Belletti, França, Dodô, Marcelinho Paraíba and Luís Fabiano, and the revelations of Denílson, Julio Baptista and Kaká. Three of them even represented São Paulo at the 2002 World Cup title (Rogério Ceni, Belletti, Kaká), as well as Edmilson and Denilson, who lived this period at the club and were now in Europe. But the trophies weren't coming.
Kaká, notably, appeared in 2001 in the Rio-São Paulo Tournament final. He entered the match at 0-1, and scored two goals in two minutes, thus taking the title home. He performed well in the 2001 Brazilian League, but was knocked out in the quarter-finals.
After the 2002 World Cup title in June, Kaká returned to São Paulo and tore the Brazilian League apart with Luis Fabiano, winning the Golden Ball Award. However, the title didn't come again, as they lost in the quarter-finals (1-3, 1-2) to the uprising young talents of Santos' Diego and Robinho. The São Paulo supporters were extremely angry at Kaká, calling him a popcorn maker (meaning choker in Brazil), and demanded his exit, notably after another defeat in the 2003 State League final (2-3, 2-3) to rivals Corinthians. Kaká then left the club in 2003 to join Milan. He played 131 matches and scored 48 goals for São Paulo, in this period (2001-2003).

Player	Period	Apps	Goals	Brazil NT Caps	Goals	World Cup att.
Rogério Ceni	1990-2015	1237	131	18	-	2 (2002, 2006)
Edmilson	1994-00	256	1	40	1	1 (2002)
Belletti	1996-02	200	16	51	1	1 (2002)
França	1996-02	327	182	8	1	-
Dodô	1995-99	169	93	5	2	-
Marcelinho Paraíba	1997-00, 2010-11	201	50	6	1	-
Denilson	1994-98	191	26	61	8	2 (1998, 2002)
Kaká	2001-03, 2014	155	51	95	31	3 (2002, 2006, 2010)
Luís Fabiano	2001-04, 2011-15	347	213	45	28	1 (2010)

2005, Libertadores, Club World Cup and Rogério Ceni - the myth, the legend, the 1
Before 2005, Rogério Ceni was considered just a good goalkeeper - after that, he became a club idol and started de facto his legacy. Ceni arrived at the club in 1990, at the age of 17. He got promoted to Telê's main team in 1992, after the death of third goalkeeper Alexandre, and collected some important titles under him, as reserve. He started playing in 1997, for both São Paulo and Brazil NT - his known antipathy however didn't help him for Brazil, specially with so many talents around with more empathy, like Taffarel and Marcos, or with more skills, like Dida. He developed himself as a world class free-kick taker - and that, somehow, worked against him when people analyzed his goalkeeping abilities.
Rogério Ceni is the goalkeeper with the most goals scored in history, with 131 goals in 1237 matches for São Paulo - 69 from penalties, 61 from free-kicks. In 2005, he notably scored 21 goals in 75 matches, being the team's topscorer of the season.
The team started the 2005 season with some good players from 2004: Cicinho, Fabão, Lugano, Josué, Danilo, Tardelli and Grafite. With the arrival of Júnior, Mineiro, Amoroso and Luizão, the team was ready to dominate South America and the world for the third time.
They started winning the São Paulo State League, led by the coach Émerson Leão, main responsible for building the team, since his arrival on September 2004. He would then leave to Japan, being subbed by Paulo Autuori.
In the Copa Libertadores group stage, São Paulo ended 1st, with 3W at home and 3D away, against The Strongest (Bolivia) (3-3, 3-0), Universidad de Chile (Chile) (4-2, 1-1) and Quilmes (Argentina) (2-2, 3-1). Highlights to this free-kick goal by Rogério Ceni against Universidad.
In the ro16, São Paulo met their city rivals Palmeiras, and won the 1st leg 1-0 away with this great goal by Cicinho. In the 2nd leg at home, Rogério Ceni and Cicinho scored at '81 and '89 to beat Palmeiras 2-0.
In the quarter-finals, Tigres (Mexico) lost 0-4 to São Paulo in the 1st leg - Ceni opened the score with this great free-kick and also scored the third from another free-kick. In Mexico, they lost 1-2, but qualified anyway.
River Plate (Argentina) would be their adversary in the semis. At home, São Paulo hit the post twice, and won by 2-0, with goals from Danilo at '76 and Rogério Ceni, from this penalty at '89. In Argentina, São Paulo won 3-2, without much problems.
In the big final, São Paulo met Athletico Paranaense, and tied 1-1 in the 1st leg (away), with this funny own goal when they were losing 0-1. In the 2nd leg at home, São Paulo won 4-0: first with Amoroso at '16. Athletico then missed a penalty, and São Paulo scored the 2nd at '52 with Fabão. Luizão scored the 3rd and Tardelli the 4th. São Paulo were for the 3rd time, the Copa Libertadores champions, and the first Brazilian team to achieve it.
Ceni and Luizão were the topscorers of the team, with 5 goals each. This title qualified them to the 2005 Club World Cup.
2005 Club World Cup: São Paulo 1-0 Liverpool, 3x Club World champions
In Japan for their 3rd time, São Paulo first beat Al-Ittihad (Saudi Arabia) 3-2 in the semis, so they could face European champions Liverpool in the final.
The English team hadn't conceded a goal in 10 matches, and went full-attack on São Paulo, who defended themselves. But at '27, Mineiro scored the only goal of the match after a chipping from Aloisio. São Paulo defended as they could, with great help from Ceni, who performed the save of the year after Gerrard's free-kick at '51. The match ended at '93, and São Paulo were crowned Club World champions for the third time.
Ceni was elected Man of the Match and Golden Ball of the Cup.

São Paulo - 1	0 - Liverpool
1. Rogério Ceni	12. Pepe Reina
5. Lugano	3. Finnan
3. Fabão	4. Hyypiä
4. Edcarlos	23. Carragher
2. Cicinho	2. Warnock (Riise)
6. Júnior	22. Sissoko (Pongolle)
7. Mineiro	8. Gerrard
8. Josué	14. Xabi Alonso
10. Danilo	7. Kewell
14. Aloísio (Grafite)	10. Luis Garcia
11. Amoroso	19. Morientes (Crouch)
Paulo Autuori	Rafael Benítez

2006-08: the Brazilian Sovereign
In 2006, São Paulo reached once again the Copa Libertadores final, but lost to Internacional (1-2, 2-2).
The team then focused on the Brazilian League, which they would win three consecutive times. Led by coach Muricy Ramalho, they would play defensive football (3-5-2) and show great regularity - though always getting eliminated in knock-out competitions. With these 3 titles, they reached a total of 6 league titles in their history.
In these 3 league titles, São Paulo played 114 matches, with 66 wins and only 16 defeats (overall rate of 67%), conceding only 87 goals.
11 São Paulo players were elected to the League's Best XI in this period: Ceni, Ilsinho, Fabão, Mineiro and Aloísio (2006), Ceni, Breno, Richarlyson, Hernanes (2007), Ceni, André Dias, Miranda, Hernanes and Borges (2008). Highlights to Hernanes, great São Paulo revelation, who later shone in Europe.

Player	Period	Apps	Goals	Brazil NT Caps	Goals	World Cup att.
Cicinho	2004-05, 2010	151	21	15	1	1 (2006)
Lugano (Uruguay)	2003-06, 2016-17	213	13	95	10	2 (2010, 2014)
Júnior	2004-08	198	11	22	1	1 (2002)
Mineiro	2005-07	138	7	25	-
Josué	2005-07	158	7	28	1	1 (2010)
Danilo	2004-06	194	37	-	-	-
Grafite	2004-06	75	27	4	1	1 (2010)
Amoroso	2005	26	18	20	10	-
Luizão	2005	28	11	17	3	1 (2002)
Aloísio	2005-08	124	23	-	-	-
Miranda	2006-11	260	10	58	3	1 (2018)
Richarlyson	2005-10	147	6	2	-	-
Hernanes	2005-10, 2017, 2019-	297	49	27	2	1 (2014)

2009-today
The São Paulo that brought fear to their adversaries disappeared in this period, collecting only one Copa Sudamericana in 2012. They managed however to reach two Copa Libertadores semi-finals (2010, 2016), two Copa do Brasil semi-finals (2012, 2015) and one 2nd place in the Brazilian League (2014). They also revealed Casemiro and Lucas Moura, among others.
São Paulo is one of the 3 Brazilian clubs to never be relegated.
To this day, São Paulo has the 3rd largest fanbase in Brazil, with 17 million supporters, and a stadium attendance average of 27.400, as of 2019.
If you have any questions about Brazilian football, feel free to join us at futebol, where you'll be very welcomed!

The Rookie Report: Week 2 Starts & Sits

Welcome back to the Rookie Report! How great was it to finally have football back last weekend? The NFL season’s opening week went off without a hitch (assuming you didn’t have Mike Evans or Michael Thomas on your team), and hopefully you managed to get off to a 1-0 start. The rookies got off to an interesting start and plenty of them acquitted themselves well considering they didn’t get to play any preseason games. In a reversal of expected roles Jonathan Taylor put on a show as a receiver out of the backfield but struggled as a runner, and Clyde Edwards-Helaire had an impressive debut running between the tackles but didn’t catch a single pass. Both should be every-week starters going forward. Laviska Shenault, Joshua Kelley and Zack Moss all got in the end zone in week 1, and D’Andre Swift nearly did as well. Some other rookies like Michael Pittman, Cam Akers and Bryan Edwards had less successful debuts. Overall, we now have a much better picture of how these guys are going to be deployed and should have a better handle on which ones to consider for your lineups. Let’s dive into week 2…

Rookies to Start:

RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, KC (Wk. 2: @ LAC): Obviously you don’t need me to tell you to start CEH if you have him. He was fantastic as a runner in week 1 and made people who drafted him feel great about that decision. It was strange to see him do so much of his work running between the tackles though. It would have been nice to see him catch a few passes, and it would’ve been nice to see him cash in one of his 6 carries from the 3-yard line or closer for a TD (4 carries from the 1), but overall it was a strong debut and the fact that he got 6 carries in close should be seen as a good thing. Houston’s D-line dominated in those short yardage situations, but not every defense KC faces will do the same. The Chiefs are comfortably favored in week 2 and face a defense that ranked 25th in Football Outsiders’ run defense DVOA stat last season. I’d also expect the team to make an effort to get CEH more involved in the passing game, even if only to prove a point. Edwards-Helaire is a fine play in all DFS formats as well as a locked-in RB1 for season-long leagues this week.
RB Jonathan Taylor, IND (Wk. 2: vs. Min.): Like CEH, you don’t need me to tell you to start Taylor. He didn’t really fill up the stat sheet as a runner last week (9 carries for 22 yards), but Philip Rivers utilized him a bunch in the passing game (6-67 on 6 targets). With Marlon Mack going down for the year, this backfield figures to be a 2-man tandem with Taylor and Hines. Taylor should dominate the early down work, and while the matchup against the Vikings isn’t that favorable – they allowed the 12th-fewest RB points per game last year, Taylor will see plenty of volume to make him a solid RB2 this week. With a price tag of just $5,700 on DraftKings, I would expect you’ll see Taylor in a high percentage of DFS cash game lineups this week.
RB JK Dobbins, BAL (Wk. 2: @ Hou): I know starting a backup running back in week 2 is a risky proposition. I list Dobbins here just to emphasize how much I like his matchup this week. Houston had a bottom half run defense a year ago and looked overmatched in the opener by CEH and the Chiefs run game (at least away from the goal line). Baltimore is a touchdown favorite this weekend, and I expect them to win the game easily. Houston just didn’t look right in week one, and I don’t think the Ravens are the antidote to what ails them. Dobbins already looked better than Mark Ingram in the opener, and I expect him to get plenty of run as the Ravens open up the lead. This may be me getting ahead of myself on Dobbins, but I like him to go for 80+ yards and a score in this one and finish as an RB2. The Ravens have the highest projected point total of the week at 29.25,
WR CeeDee Lamb, DAL (Wk. 2: vs. Atl.): The Falcons have had one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL for two years running, and they looked as bad as ever in week 1 against Seattle. Russ Wilson can make a lot of defenses look bad, but the Falcons’ pass defense looked non-existent. This game figures to be a shoot-out with Dallas’ implied total of 28.5, so all 3 Cowboy receivers are in play, especially with tight end Blake Jarwin done for the year. It appeared that Dak was force-feeding the ball to Amari last Sunday, but I’d expect the targets to be more evenly divided in this one. Zeke Elliott should have a big game as well, but we could see all 3 Dallas receivers end up as top-30 WRs this week. Lamb was targeted 6 times in the opener. I’d expect that number to be higher in this one.

Borderline Rookies:

QB Joe Burrow, CIN (Wk. 2: @ Cle): Burrow is only worth considering in 2-quarterback or Superflex formats, but this should be a better matchup for him than the Chargers. The Browns ranked just 18th in pass defense DVOA last season and were absolutely shredded by Lamar Jackson and the Ravens in week 1. Burrow proved that he’s capable of running the ball himself a bit in the opener, and only Cincinnati allowed more QB rushing yards in 2019 than the Browns. The Vegas sharps don’t expect a big output from Cincy’s offense, giving them an implied total of just 18.75 points, but I think they overperform in this one. I like Burrow’s chances at a top-15 week.
RB James Robinson, JAX (Wk. 2: @ Ten): Robinson’s performance and usage in week 1 may have been even more of a surprise than the outcome of the game. The Jaguars were heavy underdogs and came out with a win, and they may have found their feature back in the process. Most people expected a heavy dose of Chris Thompson on passing downs, but Thompson played just 12 snaps to Robinson’s 36. The Jaguars are heavy underdogs again this week, so temper expectations a bit, but this matchup has about the same degree of difficulty for Robinson as the last one with Indy. Robinson will be heavily involved and should be a solid RB3 this week.
RB D’Andre Swift, DET (Wk. 2: @ GB): Week one did not end on a high note for Swift, as he dropped what would’ve been a game-winning touchdown pass in the closing seconds as the Lions blew a 17-point lead in losing to the Bears. Here’s the positive – Swift led the Lions running backs in snaps, playing 10 more than Adrian Peterson and 14 more than Kerryon Johnson. He was battling an injury in practice last week and still was on the field a lot. You’d like to see more production come out of those snaps, but that should be coming. Green Bay fielded one of the worst run defenses in the NFL a year ago, and while AP still figures to see a lot of the rushing load, I’d count on Swift being more involved in this one as he gets closer to health. He’ll be a boom-or-bust upside flex option this week with more value in PPR formats.
RB Zack Moss, BUF (Wk. 2: @ Mia): Moss didn’t pile up a lot of yards in week 1 (27 yards on 12 touches), but his usage is encouraging for fantasy players. He was targeted 4 times in the passing game, and 8 of his 12 touches came in the red zone with one of them ending in a touchdown. The other half of the Bills’ backfield duo, Devin Singletary, had zero red zone touches among his 9 carries and 5 catches. Moss was on the field for the vast majority of red zone snaps. Miami gave up 1.2 running back scores per game a year ago and gave up another one in the opener this year. Moss is a solid bet to score a touchdown for the second straight week, which gives him some flex appeal in most formats. The Dolphins ranked 29th in run defense DVOA last season, and were 32nd in that stat in week 1.
WR Brandon Aiyuk, SF (Wk. 2: @ NYJ): Aiyuk looks likely to return this week, and he’ll do so in a matchup against one of the worst teams in the NFL. The Jets do have a stout run defense up front, but they can’t cover on the back end. Buffalo attacked them through the air a ton last week with Josh Allen tallying 33 completions for 312 yards and 2 TDs. Buffalo is typically one of the run-heaviest offenses in the league. George Kittle is fighting through an injury this week and Deebo Samuel will be out again. That puts Aiyuk in line for probably 6-8 targets, and against this defense that could be fantasy gold. He could be a huge value this week if you have the stones to play him. Just make sure he’s active on game day.
WR Henry Ruggs, LV (Wk. 2: vs. NO): Ruggs got off to a hot start in week 1 before being sidelined for a bit with a knee injury. He was able to return and finish the game but did most of his damage before getting hurt. The Raiders clearly focused on trying to get the ball in his hands as you’d expect for a first round pick, and this week he faces off against a Saints team that allowed the 5th-most WR points per game last year. The Saints did revamp the secondary in the offseason adding Janoris Jenkins and Malcolm Jenkins and played a respectable game against Tampa last week, but the best part of that pass defense is top corner Marshon Lattimore. Lattimore doesn’t typically follow receivers into the slot, and that’s where Ruggs played more than 50% of his snaps in week 1. Getting away from Lattimore that often should help Ruggs to a 60+ yard outing this week, and he’s always a threat to take one to the house. If you’re in a deep league or trying to replace an injured starter like Godwin, Golladay or Michael Thomas, Ruggs should be in consideration.
WR Jalen Reagor, PHI (Wk. 2: vs. LAR): Reagor had the longest play of any rookie in week 1 with a 55-yard catch, but it was his only catch of the week. The Eagles had a clear game plan to use Reagor and DeSean Jackson as deep threats, but those tend to be low-percentage throws and neither guy put up a great fantasy day. Reagor and Jackson combined for 11 targets, and both had an average target depth of more than 30 yards. No other receiver on the team was even at 10. It was a good sign that Reagor was involved, but I’d like to see the Eagles diversify the way he’s used and not limit him only to deep shots. He was coming off an injury and played just 59% of the snaps. That was the team-high among the WRs, but I think it will go up this week. I expect Jalen Ramsey will shadow D-Jax, so there is some upside for Reagor on the opposite side. Even if he doesn’t see more short targets this week, it only takes 1 or two deep balls to post a nice fantasy day if he finds the end zone.
WR Jerry Jeudy, DEN (Wk. 2: @ PIT): Courland Sutton seems like a long shot to play again this week, which gives Jeudy another opportunity as the lead wide receiver. Jeudy actually played fewer snaps than either Tim Patrick or DaeSean Hamilton in week 1 but had as many targets (8) as the two of them combined. The Broncos want to get the ball in his hands. The matchup this week is much tougher. The Steelers ranked 3rd in pass defense DVOA a year ago and did a good job limiting everyone other than Darius Slayton in the opener. I’d lean against playing Jeudy this week unless you have to, but his role in the offense gives him enough upside to consider here.

Rookies to Sit:

RB Cam Akers, LAR (Wk. 2: @ Phi): Akers struggled in his debut while teammate Malcolm Brown got the hot hand, and as a result Brown got the lion’s share of the backfield work. Things don’t get much easier for Akers to make a splash this week with Darrell Henderson a week healthier and a tough visit to the Eagles coming up. Philly allowed the 7th-fewest RB points per game last season and ranked 3rd in run defense DVOA a season ago. Peyton Barber found paydirt twice last Sunday against Philly, but the Washington backs combined for just 72 scrimmage yards on 32 touches. If Akers gets the hot hand early he may get more run than last week, but against this defense I wouldn’t bet on it.
RB Josh Kelley, LAC (Wk. 2: vs. KC): Kelly had an impressive debut tallying 12 carries for 60 yards and a score in the opener. The reports that he was going to have a big role alongside Austin Ekeler in this backfield were clearly accurate. He wasn’t targeted in the opener, but Ekeler was only targeted once himself. I think a lot of that has to do with the QB change the franchise went through in the offseason. Philip Rivers was heavily targeting his backs in his Colts debut, but Tyrod has typically not thrown to the running backs at nearly the same clip. The rushing usage should remain strong for both Ekeler and Kelley all year though. The matchup this week doesn’t favor Kelley. The Chiefs did let David Johnson get loose a little bit in the season opener, but this game has obvious blowout potential, and if that happens it’ll be Ekeler handling most of the work. Kansas City is favored by 8.5 points, but I expect them to cover that without much trouble. With no receiving usage to boost his totals, Kelley will need to get in the end zone to return value. I don’t have a lot of faith that he scores one.
RB AJ Dillon, GB (Wk. 2: vs. Det.): Dillon was mostly an afterthought in the Packers’ offense in week one, finishing the game with just 5 offensive snaps and 2 carries for 14 yards. Head coach Matt LaFleur expressed an interest in getting him more involved in week two, and with Green Bay favored by nearly a touchdown there is some chance at some extra run late if the Packers get out in front of Detroit. I still wouldn’t expect him to be used much as a receiver, and the red zone work still belongs to Aaron Jones. Jones handled 3 of the team’s 4 carries inside the 10, and he also had 4 red zone targets. Dillon isn’t worth consideration for fantasy lineups this week unless you expect a blowout win for Green Bay.
WR Laviska Shenault, JAX (Wk. 2: @ Ten): Viska didn’t approach the 10 touches that I was hoping for in the opener. He only got halfway there but did cash in a touchdown. The Jaguars will clearly be a slow tempo offense again this year despite a change in head coach and offensive scheme. That is going to limit Shenault’s weekly upside. They’re going to be creative in getting the ball into his hands each week, but if he’s only handling 5 or 6 weekly touches it’s going to be hard for him to return value in weeks where he doesn’t get into the end zone. He’ll have weekly fantasy starter upside, but he’ll be hard to rely on until he jumps ahead of Keelan Cole on the depth chart. I’d leave him on the pine this week.
WR Bryan Edwards, LV (Wk. 2: vs. NO): Edwards’ stat line in week 1 left a LOT to be desired, as he pulled in just one pass on one target for 9 yards. What you may not know is that Edwards led the Raiders’ receivers with 75% of the snaps played. The targets are going to come. Edwards and Ruggs are clearly the top two receivers in Vegas and they’re going to make an effort to get Edwards more involved. This week could be a rough one though as Edwards may be squaring off with the Saints’ best corner Marshon Lattimore. Lattimore doesn’t follow the opposing number one receiver into the slot, and Ruggs played more than half of his snaps last weekend in the slot. That means plenty of snaps where he’ll be facing off with Edwards. We’ve already seen a week where the ball didn’t find Edwards very much, so I’d be hesitant to trust him this week in a tougher matchup.
WR Chase Claypool, PIT (Wk. 2: vs. Den.): Claypool is the WR4 in this offense, but Pittsburgh did look for ways to get him involved in week 1. He was targeted twice and also got a rushing attempt on a gadget play. With AJ Bouye out for Denver there should be plenty of opportunities for the Steelers’ receivers to produce, but Claypool’s limited snaps will make him a touchdown dart throw for the foreseeable future.
WR Michael Pittman, Jr., IND (Wk. 2: vs. Min.): I wouldn’t be panicking too much just yet if you drafted Pittman in a deep league, but it’s going to take him a few weeks to work his way into a useful role. He’s still running behind Zach Pascal for the WR3 role in the offense. He did play more than half of the offensive snaps but was targeted just twice and ended with 2 catches for 10 yards. There will be better days ahead, but you’ll need to see more from the rookie before giving him flex consideration.
WR Van Jefferson, LAR (Wk. 2: @ PHI): Reports out of Rams camp had Jefferson pegged to be the team WR3 ahead of Josh Reynolds, but it was pretty clear on Sunday night that they’ll share the role early on this season. Neither was a big target priority though, with Jefferson seeing 3 targets and Reynolds just 1 on Sunday night. There could be some sneaky upside for one of those guys this week with Darius Slay likely to be shadowing Robert Woods, but I’d look for Cooper Kupp and Tyler Higbee to be the bigger beneficiaries of the matchup. I’d hold off on trying my luck with Jefferson.
WR Justin Jefferson, MIN (Wk. 2: @ IND): Jefferson and Bisi Johnson seemed to be on about the same footing in the WR pecking order for the Vikings in week 1, but they’re both still a distant second behind Adam Thielen. The Vikings were behind on the scoreboard for all but two of their offensive snaps Sunday, and they still threw only 25 times. This is going to be a run-heavy attack all year, and Jefferson is probably going to have to move clearly ahead of Bisi to be a weekly consideration for fantasy lineups. Keep him sidelined for now.
WR Devin Duvernay, BAL (Wk. 2: @ HOU): Duvernay played just 11 snaps in week one and is clearly behind Hollywood Brown, Miles Boykin and Willie Snead on the depth chart. Baltimore is favored by a touchdown and has a chance to pull away again and get some extra run for their backups, but that is more likely to help their backup running backs than Duvernay. Keep him benched this week.
WR John Hightower, PHI (Wk. 2: vs. LAR): Hightower played a healthy amount in week one, handling just 13 fewer snaps than Jalen Reagor’s team high 40, but he wasn’t used in ways that will give him fantasy value. He isn’t going to see a ton of targets, so he has to be used on deep balls to provide much value. In week 1, Hightower’s average target traveled just 8 yards in the air. I also expect DeSean Jackson and Reagor to see their snaps increase as they get closer to full strength. Hightower is a low-upside dart throw option this week unless something changes in his usage.
WR Tee Higgins, CIN (Wk. 2: @ CLE): Higgins was on the field for just 15 snaps with a big crowd of receivers in front of him on the depth chart. I don’t see a lot of reason why that will change in week 2 without injuries in front of him, and with the Bengals coming into this one with an implied total of 18.75 it’s hard to imagine him making a fantasy impact on so few snaps. Keep him sidelined in your lineups.
TE Cole Kmet, CHI (Wk. 2: vs. NYG): Kmet was targeted just once in the opener and served as the TE3 behind Jimmy Graham and Demetrius Harris. He’s nothing more than a long-shot weekly TD dart throw for now. The Bears are much more likely to look for Jimmy Graham in the red zone than Kmet.

Deep League Sleepers, Stashes, and Cheap DFS Options:

QB Tua Tagovailoa, MIA (Wk. 2: vs. Buf.): I told you last week that if you’re in a 2-QB league you should be picking up Tua as your QB3 off the waiver wire, and after Ryan Fitzpatrick threw 3 interceptions in week one, I want to reiterate it. Fitzmagic will start again in week 2, but the Bills allowed the 3rd-fewest QB points per game last year and picked up right where they left off in week 1. With another poor start by Fitzpatrick, it may be time for the Tua era to start in Miami. There could be some growing pains in his first couple starts if DeVante Parker is out, but he’s going be an asset in the back half of the season.
RB Antonio Gibson, WAS (Wk. 2: @ ARI): Gibson didn’t play nearly as much as I would’ve liked to see in week 1 and it was a bummer that the team didn’t try to use him at all as a slot receiver, but Gibson led the Washington Football Team’s running backs with 44 scrimmage yards on 11 touches. It was tough sledding against a very good Eagles’ run defense for all 3 backs. Aside from a 20-yard carry by Gibson, the top three backs combined for 28 carries and 43 yards. The matchup gets easier this week and Washington will undoubtedly look to get Gibson involved. He touched the ball on 11 of his 18 snaps a week ago. Peyton Barber will still be the best bet for a touchdown in this offense, but I like Gibson’s chance at a better performance this week than what he did in the opener. He’s worth looking at if you need a flex in really deep league.
RB Anthony McFarland, PIT (Wk. 2: vs. Den.): James Conner is questionable to play this week after leaving Monday night’s game with an ankle injury, which could open the door for McFarland to make his NFL debut this week. He was a healthy scratch last week with Conner, Benny Snell and Jaylen Samuels serving as the 3 active backs. If Conner sits, I’d expect Snell to handle a lot of the rushing load and Samuels to serve as the 3rd down back, but I’d expect the Steelers the try and get the ball in the hands of the speedy McFarland a handful of times. The Broncos aren’t exactly an easy matchup, so McFarland is mostly just a shoot the moon sort of DFS play this week. If Conner plays, ignore all of this.
WR Quintez Cephus, DET (Wk. 2: @ GB): Kenny Golladay looks likely to sit again this week, and Cephus saw a whopping TEN targets in the opener and played 79% of the offensive snaps. He only turned 3 of the targets into catches, but he clearly has some trust from Matt Stafford. He’ll avoid Jaire Alexander’s coverage this week, which makes him a nice play in a game where the Lions figure to be throwing a fair amount. The Packers are favored by 6. A repeat of the 10 targets might be asking a lot, but he’ll be involved enough to warrant flex consideration in deeper leagues, and his $3,800 DraftKings price tag could be a steal in DFS tournaments this week.
WR Gabriel Davis, BUF (Wk. 2: @ MIA): Davis is a guy you should be looking at if you’re in a dynasty league where he’s available. Buffalo’s offense looked different in week one. They played with a lot of tempo and played with a lot of receivers on the field. They went 4-wide on 20 of their offensive snaps. They had that many on the field for just 5 snaps in ALL of 2019. If this continues, Davis is going to be on the field a decent amount this year. He played more than 50% of the offensive snaps in week one, and while he’ll remain low on the target priority list for now, his high snap count is strong evidence that Davis is a part of Buffalo’s plans. He probably doesn’t belong on the waiver wire in most dynasty leagues.
WR Darnell Mooney, CHI (Wk. 2: vs. NYG): Mooney saw limited opportunity in the opener but made the most of his chances. He posted 3 catches for 38 yards on 3 targets in just 21 snaps. He’s already on equal footing with Javon Wims on the depth chart and is ahead of Riley Ridley. With the rumors that Allen Robinson may be on his way out of Chicago, now is the time to scoop up Mooney off the waiver wire, especially in dynasty formats. I can’t imagine Robinson is in Chicago beyond 2020, and if Mooney shows well he could be a big part of the Bears’ future plans at the position. Mooney didn’t put up gaudy receiving stats at Tulane, but he played in a low volume passing attack. He accounted for 41% of the team receiving yards as a junior in 2018 before seeing a dip last year.
TE Harrison Bryant, CLE (Wk. 2: vs. Cin.): New Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski clearly wants to recreate the offense he ran for the Vikings a year ago, and that means a ton of 2-tight end sets. Only the Eagles spent more time with two tight ends on the field than Minnesota did last year, and in week one only the Eagles played more snaps with two tight ends than the Browns did. David Njoku was placed on IR after the game and will miss at least the next 3 weeks. The Bengals coughed up 5 catches for 73 yards to Hunter Henry in the opener, and Bryant was a dynamic receiver in college who posted a 65-1004-7 line a year ago at FAU. With Austin Hooper around, it’ll be tough to trust Bryant in normal lineups this week, but he’ll cost the minimum in DFS and is a nice stash for dynasty leagues, two tight end leagues, and deeper TE-premium formats.

That’s all I’ve got for this week. Hopefully it helps you make some tough lineup decisions involving rookies this week. Keep in mind that any players at the same position listed at under the same header are listed in the order that I would play them this week. Keep a close eye on the injury report and make sure you don’t end up playing an inactive player unexpectedly. As always: Good luck, trust your gut, and have fun. It’s just a game. Original article at drinkfive.com

Brazilian Big12 series, Episode 10/12: Palmeiras

Previous episodes: Flamengo, Vasco, Fluminense, Grêmio, Botafogo, Atlético Mineiro, Internacional, Corinthians, Santos
In this series I will present each of the 12 Brazilian teams that together compose the "Big 12". My point is to make them more knowledgeable to you, since each one of these teams have their share of the Brazil national team success and of Brazilian club football accomplishments as a whole. I'll try to be as smooth, efficient and non-boring as I can. If the feedback is positive, I'll keep bringing more to this series. So ok, let's do this!
Method: I'll present the teams in a chronological order, from the oldest foundation (Flamengo-1895) to the latest one (São Paulo-1930). The order will be: Flamengo, Vasco, Fluminense, Grêmio, Botafogo, Atlético Mineiro, Internacional, Corinthians, Santos, Palmeiras, Cruzeiro, São Paulo. How many of these have you heard of?
Extra clubs: Due to a high number of requests, I'll also present 3 teams who don't belong to the Big12, but are also considered big clubs in Brazil: Bahia, Athletico Paranaense and Coritiba. Welcome to the club!
Geographical reference: Before we start, I'd like to ask something very simple from you. I want you to keep in mind that these 12 teams are spread in 4 different States in Brazil. The club's State name is written below, next to the club's name. It has a direct link to Google Maps, so that you can check it out to make this experience more accurate.

Episode 10/12: Palmeiras (State: São Paulo), founded in 1914

State rivals: Corinthians, São Paulo, Santos

Stadium: Allianz Parque (New) / Parque Antarctica (Old)

Mascot: Pig

Major achievements: 1 Copa Rio (1951), 1 Copa Libertadores (1999), 10 Brazilian Leagues (1960, 1967, 1967, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1993, 1994, 2016, 2018), 3 Copa do Brasil (1998, 2012, 2015), 1 Copa Mercosul (1998)

State League titles: 23 (Against Corinthians' 30, Santos' 22, São Paulo's 21)

PLAY AND LISTEN TO PALMEIRAS ANTHEM WHILE READING - Click here
Palestra Italia and the first decades
Palmeiras was founded as Palestra Italia in 1914, by Italian immigrants in São Paulo. In the 1920s, they acquired the ground of the Antarctica company, which included the Parque Antarctica stadium. On this decade, Palestra won 3 State Leagues and finished 2nd on three other opportunities. At this time and until 1959, there wasn't a national league yet, due to Brazil's huge size and weak infrastructure, so the State Leagues were the main tournament, which Palestra would win 5 more times in the 1930s. They also won the 1st edition of the prestigious Rio-São Paulo Tournament, a regional league attended by big teams from São Paulo and Rio only.
1942: World War II and Palestra becomes Palmeiras
Brazil were neutral in the 2nd World War until 1942, when they declared war against the Axis (Italy, Germany, Japan). This forced every club name related to these countries to be reconsidered, so Palestra Italia became Palestra.
However, the Brazilian government demanded that Palestra was also removed from the club's name, despite it being a greek word. Palmeiras was then adopted, to keep the letter P and in honor of the Associação Atlética das Palmeiras, an extinct club that helped Palestra on their early days.
In the 1940s, they won 4 more State Leagues titles, but were still behind their rival Corinthians on the overall counting - they would only surpass Corinthians in State League titles for the first time in 1972, keeping the record until 1982, to never surpass them again.
1951: Copa Rio, Palmeiras' first club world title
The Copa Rio was the first attempt of a club world cup, preceding the creation of the Intercontinental Cup in 1960.

Group	Club	Qualification
A	Palmeiras	1950 State League champion
B	Vasco (Brazil)	1950 State League champion
A	Juventus (Italy)	1950 Serie A champion
B	Sporting (Portugal)	1950 Portuguese League champion
A	Red Star (Yugoslavia)	1950 Yugoslavia Cup champion
B	Austria Wien (Austria)	1950 Austrian League champion
A	Nice (France)	1951 French League champion
B	Nacional (Uruguay)	1950 Uruguayan League champion

Palmeiras placed 2nd inside their group, beating Nice 3-0, Red Star 2-1 and losing to Juventus 0-4. In the semis, they beat Vasco 2-1 and tied 0-0 in the return leg, before facing Juventus in the final.

Stage	Result	Attendance	Venue
Final	Palmeiras 1-0 Juventus	56.961	Maracanã
Final	Palmeiras 2-2 Juventus	100.093	Maracanã

In the final 2nd leg, Juventus opened the score at '18, but Palmeiras tied at '47. Juventus scored again at '63, but Palmeiras equalized it at '77. The match ended 2-2, and Palmeiras were crowned club world champions.
The 1960s: the first Academy of Football
After the Copa Rio title in 1951, Palmeiras won one more Rio-São Paulo Tournament in 1951 and one State League title in 1959, beating Pelé's Santos 2-1 on the last and decisive match.
In the 1960s, the Brazilian press gave Palmeiras the alias Academy of Football, due to the extreme class and technique of their teams. Players of the caliber of Ademir da Guia, Djalma Santos, Dudu, Julinho Botelho, Zequinha and Tupãzinho won Palmeiras several titles in the 1960s: 4 Brazilian Leagues (1960, 1967, 1967, 1969), 2 State Leagues (1963, 1966) and 1 Rio-São Paulo Tournament (1965). The 1960s Palmeiras are notably known for stopping Pelé's Santos from winning almost everything in the decade.

Player	Period	Apps	Goals	Brazil NT caps	Goals	World Cup att.
Ademir da Guia	1962-77	902	153	14	-	1 (1974)
Dudu	1964-75	609	25	13	1	-
Julinho Botelho	1958-67	269	81	24	11	1 (1954)
Djalma Santos	1959-68	498	10	100	3	4 (1954, 1958, 1962, 1966)
Zequinha	1958-68	417	40	16	2	1 (1962)
Tupãzinho	1963-68	231	122	-	-	-

They also reached two Copa Libertadores finals: in 1961, Palmeiras lost to Peñarol (0-1, 1-1), and in 1968, to Estudiantes (1-2, 3-1, 0-2).
The 1970s: the second Academy of Football
The second wave of Palmeiras' Football Academy took place in the 1970s. Still led by Ademir da Guia and Dudu, the club was reinforced by Luís Pereira, Leivinha, César Maluco and Leão.

Player	Period	Apps	Goals	Brazil NT caps	Goals	World Cup att.
Luís Pereira	1968-75	346	19	38	1	1 (1974)
Leivinha	1971-75	268	108	27	7	1 (1974)
César Maluco	1967-75	327	182	13	1	1 (1974)
Leão	1968-78	617	-	105	-	4 (1970, 1974, 1978, 1986)

Together at Palmeiras, these monsters won 2 Brazilian Leagues (1972, 1973) and 2 State Leagues (1972, 1974). In the 1974 World Cup, Palmeiras provided Brazil with 6 players (Leão, Luís Pereira, Leivinha, César Maluco, Ademir da Guia and Alfredo), finishing in the 4th place.
In the end, the Palmeiras Academy won the same number of Brasileirão titles as Pelé's Santos (6) and reached the same number of Copa Libertadores finals (2). However, they won 6 fewer State League titles (4x10).
Highlights to the 1973 Brazilian League title, with only 3 defeats in 40 matches. In the final stage, Palmeiras beat 1-0 the strong Cruzeiro of Nelinho, Piazza, Palhinha and Dirceu Lopes, away at the Mineirão stadium, with this goal from Edu Bala at '74. Then they beat 2-1 another strong team, the Internacional of Figueroa, Carpegiani, Valdomiro, Falcão, Claudiomiro and Escurinho. After Internacional opened the score, Palmeiras tied at '77 with Ronaldo and Luís Pereira scored the winning goal at '80. On the last match, a 0-0 tie against São Paulo was enough for Palmeiras to be declared Brazilian champions for the 6th time. Only 35 years later, in 2008, would a new team (São Paulo FC) reach the number of 6 Brazilian League titles.
In 1974, Palmeiras met their archrival Corinthians in the State League final. Corinthians were on a 20-year title drought (since 1954) and desperately needed a trophy. In front of 122.522 supporters at the Morumbi stadium, Palmeiras won the final 1-0, with this goal from Ronaldo, and left their rivals trophyless for one more season.
In 1976, Palmeiras won their last title before a drought that would last until 1993. They won the 1976 State League title against XV de Piracicaba, 1-0 at home. It would also be Ademir da Guia last title at the club, before he left in 1977.
1993-2000: the Parmalat Era
Between 1976 and 1993, Palmeiras didn't win a single title, finishing 2nd in one Brazilian League (1978) and in two State Leagues (1986, 1992).
In 1992, however, the Italian company Parmalat signed a huge deal with the club, bringing expensive and talented players. In 1993 already, they won 1 State League, 1 Rio-São Paulo Tournament and 1 Brazilian League. In 1994, they once again won the State and the Brazilian Leagues. Until the end of the decade, they would win one more State League (1996), one Copa do Brasil (1998), one Copa Mercosul (1998), one Rio-São Paulo Tournament (2000), one Copa dos Campeões (2000), and the most important title, the 1999 Copa Libertadores. Therefore, in 8 years (93-2000), Palmeiras won 2 continental titles, 4 national trophies, 3 state leagues and 2 interstate tournaments - totalizing 11 major titles.
The coach appointed to start this new era of the club was Luxemburgo, who had done good works for Bragantino, winning the Serie B in 1989 and the 1990 São Paulo State League. He stayed at the club from 1993 to 1994, and in 1996.
1993-94: back-to-back State and Brazilian League titles
The 16-year title drought ended in the 1993 State League final against their archrival Corinthians. On the 1st leg, a 0-1 defeat, with a historical teasing by Corinthians' forward Viola, who imitated a pig when celebrating his goal. On the return leg, Palmeiras smashed them with a 4-0 victory (6mn33 video), with goals from Evair (2x), Edilson and Zinho.
Two months later, they won the Rio-São Paulo Tournament, again against Corinthians (2-0 and 0-0). In the Brazilian League, Palmeiras dominated with 81% of points, and only 2 defeats in 22 matches. In the final against Vitória, two victories: 1-0 away with a goal from Edilson, and 2-0 at home, with goals from Evair and Edmundo. Palmeiras became Brazilian champions for the 7th time, the first club to achieve so - the second would be Santos in 2002, then Corinthians in 2017 and Flamengo in 2019.
Four Palmeiras' players were elected to the League Best XI: Antônio Carlos, Roberto Carlos, César Sampaio and Edmundo.
Of the 1993 team, three great players were there since 1991: César Sampaio, Amaral and Evair. Parmalat brought Antônio Carlos, Cléber, Roberto Carlos, Mazinho, Edílson, Zinho and Edmundo. All of them (except Amaral, Cléber and Evair) played at least 25 matches for the Brazil NT, with two winning the 1994 World Cup (Zinho, Mazinho), three reaching the 1998 World Cup final (Roberto Carlos, César Sampaio, Edmundo) and two winning the 2002 World Cup (Roberto Carlos, Edilson).

Player	Period	Apps	Goals	Brazil NT caps	Goals	World Cup att.
Antônio Carlos	1993-95	58	5	37	3	-
Cléber	1993-99	372	21	13	-	-
Roberto Carlos	1993-95	162	20	126	12	3 (1998, 2002, 2006)
Amaral	1991-97	107	3	12	-	-
César Sampaio	1991-94, 99-00	304	25	47	6	1 (1998)
Mazinho	1992-94	127	2	35	-	1 (1994)
Edílson	1993-95	151	59	25	6	1 (2002)
Zinho	1992-94, 97-99, 01-02	460	95	57	7	1 (1994)
Edmundo	1993-95, 06-07	269	141	39	10	1 (1998)
Evair	1991-94, 99	245	126	11	5	-

In 1994, the team increased with the arrivals of Rincón, from América de Cali, Flávio Conceição, from Rio Branco and Rivaldo, from Mogi Mirim.
They began the season winning the 1994 State League, gathering 78% of the points, and losing only three times in 30 matches.
In the 1994 Brazilian League, Palmeiras led the 1st stage and then won 5 of the 6 knock-out matches. They beat Bahia twice in the QF (2-1, 2-1), and the strong Guarani of Luizão, Djalminha and Amoroso twice in the SF (3-1, 2-1).
In the big final against Corinthians, Rivaldo opened the score with this nice goal at '45. He scored again at '63, and Edmundo this nice 3-0 goal at '65. The match ended 3-1, and Palmeiras only needed a tie in the 2nd leg - which ended 1-1, with Rivaldo scoring the tie at '81.
Palmeiras were back-to-back Brazilian League champions, and had now 8 National League titles, a record only reached in 2004 by Santos.
Four Palmeiras' players were elected to the League's Best XI: Cléber, Roberto Carlos, Zinho and Rivaldo.

Player	Period	Apps	Goals	Brazil NT caps	Goals	World Cup att.
Rincón (Colombia)	1994, 96-97	93	30	84	17	3 (1990, 1994, 1998)
Flávio Conceição	1994-96	103	5	45	4	-
Rivaldo	1994-96	97	78	74	37	2 (1998, 2002)

However, in the 1994 Copa Libertadores, Palmeiras were knocked out by São Paulo in the ro16 (0-0, 1-2), but they applied a sonorous 6-1 victory against Boca Juniors, with this great goal by Roberto Carlos, assisted by Evair.
The team got dismantled, and in 1995 they only finished 2nd in the State League, 5th in the Brazilian League, and got epically knocked out in the Copa Libertadores quarter-finals against Grêmio (0-5, 5-1).
The 1996 superteam: 102 goals/30 matches and State League champions
In 1996, the coach Luxemburgo returned to Palmeiras, after a year span at Flamengo.
From the 1993-94 Palmeiras squad, Velloso, Cléber, Amaral, Flavio Conceição and Rivaldo remained.
New stars arrived at the club: Cafu from Real Zaragoza, Júnior from Vitória, Müller from Kashiwa Reysol, and Luizão and Djalminha from Guarani.
Together, they gathered 92% of the points, winning 27 of the 30 State League matches, scoring 102 goals and conceding only 19. Since a 100%-rate title campaign in 1932, the closest a team got to this 92% rate record were 1961 and 1965 Pelé's Santos with 87%, 1945/1953 São Paulo, 1939/1951 Corinthians and 1933/1934/1942/1947 Palmeiras with 88%, and 1946 São Paulo with 90%.
In terms of goals scored, they rank #9 in the history of the tournament, and have the highest record since 1962.

Player	Period	Apps	Goals	Brazil NT caps	Goals	World Cup att.
Cafu	1995-97	101	13	149	5	4 (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006)
Júnior	1996-00	337	20	22	1	1 (2002)
Müller	1995-96	69	38	59	12	3 (1986, 1990, 1994)
Luizão	1996-97	91	56	17	3	1 (2002)
Djalminha	1996-97	83	45	14	5	-

With the departures of Flávio Conceição, Rivaldo and Müller, Palmeiras had a certain quality drop. Nevertheless, they still finished 2nd to Cruzeiro in the Copa do Brasil (1-1, 1-2).
Luxemburgo left at the end of the season for a bigger salary at Santos. He won 149 of 232 matches (64% win rate), lost 36 matches (16%), and had an overall rate of 71%.
The 1997 season was a bit below due to the lack of titles, but Palmeiras finished 2nd on the league, and reached the semi-finals of the Copa do Brasil, of the State League and of the Rio-São Paulo Tournament. But it was the arrival of the coach Scolari, the Felipão, in mid-1997 that would ignite Palmeiras into higher flights.
1998-2000: the Felipão (Scolari) Era
In this period, Palmeiras won 2 continental titles (1998 Mercosul, 1999 Libertadores), 2 national cups (1998 Copa do Brasil, 2000 Copa dos Campeões) and 1 regional league (2000 Rio-São Paulo Tournament). They also finished 2nd in 1 club world cup (1999 Intercontinental Cup), 3 continental cups (1999 and 2000 Copa Mercosul, 2000 Libertadores) and 1 state league (1999 Paulista).
With the 1996-97 team dismantled, Scolari rebuilt the team by using more Marcos, Roque Júnior and Galeano, and bringing Arce, Junior Baiano, Oséas, Paulo Nunes, Euller and of course, the maestro number 10 Alex - the most capped Brazilian player (49) not to be called to a World Cup.

Player	Period	Apps	Goals	Brazil NT caps	Goals	World Cup att.
Marcos	1992-2012	534	-	29	-	1 (2002)
Roque Júnior	1995-00	206	15	48	2	1 (2002)
Júnior Baiano	1998-99	72	16	25	2	1 (1998)
Arce (Paraguay)	1998-02	242	57	61	5	2 (1998, 2002)
Galeano	1989-02	477	27	-	-	-
Oséas	1997-99	172	65	2	-	-
Paulo Nunes	1998-99	138	73	2	-	-
Euller	1997-00	115	39	7	3	-
Alex	1997-00, 2002	200	60	49	12	-

The team lacked the offensive talent and quality of the previous generations, but had a more solid defense. Palmeiras supporters wanted the Copa Libertadores more than anything - their state rivals Santos and São Paulo had two already, as well as Grêmio, while Flamengo, Vasco and Cruzeiro had one each. Scolari had the experience of winning the Libertadores in 1995, with Grêmio, along with the Paraguayan right-back Arce and the forward Paulo Nunes that he brought to Palmeiras.
The first step was the 1998 Copa do Brasil, which would give one Libertadores spot. Palmeiras didn't have difficulties until the semi-finals against Santos: they tied 1-1 at home, and Santos opened the score in the return leg. With these two nice goals, Palmeiras overcame the score 2-1 and left with a 2-2 tie that put them on the final, against Cruzeiro. They lost the 1st leg 0-1 away, and opened the score at '12 with Paulo Nunes in the 2nd leg. At '89, Oséas scored the second and title goal after a free-kick, as Palmeiras became Copa do Brasil champions for the first time.
Later that year, Palmeiras destroyed their Copa Mercosul group: 2-1 Independiente (Argentina), 5-0 Nacional (Uruguay), 2-1 U. de Chile (Chile), 3-0 Independiente (Argentina), 3-1 Nacional (Uruguay), 1-0 U. de Chile (Chile). Highlights to this assist by left-back Júnior against Nacional from Uruguay.
With their reserves, they beat Boca Juniors 3-1 in Brazil, and tied 1-1 in Argentina, for the quarter-finals. Olimpia from Paraguay didn't offer problems in the semis: 2-0 and 1-0 to Palmeiras. In the final against Cruzeiro, Palmeiras lost 1-2 away in the 1st leg. At home in the 2nd leg, Cruzeiro opened the score at '3, but Palmeiras overcame with Cléber at '8, Oséas at '52 and Paulo Nunes at '85. On the 3rd match, this goal from Arce at '62, at home, gave Palmeiras their first continental-second tier title, the 1998 Copa Mercosul.
The 1999 Copa Libertadores title
After finishing 2nd twice in their golden era (1961, 1968), Palmeiras finally conquered South America, with 7W-2D-5L.
Palmeiras shared their group stage with archrival Corinthians and the Paraguayans Cerro Porteño and Olimpia. At that time, three teams would advance, and Palmeiras qualified in the 2nd place, behind Corinthians.
In the ro16, they met the current champions Vasco, of Juninho, Ramón, Donizete and Luizão. They only tied 1-1 at home, and saw Vasco open the score at the Maracanã. Palmeiras scored twice, before conceding the second goal. In the second half, Palmeiras scored twice again, and won the match 4-2.
The derby against Corinthians in the quarter-finals saw two same results: 2-0 and 0-2. Their rival could have scored once in the 1st leg though, at '78, if this crazy shot that hit the upper post and then the back of goalkeeper Marcos had gone a few centimeters into the other side. In the penalties, Palmeiras won 4-2, with Dinei missing the target and Marcos saving Vampeta's shot.
In the semis against River Plate, Palmeiras left Argentina with a 0-1 defeat. At home, in Brazil, Alex opened the score with this great goal, and two minutes later, Palmeiras scored the second with Roque Junior. In the 2nd half, Marcos kept the goal safe, and Alex closed the Argentine coffin with this fine touch.
In the big final against Deportivo Cali, they lost the first leg away 0-1 like in the semis. At home, Palmeiras opened the score only at '65, from this penalty kick, but Deportivo tied 5 minutes later, also from a penalty kick. Five minutes later, however, Palmeiras scored the second with Oséas, and the title would be decided in the penalties.
Palmeiras missed the first shot with Zinho, hitting the upper post, while Deportivo scored. Both teams scored the second and third shots. Palmeiras scored the fourth, and Deportivo hit the right post. Euller scored the fifth, and Zapata lost Deportivo's final penalty. Palmeiras conquered South America for the first time in their history.
This title qualified Palmeiras to the 1999 Intercontinental Cup in Japan, against European champions Manchester United.
Palmeiras played a far better match than the Red Devils, but this unfortunate mistake by goalkeeper Marcos let them open the score at '35. Palmeiras also had this wrongly disallowed goal at '50, and Oséas missed this absurd opportunity at '74.
In 2000, Palmeiras kept the good shape, and began the season winning the Rio-São Paulo Tournament, beating 4-0 the strong Vasco of Edmundo and Romario in the final.
Five months later, they won the Copa dos Campeões, after beating Cruzeiro (3-1, 1-1), Flamengo (1-2, 1-0) and Sport (2-1), therefore picking a spot in the 2001 Copa Libertadores.
But the peak of the season was the Libertadores, which they finished in the 2nd place, losing to Boca Juniors in the final (2-2, 0-0), in the penalties (2-4).
First, Saint Marcos (Palmeiras goalkeeper), saved two penalties in a clutch moment against Peñarol in the ro16.
In the semis, the biggest derby in South American history: Palmeiras met their archrival Corinthians, current back-to-back Brazilian League champions, of the stars Dida, Kléber, Vampeta, Ricardinho, Marcelinho Carioca, Edilson and Luizão, once again in the knock-outs, just like in 1999. The first leg was a crazy 4-3 match in Corinthians' favor and the second leg, another crazy 3-2 match in Palmeiras favor. In the penalties, nobody had missed their shot, until Corinthians biggest idol, Marcelinho Carioca, had his penalty saved by Saint Marcos, who put Palmeiras in the final. No other derby played in South America have been higher than Corinthians x Palmeiras encounters in the 1999 and 2000 Copa Libertadores knock-out stages.
Unfortunately, the final against Boca Juniors was a refereeing disgrace: Boca had one goal wrongly disallowed and Palmeiras had at least two penalties not awarded in the 2nd leg at home, which ended 0-0, leading to penalties. Palmeiras played better football, while Boca parked the bus.
2001-2013: end of Parmalat Era, and humble times
In this period, Palmeiras got relegated twice (2002, 2012), won 1 State League (2008) and 1 Copa do Brasil (2012).
The peak of this period was the controversial elimination by Riquelme's Boca in the 2001 Copa Libertadores semi-finals: on the 1st leg in Argentina (2-2), the referee invented this penalty to Boca, which Schelotto scored, and he didn't concede a clear penalty in Palmeiras' favor on Fernando, sending the player off for "simulation". Boca were a great team, but it is generally agreed in Brazil - even by rivals - that Palmeiras was better, and if not for the referees shameful displays in 2000 and 2001, they would very likely end up with 3 consecutive Libertadores titles (1999, 2000, 2001).
In 2002, Alex scored this masterpiece of a goal against Rogério Ceni's São Paulo.
In 2009, Palmeiras led the Brazilian League for 19 rounds, but ended up in the 5th place, not even qualifying to the Copa Libertadores.
2014-today
In 2014, centenary year of the club, their new stadium Allianz Parque was inaugurated.
In 2015, Palmeiras won their 3rd Copa do Brasil title on the penalties (4-3) against Santos, in a crazy final. The 1st leg in Santos ended 0-1, with their rival missing the opportunity of the century at '95. In the 2nd leg, Palmeiras scored their second goal (2-0) at '84, but Santos scored at '86, leading it to the penalties, won 4-3 by Palmeiras.
In 2016 and 2018, Palmeiras won their 9th and 10th Brazilian League titles, a national record. They were led by the league MVP Gabriel Jesus in 2016 and by the most recent club idol Dudu in 2016 and 2018. They also finished second in 2017, and reached the Copa Libertadores semi-finals in 2018, losing to Boca Juniors (0-2, 2-2).

Player	Period	Apps	Goals	Assists	Brazil NT caps	Goals	World Cup att.
Gabriel Jesus	2015-16	83	28	10	39	18	1 (2018)
Dudu	2015-20	305	70	75	3	1	-

As of 2020, the club won the State League (0-0, 1-1, p.k. 4-3) after 12 years, against their archrival Corinthians, coached by Luxemburgo and led by the young midfielder Patrick de Paula. Gabriel Menino and Gabriel Verón are the other young bets of the club for this season.
To this day, Palmeiras has the 4th largest fanbase in Brazil with 12 million supporters, and a stadium attendance average of 28.000, as of 2019.
If you have any questions about Brazilian football, feel free to join us at futebol, where you'll be very welcomed!

Brazilian Big12 series, Episode 9/12: Santos

Previous episodes: Flamengo, Vasco, Fluminense, Grêmio, Botafogo, Atlético Mineiro, Internacional, Corinthians
In this series I will present each of the 12 Brazilian teams that together compose the "Big 12". My point is to make them more knowledgeable to you, since each one of these teams have their share of the Brazil national team success and of Brazilian club football accomplishments as a whole. I'll try to be as smooth, efficient and non-boring as I can. If the feedback is positive, I'll keep bringing more to this series. So ok, let's do this!
Method: I'll present the teams in a chronological order, from the oldest foundation (Flamengo-1895) to the latest one (São Paulo-1930). The order will be: Flamengo, Vasco, Fluminense, Grêmio, Botafogo, Atlético Mineiro, Internacional, Corinthians, Santos, Palmeiras, Cruzeiro, São Paulo. How many of these have you heard of?
Extra clubs: Due to a high number of requests, I'll also present 3 teams who don't belong to the Big12, but are also considered big clubs in Brazil: Bahia, Athletico Paranaense and Coritiba. Welcome to the club!
Geographical reference: Before we start, I'd like to ask something very simple from you. I want you to keep in mind that these 12 teams are spread in 4 different States in Brazil. The club's State name is written below, next to the club's name. It has a direct link to Google Maps, so that you can check it out to make this experience more accurate.

Episode 9/12: Santos (State: São Paulo), founded in 1912

State rivals: São Paulo, Palmeiras, Corinthians

Stadium: Vila Belmiro

Mascot: Whale

Major achievements: 2 Intercontinental Cup (1962, 1963), 3 Copa Libertadores (1962, 1963, 2011), 8 Brazilian Leagues (1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968, 2002, 2004), 1 Copa do Brasil (2010)

State League titles: 22 (Against Corinthians' 30, Palmeiras' 23, São Paulo's 21)

PLAY AND LISTEN TO SANTOS ANTHEM WHILE READING - Click here
The Football Kingdom
There's an urban legend that says that a lightning never strikes the same place twice. But apparently this legend doesn't apply to the physics of Santos, a humble and small port city on the coast of São Paulo. There, a young kid named Pelé, would come up to become football's greatest legend, a man that could stop a war with his foot, a man that transcended all sports combined. In that same city of Santos - with a probable electromagnetic sequel caused by the lightning of Pelé - were raised the raw talents of the princes Robinho and Neymar. Curiously enough, Marta, the Queen of Football, and Falcão, the King of Futsal, also stepped foot and left a legacy at Santos, the football kingdom of the world. Let the story begin!
The early years and the 100-goal team at 1929 São Paulo State League
Santos was founded in 1912, but only on the late 1920s the team would become a threat to the State League teams from the state capital, São Paulo. Indeed, in 1927, the team led by Araken Patusca and Feitiço scored 100 goals in 16 matches, an average of 6,25 goals/match, a world record in official competitions until today. However, they lost the title in the last round to Palmeiras. These two players would make history in Santos: Feitiço scored 214 goals and is the Santos 5th top goalscorer of all time, while Araken Patusca scored 184, and is the 7th.
In 1935, Santos would win their first State League title, after beating Corinthians 2-0.
The Pelé Era: the greatest team in the world, the team that stopped a war in Africa, Os Santásticos
Before Pelé arrived, Santos had recently won the 1955 and 1956 State Leagues, with a great team led by Brazil NT forwards Del Vecchio, Pepe, Pagão, Jair, and the midfielder Zito.
After Pelé left, Santos had added 25 more trophies to their cabinet: 2 Intercontinental Cups, 2 Copa Libertadores, 6 Brazilian Leagues, 10 State Leagues, 3 Rio-São Paulo Tournament, 1 Supercopa Sudamericana and 1 Recopa Intercontinental.
During Pelé's time in the 1960s, Santos scored around 3000 goals, with more than 1000 scored by the king, in both official competitions (643 goals) and friendlies (448 goals) for Santos. Actually, counting only teams from Europe big6, Pelé scored 103 goals in those high-level friendlies, as you can see here. If we count all European clubs and National Teams, Pelé scored 163 goals. He also scored 87 goals against 1st division Brazilian teams, 116 goals against South American teams and National Teams, 44 goals against African/Asian/Central American National Teams, totalizing 410 goals in high-level friendlies - all data details here. At that time, friendlies were highly hyped, and there were more Europeans attending friendlies vs. Santos than attending their own national leagues matches - attendance data here.

League	1960s League att. average	Friendlies vs Santos att. average
England	29.180	34.800 (10 matches)
Spain	???	48.100 (9 matches)
Italy	21.056	39.620 (33 matches)
Germany	24.160	31.700 (15 matches)
Portugal	???	34.000 (3 matches)
France	8.400	32.300 (8 matches)
Overall	20.700	36.750 (78 matches)

Sources: England, Italy, Germany, France, Santos

Pelé arrived at Santos in 1956, at the age of 15. In that same year arrived the right-wing Dorval, aged 21. In 1958 arrived the centre-forward Coutinho, aged 14, and in 1960 the attacking midfielder, Mengálvio, aged 20. They all joined the left-wing Pepe, at Santos since 1954, to form the famous quintet that dominated the world: Dorval, Mengálvio, Coutinho, Pelé and Pepe.

Player	Apps	Goals	Brazil NT Caps	Goals	World Cup titles
Dorval (1956-67)	612	198	7	-	-
Mengálvio (1960-68)	371	28	14	1	1 (1962)
Coutinho (1958-68)	457	368	15	6	1 (1962)
Pelé (1956-74)	1116	1091	92	77	3 (1958, 1962, 1970)
Pepe (1954-69)	750	405	40	22	2 (1958, 1962)

But everything started in the 1957 São Paulo State League, when Pelé was topscorer with 36 goals, at the age of 16. There wasn't a National League until 1959, due to Brazil's huge size and weak infrastructure, so the players would shine in the State Leagues, which lasted the entire year. Pelé, at 17, broke the São Paulo State League record (until today), scoring 58 goals in 38 matches, in 1958 - which brought him to the Brazil NT and to the 1958 World Cup. After winning it, him and Santos started travelling in exhibition tours to make cash and challenge the best teams around the world in "friendly" matches.
In 1959, Santos took part in the 1st Brazilian League edition, qualifying as São Paulo State League champions. However, they lost the final to Bahia (2-3, 2-0, 1-3).
As Santos lost the 1959 São Paulo State League finals to Palmeiras, they didn't qualify to the 1960 Brazilian League.
However, they won the 1960 São Paulo State League and qualified to the 1961 Brazilian League. From 1961 to 1965, Santos won 5 consecutive Brazilian Leagues, a record until today. However, Santos would always enter in the semi-finals and only play 4-5 matches to be crowned champions - this rule would only be modified from the 1967 Brazilian League.

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Results
1961 Brazilian League	Santos	Bahia	1-1, 5-1
1962 Brazilian League	Santos	Botafogo	4-3, 1-3, 5-0
1963 Brazilian League	Santos	Bahia	6-0, 2-0
1964 Brazilian League	Santos	Flamengo	4-1, 0-0
1965 Brazilian League	Santos	Vasco	5-1, 1-0

Highlights to the 1962 final between Santos and Botafogo, which had 11 players from the 1962 World Cup won by Brazil: Gylmar, Mauro, Zito, Mengálvio, Coutinho, Pelé, Pepe (Santos), Nilton Santos, Garrincha, Amarildo, Zagallo (Botafogo). Santos won the decisive match 5-0 at the Maracanã, with this goal from Pelé.
In 1962, Santos also participated in their first Copa Libertadores, qualified as the 1961 Brazilian League champions. Santos topped their group stage against Cerro Porteño (Paraguay) (9-1, 1-1) and Municipal (Bolivia) (6-1, 4-3). In the semis against Universidad Católica (Chile), Santos tied 1-1 away, and won 1-0 at home. The final would be against Peñarol (Uruguay). Santos won the first leg 2-1 in Uruguay, with two goals from Coutinho, in a great comeback. In the 2nd leg in Brazil, a crazy story: after a big and violent confusion, the match was restarted and Peñarol scored the third goal at '51 (2-3). Santos only needed a tie and scored it at '67, the match ended 3-3 and Santos celebrated the title. However, the referee wrote down in the match report that the match was over at '51 - he was scared to really end it, so he kept the match going until the end, but it wasn't counting for him, so he (and CONMEBOL) declared Peñarol the winners. This forced a third match, in neutral Argentina, which Santos dominated and won 3-0, with two goals from Pelé and one own goal from Peñarol. Santos were for the first time, and the first Brazilian team, crowned South American champions.
This title qualified Santos to the 1962 Intercontinental Cup, against the European champions, Benfica. The 1st leg at the Maracanã ended 3-2 for Santos, with 2 goals from Pelé and one from Coutinho. Before the 2nd match in Lisbon, Benfica announced that they were selling tickets for the third match, certain that they would win at home. However, Pelé destroyed the match with a splendid hat-trick, an assist, nutmegs and dribbling past the entire Benfica defense to score one of his goals. The match ended 5-2 before a crowd of 73.000 portuguese fans, and Pelé proved once again he was still football's king, as he and Santos were crowned club world champions for the first time. Highlights of the match here (4mn56 video).
The next year, in 1963, Santos would once again win the Copa Libertadores. Being the current champions, they entered in the semi-final stage against the legendary Botafogo of Garrincha, Didi and Nilton Santos. The 1st leg ended 1-1, with Pelé scoring a tie at '90. The 2nd match at the Maracanã ended 4-0 to Santos, with Pelé scoring the first goal, also the second goal from a header, and the third from a penalty kick. Lima scored the fourth, with an assist from Pepe. Santos were once again qualified to the Copa Libertadores final.
They would meet Boca Juniors, from Argentina. In the 1st leg at the Maracanã, Santos opened 3-0 with two goals from Coutinho - notably this one - and one from Lima. Boca, however, scored twice with Sanfilippo and the match ended 3-2.
The atmosphere at La Bombonera for the 2nd leg was intense. 50.000 Argentine kept singing "Pelé hijo de puta, macaquitos del Brasil" (Pelé son of a b., little monkeys from Brazil). Then Boca opened the score at '46 with Sanfilippo. However, 4 minutes later, Pelé assisted Coutinho to score the tie. Later, Pelé mocked the Boca team by playing with the ball at Boca's GK hand. And at '82, Pelé scored the winning goal and celebrated with euphory and anger: Santos were back-to-back Copa Libertadores champions.
Santos were once again qualified to the Intercontinental Cup, and would face Milan. Santos lost the 1st leg 2-4, at San Siro, in Milan. In the 2nd leg at the Maracanã, Milan went to half-time winning 2-0. A heavy rain began and the pitch became a mud. Santos, without Pelé, counted on Pepe's free-kick to score their first goal. Almir and Lima scored Santos second and third goals, at '54 and '65. Pepe, again from a free-kick, scored the fourth at '68, forcing a third match.
In the third and final match, at the Maracanã again, Maldini committed a penalty and was sent off. Still without Pelé, Dalmo scored the 1-0 winning goal, crowning Santos once again club world champions.
Santos wouldn't win the Copa Libertadores again in the 1960s. They reached the semis in 1964 and 1965, and refused to play it in 1966, 1967 and 1969 - not only it was financially unattractive, but also too violent and with tendencious refereeing. So Santos prefered to travel around the globe and make cash to pay their expensive team.
The "Santos Globetrotters", would tour the world and smash whoever and wherever. 7-1 Internazionale, 5-0 Roma, 6-2 Napoli, 3-0 Lazio, 5-1 Lecce, 5-1 Barcelona, 6-0 Hamburg, 9-1 TSV München 1860, 6-3 Wolfsburg, 5-2 Eintracht Frankfurt, 4-2 Hertha Berlin, 6-4 Fortuna Düsseldorf, 5-0 Arminia Bielefield, 6-3 Benfica, 4-2 Sheffield Wednesday, 4-2 Newcastle, 5-3 Reims, 6-1 Racing, 6-2 Lyon, 3-0 Toulouse, 3-0 Feyenoord, 5-0 Enschede, 3-0 Peñarol, 8-3 Racing (Argentina), 4-0 Independiente, 4-1 Boca Juniors, 4-0 River Plate...
In official competitions, Pelé's Santos played 6 matches against Europeans, with 5W-1L:

Competition	Result	Goals
1962 Intercontinental Cup	Santos 3-2 Benfica	Pelé (2x), Santana (2x), Coutinho
1962 Intercontinental Cup	Santos 5-2 Benfica	Pelé (3x), Eusébio, Coutinho, Pepe, Santana
1963 Intercontinental Cup	Santos 2-4 Milan	Pelé (2x), Amarildo (2x), Trapattoni, Mora
1963 Intercontinental Cup	Santos 4-2 Milan	Pepe (2x), Mazzola, Almir, Lima, Mora
1963 Intercontinental Cup	Santos 1-0 Milan	Dalmo
1968 Recopa Intercontinental	Santos 1-0 Internazionale	Toninho Guerreiro

However, Santos wasn't invincible, and Palmeiras stopped them from winning 12 consecutive State Leagues (1958-69), by beating Santos in 1959, 1963 and 1966.
1969: the year that Santos stopped a war in Africa and that Pelé scored his 1000th goal
On the 4th February 1969, Pelé's Santos stopped an ongoing war in Nigeria. The civil war had been going on in the Biafra region since March 1967, and it lasted until January 1970, with the separatists' defeat. 2 million people died in the conflict.
There was a global effort trying to stop the violent repression of the Nigerian government against the Biafras. Artists like Joan Baez, Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon, authorities like the Pope Paul VI and the United Nations tried do contain the conflict, without success.
But Santos did. As the team was touring in Africa, they were invited by the Nigerian government to play in Benin. A first and only cease-fire was declared so Santos could move from the hotel to the stadium and then back to the hotel. Santos won the match 2-1, and left the country the next day, as the war restarted as soon as they were gone, lasting 11 more months.
On the 19th November 1969, Pelé scored his 1000th goal, against Vasco, the team he supported as a child, at the Maracanã. Journalists from all over the world had been following Santos matches, waiting for the 1000th goal to happen, which he did on his 912th career match.
By the end of the decade, Santos team had changed, but was still strong, notably counting with the right-back Carlos Alberto Torres, the midfielder Clodoaldo and the forwards Edu and Toninho Guerreiro, all of them champions in the 1970 World Cup, except for the latter. They notably won the 1968 Brazilian League, the 1968 Supercopa Sudamericana and the 1968 Recopa Intercontinental.
My personal favorite goal of this era is this one by Toninho Guerreiro, after a rainbow flick assist by Kaneko, in 1968.
The Pelé Era last title was the São Paulo State League title of 1973. Pelé left in October 1974, having scored 1091 goals in 1116 matches for Santos.
1978-1984: the Meninos da Vila (Vila Boys) and the last title before the drought
In 1978, a new term was coined to the players produced by Santos youth system, or just young players that were bought: the Meninos da Vila (Vila Boys), that won the 1978 State League. The 1st generation counted with Juary, João Paulo, Pita, Nilton Batata and Ailton Lira.

Meninos da Vila	Apps	Goals
Juary	229	101
João Paulo	412	103
Pita	408	55
Nilton Batata	249	36
Ailton Lira	182	37

In the 1980s, Santos built a good team that reached the final of the 1983 Brazilian League, and won the 1984 State League - Santos last title before the drought.
1984-2002: 18-year title drought
In this period, Santos reached the 1995 Brazilian League final - led by the idol Giovanni -, as well as the 2000 State League final. Santos won the 1997 Rio-São Paulo Tournament and the 1998 Copa Conmebol, but they were minor trophies and didn't count as the end of the drought, that would last until 2002.
Nevertheless, Santos became the first team in the world to score 10.000 goals - the record took place in January 1998, with a goal scored by Jorginho.
In December 2000, Santos was elected by FIFA the Club of the Century in South America, and placed 5th in the world, behind Real Madrid, Manchester United, Bayern and Barcelona.
2002: Diego & Robinho and the 2nd Meninos da Vila generation
In the last season of the Brazilian League with knock-out stages (round-robin were introduced in 2003), Santos were broken and bet once again on their own DNA: youth system and offensive football. Led by 17-year-old Diego and 18-year-old Robinho, and with great young players Maurinho (24), Alex (20), Renato (23) and Elano (21), as well as great experienced players like Fábio Costa (25), Léo (27) and Alberto (27), Santos qualified on the 8th and last spot to the quarter-finals - after an exciting 1st stage, even leading the league at some point, but dropping a lot in quality towards the end.
In the knock-out stage, Santos won 5 of the 6 matches before becoming champions. In the quarter-finals, against the scary São Paulo of Kaká and Luís Fabiano, Santos won both legs: 3-1 at home and then a 2-1 comeback away, with Diego scoring twice, one of them the winning goal on the 2nd leg.
In the semi-finals, Santos defeated Grêmio 3-0 at home, with a great show from Robinho, who got Grêmio's CB sent off and then scored this great goal. Alberto scored twice, notably this backheel one. In the 2nd leg, a 0-1 defeat was enough to put Santos in the league final.
The final would be against Parreira's Corinthians. In the first leg, Diego brilliantly assisted Alberto to open the score, and then Robinho at '88 also brilliantly assissted Renato to close the 2-0 score.
The final 2nd leg was monumental. Corinthians needed to win by a 2-goal difference to be the champions. It started badly for Santos, with Diego leaving injured with less than five minutes. But at '35, Robinho produced one of the most iconic moves of the football world in 2002, the 8 Pedaladas (8 Stepovers), after which he suffered a penalty, which he himself converted into a goal dedicated to Diego. Corinthians now needed 3 goals, and at '75 they scored the first, then at '84 they scored the second. Total fear in Santos supporters. But 4 minutes later at '88, the heir of the king, the prince Robinho carried the ball from the midfield until the right side of the box to assist Elano in Santos second goal. But it wasn't over yet, and at '92, him again, the prince Robinho left two Corinthians' CB completely lost in a quick body turnaround to assist Léo to score the 3rd and winning goal. The perfect match was over, Santos won 3-2, and were crowned Brazilian League champions. Highlights to Santos goalkeeper Fabio Costa who had this absurd performance (2mn33s video) and to Santos coach Emerson Leão, the man who chose to bet in these young players.
2003-2004: the show must go on
In 2003, Santos, Diego and Robinho were the Brazilian trend. They kept their high-level football with the addition of Ricardo Oliveira in the attack, and finished 2nd in the Copa Libertadores - losing to Boca Juniors - and 2nd in the Brazilian League - dominated by Cruzeiro.
In 2004, Santos won the Brazilian League again, their 8th and most recent Brazilian League title. With the departures of Renato, Diego and Ricardo Oliveira to Europe, Santos brought Ricardinho and Deivid from Middlesbrough and Bordeaux, and the international coach Luxemburgo from Cruzeiro.
It worked greatly, and led by Robinho and Elano, they won the league on the 46th and last round, after beating Vasco 2-1. It was a very dramatic league in all possible ways, and against everything and everyone, Santos were once again Brazilian Champions.

Meninos da Vila	Apps (Santos)	Goals (Santos)	Clubs in Europe
Diego	133	38	Porto, Werder Bremen, Atlético Madrid
Robinho	253	111	Real Madrid, Milan, Man. City
Elano	322	68	Shakhtar, Man. City
Renato	424	33	Sevilla
Alex	103	20	Chelsea, Milan, PSG

2009-2013: Neymar & Ganso, the 3rd Meninos da Vila generation
After the 2004 team was dismantled, Santos won two State League titles in 2006 and 2007, besides finishing 2nd in the 2007 Brazilian League and reaching the semi-finals in the 2007 Copa Libertadores, led by international star Zé Roberto.
In March 2009, Neymar made his debut at the age of 17. With midfielder Ganso (aged 19), they finished 2nd in the State League, losing to Ronaldo Nazário's Corinthians.
In 2010, the Cirque du Soleil Santos show began. With the addition of Robinho (on a 6-month loan from Man. City) to the front line, the team reached a historical mark of 111 goals in 34 matches on the title campaigns of the 2010 State League and 2010 Copa do Brasil. Overall in the year, Santos scored 176 goals, and Neymar 42 goals. The team played for fun and brilliant goals were a constant, notably: Robinho's backheel goal against Rogério Ceni's São Paulo, Ganso finesse assist to Robinho against Grêmio, Neymar's little-stop penalty goal against Ceni's São Paulo, Ganso's lob against Monte Azul, Robinho's lob against Bragantino, Ganso's backheel assist to Neymar's goal against Santo André, Alex Sandro's goal against Cruzeiro, Wesley's goal against Grêmio, Ganso long distance goal against Grêmio, Neymar dribbling past the whole Santo André defense goal, Neymar's assist to André against São Paulo, and obviously, Robinho air backheel assist to Neymar against Santo André.
However, the epic 2010 team only lasted 6 months: Wesley, André and Robinho left to Europe, and Ganso got severely injured. With the team dismantled, they ended on the 8th position in the league.
2011 Copa Libertadores: the third continental dream title
Santos started the season with the 2011 State League title, beating Corinthians in the final (0-0, 2-1).
Santos also counted with the return of Elano for the 2011 Copa Libertadores, but the team started badly: 2 draws and 1 loss, so Santos needed to win all the next 3 matches to advance. And they did, without much problems: 3-2 Colo-Colo (Chile), 2-1 Cerro Porteño (Paraguay) and 3-1 Táchira (Venezuela). Highlights to Neymar's dribbling-goal against Colo-Colo and Danilo's long-distance goal against Cerro Porteño.
In the round of 16, Santos met América (Mexico) and beat them 1-0 at home in the 1st leg. The 2nd leg, in Mexico, was a 0-0 tie, with goalkeeper Rafael Cabral having an exceptional match.
In the quarter-finals, against Once Caldas (Colombia), Santos had no problem beating them 1-0 in Colombia, and then tying 1-1 at home, with this great goal from Neymar.
In the semi-finals, Santos beat Cerro Porteño 1-0 at home, with this great assist from Neymar to Edu Dracena, and had a restful 2nd leg after opening 2-0 and leaving Paraguay with a 3-3 tie and qualified to the finals.
In the big final against Peñarol, Santos left the 1st leg with a 0-0 tie in Uruguay, with Peñarol having this goal bravely disallowed at '85. In the final 2nd leg, Santos pressured Peñarol at home, until Neymar opened the score at '46 with a brilliant shot, after a fine backheel-play by Ganso and ball-conducting by Arouca. At '68, Danilo scored one more, but Santos centre-back Durval scored an own goal at '79. On the last minute, Neymar almost scored the third, but the ball hit the post. At '93, the match ended, and after 48 years, Santos were the Copa Libertadores Champions, for the third time in their history.
Neymar was the MVP and second topscorer with 6 goals, at the age of 19. He was also elected the 2011 Brazilian League MVP, but Santos finished on the 10th place.
With this title, Santos qualified to the 2011 Club World Cup in Japan. They beat Kashiwa Reysol 3-1 in the semi-final, with this splendid goal from Neymar. However, they were completely dominated by Messi's Barcelona in the final, losing it 0-4.
In 2012, Santos had another great year, led by Neymar, Ganso and Elano. They started the season with the 2012 State League title, beating Guarani in the final (3-0, 4-2). They also reached the 2012 Copa Libertadores semi-finals, but got eliminated by Corinthians.
They also won the 2012 Recopa Sudamericana and finished 8th on the league.

Meninos da Vila	Apps (Santos)	Goals (Santos)	Clubs in Europe
Neymar	230	138	Barcelona, PSG
Ganso	162	36	Sevilla, Amiens
André	94	41	Sporting
Rafael Cabral	190	-	Napoli, Reading
Danilo	80	10	Porto, Real Madrid, Man. City, Juventus
Wesley	63	10	Werder Bremen

2013-today
Since the Neymar & Ganso Era ended in 2013, Santos has won 2 State League titles (2015, 2016), finished 2nd in the Brazilian League twice (2016, 2019) and in the Copa do Brasil once (2015), as well as revealing Rodrygo in 2018.
Santos represents the essence of Brazilian football DNA, which is offensive and beautiful football, a philosophy which made their youth system one of the most respected in the world. You can watch here some rare Pelé highlights, here some 2002-2005 Robinho's and here some 2009-2013 Neymar's.
Santos is one of the 3 Brazilian teams that has never been relegated.
To this day, Santos has a fanbase of 6 million supporters, and a stadium attendance average of 10.300, as of 2019.
If you have any questions about Brazilian football, feel free to join us at futebol, where you'll be very welcomed!

Football Tips for Patriotas v Junior Our suggested bet prediction tip for this Primera A - Apertura game located in Colombia is a AWAY WIN for Junior.Junior has 2.54 odds to win the football match, odds provided by probably the best online bookmaker, William Hill.If you want to bet on this soccer game, our advice is to bet on a AWAY WIN for Junior. Game: Patriotas v Junior Junior vs Rionegro Aguilas. Preview and Prediction, Head to Head (H2H), Team Comparison and Statistics. 2020-09-21 Prediction, H2H, Tip and Match Preview. Football Predictions and Betting Tips. Lanús – Junior Betting Prediction for Today. Lanus comes from a very open match in the last round against Sporting Cristal being a somewhat scandalous score of 5-3, because he was playing very orderly defensively and was not so forceful.. Junior finished in third position in group H in the liberators that was a bit of death … in the fifth date was where he lost his pass to qualify by not ... Football Acca insurance. Place a pre-event football acca with 5 or more legs, which: Can only contain Match Betting or Both Teams To Score selections; Must have combined odds of 4/1 (5.0) or greater; Contains only selections from the qualifying leagues and tournaments below. Envigado FC vs Junior. Preview and Prediction, Head to Head (H2H), Team Comparison and Statistics. 2020-09-27 Prediction, H2H, Tip and Match Preview. Football Predictions and Betting Tips.

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Junior vs Rionegro Aguilas - Football Prediction, H2H, Tip ...

A BBC investigation discovered 15 football clubs spanning the Premier League, the Championship, League One and the Scottish Premiership, had logos of betting firms or links to gambling sites on pages aimed at junior supporters.

Quindio vs Boca Juniors 22 Aug 2019. Football Prediction And Betting Tips

[UK] - Betting links found on football clubs' junior fan pages | BBC

[UK] - Betting links found on football clubs' junior fan pages

Junior/Mid Ruby on Rails Developer - London - Football Betting Platform has salary £35k-£45k. Contact person is Aimee Backhouse

Junior/Mid Ruby on Rails Developer - London - Football Betting Platform has salary £35k-£45k. Contact person is Aimee Backhouse

Junior/Mid Ruby on Rails Developer - London - Football Betting Platform has salary £35k-£45k. Contact person is Aimee Backhouse

Brazilian Big12 series, Episode 12/12: São Paulo

Episode 12/12: São Paulo (State: São Paulo), founded in 1930

State rivals: Corinthians, Palmeiras, Santos

Stadium: Morumbi

Mascot: Saint Paul

Major achievements: 3 Intercontinental/Club World Cup (1992, 1993, 2005), 3 Copa Libertadores (1992, 1993, 2005), 6 Brazilian Leagues (1977, 1986, 1991, 2006, 2007, 2008), 1 Supercopa Libertadores (1993)

State League titles: 21 (Against Corinthians' 30, Palmeiras' 23, Santos' 22)

The Rookie Report: Week 2 Starts & Sits

Rookies to Start:

Borderline Rookies:

Rookies to Sit:

Deep League Sleepers, Stashes, and Cheap DFS Options:

Brazilian Big12 series, Episode 10/12: Palmeiras

Episode 10/12: Palmeiras (State: São Paulo), founded in 1914

State rivals: Corinthians, São Paulo, Santos

Stadium: Allianz Parque (New) / Parque Antarctica (Old)

Mascot: Pig

Major achievements: 1 Copa Rio (1951), 1 Copa Libertadores (1999), 10 Brazilian Leagues (1960, 1967, 1967, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1993, 1994, 2016, 2018), 3 Copa do Brasil (1998, 2012, 2015), 1 Copa Mercosul (1998)

State League titles: 23 (Against Corinthians' 30, Santos' 22, São Paulo's 21)

Brazilian Big12 series, Episode 9/12: Santos

Episode 9/12: Santos (State: São Paulo), founded in 1912

State rivals: São Paulo, Palmeiras, Corinthians

Stadium: Vila Belmiro

Mascot: Whale

Major achievements: 2 Intercontinental Cup (1962, 1963), 3 Copa Libertadores (1962, 1963, 2011), 8 Brazilian Leagues (1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968, 2002, 2004), 1 Copa do Brasil (2010)

State League titles: 22 (Against Corinthians' 30, Palmeiras' 23, São Paulo's 21)

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