São Paulo is frustrated again in decision with Ceni on the bench

Goalkeeper Rogério Ceni has a –enormous– place in the history of São Paulo. Coach Rogério Ceni, not yet.

Ten years after winning his last title with the tricolor number 1 shirt, that of the 2012 Copa Sudamericana, he tried to repeat the triumph on the edge of the lawn. Dali saw his players lose 2-0 to Ecuadorian Independiente del Valle, goals scored by Lautaro Díaz and Faravelli.

The defeat at the Mario Alberto Kempes stadium, in Córdoba, Argentina, stage of the continental final in a single game, was the second failure of the Morumbi team in a trophy dispute this year. In April, in the decision of the Campeonato Paulista, the team opened a three-goal advantage in the first leg and won it 3-1, but lost 4-0 to Palmeiras in the return match, at the rival’s home.

Ceni, thus, remains without cups in his curriculum as coach of São Paulo. Champion of almost everything as a club athlete for more than two decades – there were ten trophies in international disputes alone –, he started his new career at Morumbi itself, in 2017, but he only experienced glory as a commander in front of Fortaleza and Flamengo.

He still has to win in the direction of the team in which he grew up, in the one in which he built his prolific career as a goalkeeper. There is also a need to completely rebuild the ties with those who idolized him for decades, a relationship that was especially strained during his stay in Rio de Janeiro.

Hired by Flamengo at the end of 2020, the paranaense praised the red-black fans, saying that they establish “a different atmosphere”. Part of the tricolors still resented the fact that Rogério had accepted the offer at a time when Fernando Diniz’s fall seemed a matter of time at Morumbi. For these fans, the old hero was faced with two options and chose the Rio club – which had a much more qualified cast.

That’s why, in October of last year, when the São Paulo board announced the return of the former goalkeeper, a lot of people turned up their noses. São Paulo’s main organizer, Independente published a manifesto making a clear distinction.

“Rogério Ceni as a former player is an undeniable idol. As a coach he was the last option!”, said the text of the uniform, which pointed out: “Idol is the fan”. And it carried a threatening tone: “If you don’t beat the second possums…”.

The team defeated arch-rival Corinthians that Monday – 1 to 0, a goal by Calleri, also important in the 2022 campaign. The old hero was, little by little, undermining the resistance. And he was close to peace in the Campeonato Paulista, a frustrated expectation in a rout by Palmeiras in the final.

The season sequence had good and bad moments, with the club in clear financial difficulties. The performance in the Brazilian Championship is not considered satisfactory –44%, just enough for the 12th place at the end of the first 28 rounds–, and the trajectory until the decision of the Sudamericana was bumpy.

Leader of a fragile group, ahead of the Chilean Everton, the Peruvian Ayacucho and the Bolivian Jorge Wilstermann, São Paulo also had an easy time in the round of 16, scoring eight goals in two games against Chile’s Universidad Católica. From then on, it was necessary to walk an arduous path in front of smaller teams in Brazil.

In the quarterfinals, after a 1-0 victory at Morumbi, the team took Ceará 2-1, in Fortaleza, and survived on penalties. It was also in the shots from the penalty mark that the semifinal confrontation with Atlético Goianiense was decided, with a triumph of the hosts in Goiânia (3 to 1) and in São Paulo (2 to 0).

“It’s something that wasn’t on our radar,” he told Sheet the tricolor president, Julio Casares, referring to the possibility of fighting for a title in 2022. “We do reconstruction work. We want to have a competitive team, but we didn’t have a champion’s vision, we couldn’t make a super team.”

According to the leader, the debt of the Morumbi club is currently R$ 695 million and is “balanced”. He said he has reduced the number by 5% since taking office in January 2021 and believes in “a better 2023”.

This year, that’s how it went, and the team didn’t fill their eyes. The relegation zone was close at Nacional by consecutive points, the walk in the Copa do Brasil ended in the semifinals, in defeat to Flamengo, and Ceni even said that he could leave in case of defeat in the decision of the Sudamericana, giving up of the termination penalty of his contract, which runs until the end of 2023.

Casares assured that this possibility does not exist, even with the failure in Cordoba. According to the manager, planning for the next season is being carried out in partnership with the 49-year-old coach. Who stayed close, but still couldn’t repeat without gloves what he did so many times with them: lifting a cup for São Paulo.

In the decisive dispute, the team faced Independiente del Valle, who took the competition in 2019 and maintained a pattern of possession even after the departure of Spanish coach Miguel Ángel Ramírez. The Ecuadorian team is currently led by Argentine Martín Anselmi and advanced to the final defeating their opponents with authority.

In Argentina, Anselmi’s team had a much better start to the game than their opponents. He remained in the attack, exchanged passes and opened the scoring in the 13th minute, after a bad cut by Diego Costa. Lautaro Díaz received Favarelli’s pass, kicked with his right foot and overcame goalkeeper Felipe Alves.

São Paulo tried to react and had a chance with Calleri, but the best opportunity until the break was from Del Valle, who stopped on the post with a shot by Sornoza. There was tricolor pressure in the second half. Calleri, again, found himself close to the goal. But it was the Ecuadorians who managed to swing the net again.

In the 22nd minute, the ex-Corinthian Sornoza received a long throw, on the back of Diego Costa, in an unfortunate journey. He found a smart pass for Lautaro Díaz, also smart in the touch for Faravelli, who played in the exit of Felipe Alves. Ceni tried alternatives, but Del Valle’s triumph was not threatened.

Nervous, Calleri and Diego Costa, on a bad journey, were still expelled.