First goal in the World Cup is Palmeiras’ initial goal in the Emirates

When Palmeiras debut in the Club World Cup this Tuesday (8), at 1:30 pm (GMT), releasing a scream that is stuck in the fans’ throats will be the team’s first objective in the United Arab Emirates.

In its third attempt to win the unprecedented title, the alviverde team seeks its first goal in the history of the competition. Considering the 2020 edition (held in 2021), in addition to the 1999 dispute, the Palmeiras went blank in the three matches they have already played in the tournament.

23 years ago, Alex even managed to swing Manchester United’s net, but the goal scored by shirt 10 would end up wrongly disallowed by the referee, for offside, at a time when VAR (video referee) does not exist – the English won the game 1-0, Roy Keane scored, after goalkeeper Marcos failed.

Last year, however, Palmeiras couldn’t blame anyone but their own players for their poor World Cup campaign. They lost to Tigres, from Mexico, in the semifinals, by 1-0, and drew goalless with Al Ahly, from Egypt, in the dispute for third place – on penalties, Abel Ferreira’s team lost 3-2.

The fourth place in the final classification made the team record the weakest campaign of a South American club in World Cups. Until then, four other teams from the continent that had also been defeated in the semifinals (Internacional, Atlético-MG, Atlético Nacional-COL and River Plate-ARG) at least managed to win the dispute for third place.

For the Palmeiras coach, however, Palmeiras are better prepared now. “Our team is more experienced, despite being a young team. We had seven or eight finals, we won some and we lost others. Life is not just about victories, defeats also make us grow. Last year’s World Cup was hard,” he said.

The performance of Palmeiras in Qatar, where the last edition was held, was another reason for mockery for rival fans, who in addition to provoking the Palmeiras for the lack of the title, mocked the drought of goals.

The joke left the Palestinians even more in trouble, especially because many, as well as the club itself, consider the 1951 Rio Cup as a World Cup. FIFA, however, does not recognize the tournament with this seal – at the time, the São Paulo team played seven games and scored ten goals.

Increasing the team’s attacking power was precisely the board’s biggest concern for the season. Since taking over the presidency in December, Leila Pereira has been looking for a striker in the market for Abel Ferreira’s squad.

After some failed attempts, such as the negotiation with the Argentine Lucas Alario, currently at Bayer Leverkusen (ALE), the team ended up traveling without the attacker intended by the commander.

Last year, the main reference of the alviverde attack in Qatar was Luiz Adriano. The player, however, had his contract terminated after entering into a dispute with the crowd.

Despite not having the striker he asked for, Abel will count on Dudu this time in the offensive sector. Idol of the fans, he is the player of the current squad with the most goals for the club, 76, adding up his two passages. He also leads the ranking of assists, with 81. And, in the last game before boarding, he won against Água Santa, for Paulista, his 100th victory for Palmeiras – and still set the score 1-0.

Happy with the brand, the player said he was ready to compete for the title that the gallery alviverde lacks. “We have a very important championship, the most important in the club’s history. I hope we can come back with this title, which the fans all dream of”, he said.

If Abel doesn’t prepare any surprises, shirt 7 should have Rony as his teammate in the front line. Two-time Libertadores champion for Palmeiras (2020 and 2021), he travels with the prestige of being the team’s second top scorer in the history of the South American tournament, with 11 goals, alongside Willian, Borja and Tupãzinho, and behind only Alex. (12).

It is in the firepower of the duo that the fans bet to overcome the first challenge in the World Cup: to see Palmeiras score a goal.