Abel Ferreira and Vítor Pereira have already faced each other in Portugal and Corinthians won

The classic between Palmeiras and Corinthians this Thursday (17), at Allianz Parque, in a delayed match of the 6th round of the Paulista Championship, will put Portuguese coaches Abel Ferreira and Vítor Pereira face to face.

The last time the derby was played with foreign coaches in charge of the rivals was in 1966, when then-Corinthian Filpo Nuñez, Argentinian, faced Palmeirense Fleitas Solich, Paraguayan – a 1-0 Alvinegra victory at Pacaembu, a goal by Dino Sani. .

In this Thursday’s duel, Abel and Pereira will meet for the first time in Brazil, but it will not be the first confrontation in their careers. More than a decade ago, in Portugal, the two dueled in a game of the Portuguese league and also in a classic, but with different functions than they occupy today.

Abel Ferreira was Sporting’s right-back who went to Estádio do Dragão to visit Porto, on April 17, 2011, in a game for the 27th round of the Portuguese Championship. The 2010/2011 season was his last as a player before starting his preparations to become a manager.

On the other side, among the owners of the house, was Vítor Pereira. Unlike Abel, he was off the field, more precisely on the bench. The current captain of Corinthians was assistant to André Villas-Boas, the coach who in that same edition of the league would lead Porto to the Portuguese title.

Sporting, who had an irregular campaign, opened the scoring at Dragão with the Portuguese André Santos, with a deflected kick from outside the area in the 11th minute of the first half. The visitors’ advantage, however, did not last long.

At 26, the Colombian Radamel Falcao García tied with a header. Also with a header, Falcao turned the classic at 5 minutes into the second half.

The Colombian striker was having a spectacular phase in Porto. In the 2010/2011 season, he scored 16 times in 22 Portuguese league games and an impressive 17 goals in 14 appearances in the Europa League (a historic record of the tournament), helping André Villas-Boas’ team to win the national championship titles (this one in unbeaten), of the European competition and also of the Portuguese Cup.

In that multi-champion team were defender Maicon, now at Santos, and striker Hulk, top scorer in the last Brazilian Championship for Atlético-MG, in addition to striker Walter, with spells at Internacional, Fluminense, Goiás and who last weekend, at 32 years, debuted for Amazonas.

Walter even scored Porto’s third goal in the April 2011 victory over Sporting. At 41 minutes of the final stage, Rúben Micael kicked from outside the area, but the ball bounced on the lawn and covered the defense. Walter took it on the first try and kicked hard into Rui Patrício’s corner.

Sporting also discounted soon after, with the Chilean Matías Fernández, at 43, not enough to avoid defeat.

After the conclusion of a perfect season, with three cups, André Villas-Boas left Porto, which paved the way for Vítor Pereira to take charge of the team as head coach.

“The fans can be sure that we will continue our work competently. The club will continue to win and there is still room for the team to improve and evolve”, promised Pereira.

And the new coach kept his promise. In the two seasons in which he commanded the club, he led Porto to the third national championship, a sequence that had started with Villas-Boas. After leaving Portuguese football, Vítor Pereira also won a Chinese Championship and a Chinese Supercup, with Shanghai SIPG, and a Greek Championship and a Greek Cup, with Olympiacos.

Abel Ferreira, on the other hand, took longer than his countryman to win a title as a coach. When he won, however, he came right away with a double in the Copa Libertadores.

After stints in Braga and PAOK, the Portuguese arrived at Palmeiras in November 2020 and has already won two American champion cups, a Copa do Brasil and a Recopa Sudamericana.