Where do the best Brazilian players come from?

Arthur Viana, January 25, 2022

The football year here in Brazil starts with the end of the U20s season. This is marked with the S?o Paulo Youth Cup, or how we affectionately call it, “Copinha” (Little Cup). The Copinha is one of the biggest academy football tournaments in the world. It started in 1969, and after 51 editions, it has evolved to what we have today. 128 clubs from all over the country come to the state of S?o Paulo with their best young talents to play for the title. All of these clubs are divided between 32 groups of four, and all of the groups play in a different city. The best two teams from each group go through to the knockout stages, and that’s how it goes until we reach the Final, that always happens on anniversary of the city of S?o Paulo (January 25th), at the Pacaembu Stadium, the municipal stadium of S?o Paulo. This year, however, the Pacaembu going through a remodeling, so the Final between Santos and Palmeiras was held at the Allianz Park, Palmeiras’ home, because they had a better overall campaign and got the right to choose where the game would be held. Palmeiras were crowned champions after demolishing Santos with a big 4 x 0.

This competition is the biggest opportunity for a young player to be seen by big clubs, and it’s so great to see the teams being proud of their academies after a big win. This is like a national Champions League for us, but a U20s Champions League, of course. Almost every great Brazilian player you see in Europe and all around the world have played in the Copinha at least once. Here are some examples: throwing it back for a moment, one of the best right-backs of all time, Cafu, played for S?o Paulo FC in 1988, and although the team didn’t do well in the competition, he still got promoted to the first team the next year. The rest is history. Same with the legendary goalkeepers Dida and Rogério Ceni, who played in 1993. Dida went on to win multiple titles with Milan, while Ceni, who became champion that year, made his career in Brazil, staying 22 years with S?o Paulo FC. For some recent examples, Neymar has played it twice, in 2008 and 2009, the first one being when he was 15 years old. PSG’s centre-back Marquinhos was champion in 2012 with Corinthians. Gabriel Jesus, Manchester City’s striker, played for Palmeiras in 2015 as a 17-year-old, and got the call up next year. In 2022, the name we are all talking about is Palmeiras’ striker Endrick (from the title picture), who’s only 15 years old, and he just couldn’t stop scoring. He scored in the Final, and before that, a bicycle kick from outside the box that really tells you that this boy is different gravy.

Some other great players, like Ronaldinho and Ronaldo never played in the Copinha, because they were too young when they were first promoted to the first team, and after seeing how absurdly talented those guys were, the teams just decided to keep them with the professionals full time.

Anyways, the Copinha is definitely a tournament you should keep your eye on next year. You can see closely some of the greatest talents of Brazilian football, and there’s always a team who surprises everyone. This year, for example, Mirassol from the third national division reached the Quarterfinals winning every game and getting eliminated only on penalties. Oeste, from the fourth division also reached the Quarterfinals but were beaten by Palmeiras.

It's an amazing way to start the year, and I’m always excited to see which team has the best prospects that will shine in the following years. In 2023, make sure to remember to give the Copinha a chance, and see what a few of the best players in the world are made of.