Corinthians and Cruzeiro decide Junior Cup – 01/24/2024 – Sport

The biggest winner in the history of the São Paulo Junior Football Cup, Corinthians will have the chance this Thursday (25) to expand their hegemony in the competition. In its 19th decision, the Parque São Jorge club will fight for its 11th trophy.

To do so, former midfielder Danilo’s men will have to overcome Cruzeiro, 2007 champion and twice runner-up in the competition, in 1996 and 2002.

The clash that will define the winner of the 2024 edition of Copinha will be at 3:30 pm, at the Neo Química Arena, in Itaquera, home of the Corinthians team. The location was chosen because Pacaembu, traditionally the stage for the tournament’s decision, is still undergoing renovations. Globo, SporTV and CazéTV will broadcast the duel.

In addition to the history and the fact of playing in front of their fans, Corinthians takes to the final the excitement resulting from the great performance in the semifinal match, against Novorizontino, a 3-0 victory.

On that occasion, the highlight was striker Arthur Sousa, who scored the three goals. At 20 years old, the boy has a record as a top scorer, with 48 goals in 106 games for the under-20 team. In this year’s Copinha, the young man scored four times.

He is tipped to join Mano Menezes’ squad right after the Copinha dispute. The coach of the professional team avoids talking about which sectors of his squad are most lacking at the moment, but he does not deny that reinforcing the offensive part is one of his priorities, especially in the search for a player to shadow Yuri Alberto.

In addition to him, midfielder Pedrinho, 20, Corinthians’ top scorer in the Copa São Paulo, with six goals, is another with a good chance of being used in the professional team.

The duo was fundamental for the Parque São Jorge club to have an undefeated campaign until the decision.

Corinthians went through the first phase of the championship without losing, with two victories, over Bangu (1-0) and Ji-Paraná (6-0), and a draw, with Marília (0-0). Then, in the knockout phase, they went through Guarani, Atlético Goianiense, CRB, América-MG and Novorizontino.

Cruzeiro led Group 28, also with two victories, over Capital (1-0) and União Mogi (9-0), and a draw, with Nova Mutum (1-1). Then, he dispatched Madureira, Portuguesa, Santos, Coritiba and Flamengo.

In the event of a Corinthians title, the state of São Paulo will also expand its hegemony in the competition. The federation currently has 32 titles, in addition to 38 runners-up. In second place comes Rio de Janeiro, with 10 trophies and 5 runners-up. Minas Gerais completes the top 3, with 5 wins and 4 runners-up.