São Bernardo reaches the quarterfinals facing the big ones – 03/10/2023 – Sport

Lucas Andrino, 38, does not make a signing for São Bernardo before filling in all the gaps in the worksheets in which he registers technical and personal information of those he intends to take to the club.

Players, technical committee members and employees from all departments need to undergo an evaluation by the CEO who has been in charge of the ABC Paulista team since 2019, when the club was transformed into a company. Currently, who takes care of the team is a SAF (Sociedade Anônima do Futebol).

“The behavioral part of professionals is directly linked to success in sports”, he says to Sheet. “That’s why I always look for as much information as possible. If it’s an athlete, I talk to his last three clubs to find out if he’s a guy who respects conduct, if he’s a family member, who has a good relationship on the day to day.”

It is also essential that candidates are aligned with the medium and long-term plans of the team, which, in addition to being in the quarterfinals of the Paulista Championship, will compete for the first time in the Brazilian Championship Series C. A quick rise for a team that won the Paulista Series A2 in 2021.

This Saturday (11), the Grande SP team faces Palmeiras, at Allianz Parque, at 7 pm, in search of a place in the semifinal of the State Championship —Paulistão Play, Premier and YouTube broadcast the confrontation.

In the first phase of the tournament, the squad led by coach Márcio Zanardi had 26 points, with eight wins, two draws and two defeats. With 21 goals scored —four of them scored by midfielder Vitinho, 32, the team’s top scorer—, it has the second best attack, behind São Paulo, with 23.

In his first job in a professional team, the coach who accumulates jobs at the base of teams like Santos, Guarani, Portuguesa and Corinthians, led São Bernardo to the second best overall campaign in the State, behind only Palmeiras, the only big one that hasn’t yet faced in this edition –due to the fact that the two are in the same group.

Against Corinthians, São Paulo and Santos, São Bernardo showed its strength. He defeated the two from the capital and tied with the opponent from Baixada Santista.

The good performances made the rivals look more closely at the players of the ABC team. Striker Chrystian Barletta, 21, for example, has advanced negotiations with Corinthians and should seal his move to the Parque São Jorge club after Paulista.

“I am happy with this type of demand because it is a sign that we have assembled a good squad”, says Andrino, according to which the budget for this year is R$ 12 million, an amount that includes all expenses, including the squad — for comparison purposes, only with revenues, Palmeiras estimates to add R$ 704 million.

Four years ago, before being bought by the Magnum Group, the club founded in 2004 was experiencing a “chaotic” situation, as defined by the director.

“It didn’t have any structure, neither physical nor human. We had to do everything from scratch. On the one hand, that was good because we can fully implement our way of working”, he says.

That was the wish of Roberto Graziano, owner of Magnum, who also invested in Guarani football. “He wanted a club that had 100% of the decision-making power”, says the CEO.

Before the acquisition of the ABC team, they even considered buying Londrina, but the proximity to São Paulo, the chance to play for the Paulista elite and the fact that the debt was considered remediable made the São Paulo club chosen.

In addition to investing in hiring players and other professionals, it was also necessary to find a training center for the squad. “The previous owner warned us about this,” recalls Andrino.

The option found was to train outside the city, in Atibaia, on a property owned by former Corinthians player Marcelinho Carioca. “There, in addition to having a good structure, we are very close to the ABC, it’s about 50 minutes from here”, explains the director.

According to him, São Bernardo will soon have its own CT. The club awaits approval from the city hall to start construction on land in the city. The process will be carried out in three phases, the first of which is expected to end at the end of 2024, when the professional squad will be able to train there.

Until then, the main goal of the team is to win a place in Serie B of the Brazilian Championship. The football presented at Paulista accredits the club to dream about it.