Santos Futebol Clube racked up consecutive Brazilian titles for the first time since the good old days of the 1960s as Robinho Lazaró and his team of talented youngsters again pipped Palmeiras to the Serie A crown. That saw them claim a third title in four years and move up to become the fourth-most reputable team in South America, behind River Plate, Palmeiras and Corinthians.
However, their good form triggered interest from Europe’s big boys. The first to go was last season’s star man Lisandro Machado, whose £19.75m minimum fee release was triggered by several teams and he chose Bayern. But that deal paled into insignificance as a bidding war heated up for Paraguayan goalkeeper Carlos García. Lazaró reluctantly accepted a £55m bid from Arsenal, which exceeded the club record £50.5m they received for Neymar in 2016. Chelsea then came in with £60m so Lazaró rejected the offer from Arsenal, who then agreed to a staggering new national record £80m plus a 20% profit. García is undoubtedly good, but £80m seems extreme!
That put the pressure on Lazaró to find a replacement, which proved really challenging. His young goalkeepers were nowhere near good enough and there seemed to be a general lack of promising talent around South America, despite constant scouting. But he eventually found a promising goalkeeper in the unlikely location of South Africa, bringing in 20-year-old Michael Mthimkulu for just £600k from Mamelodi Sundowns. According to a comparison, he’s not much worse than García, who has the edge on distribution, command of area and communication, but Mthimkulu is a better shot-stopper and has 20 determination, so this looked like a good deal considering he cost £79.4m less!
Lazaró of course stuck with the narrow 4-3-3 that had won him multiple titles. However, he was beginning to have question marks over the likes of Luiz Fernando and wanted to give more chances to youngsters like striker José Mário and midfielder Richard Gomes Filho.
Seeking 3 In A Row
Santos began 2032 with more silverware by defeating Atlético Mineiro 2-0 in the Supercopa do Brasil. Mthimkulu made his debut in a state championship game at home to rivals Palmeiras, making a couple of decent saves as midfielders Gabriel and Charles and centre back Glaudestony Penchel earned a 3-1 victory. Mário scored twice at Sao Paulo to secure a 5-4 aggregate win and tee up another Final against Corinthians and, with 8 players on international duty, they lost 1-0 at home and drew 3-3 away. That means Santos have lost 3 successive finals and won 0 out of 4 during Lazaró’s reign.
Santos remained 3rd favourites for Série A at 9/2, behind Palmeiras and Corinthians (7/5 and 4/1). They began well as Gomes Filho scored both in a 2-0 win at Botafogo but dropped a few points before a shock 5-1 defeat at home to Paranaense and a 1-0 loss at Coritiba. Dimitri’s goal got them back on track in a wasteful performance at home to Goianiense, in which they had 23 shots to 1, before Rafinha, Gomes Filho and Marcos Aurélio nicked three more 1-0s against Bahia, Vasco and Sao Paulo. The latter was the most important as Aurélio surpassed Thierry Henry’s record league goals tally.
Gomes Filho announced himself with the only goal at home to an injury-hit Palmeiras. But Brazil’s Copa América campaign (read part 10 on Wednesday to find out how that goes) decimated the Santos squad. An inexperienced side lost at home to Corinthians, Botafogo and Fortaleza and at Cruzeiro but put in great performances to beat Flamengo 3-1, with goals by Luiz Fernando, Mário and promising Colombian midfielder Deivick Trivino, and Fortaleza 3-0 away.
Favourable Copa Libertadores Draws
Santos got an easy group alongside Bolivia’s The Strongest, Uruguay’s Defensor Sporting and Venezuela’s Caracas. They set the tone with Aurélio and striker Nílton braces earning a 5-0 win in Bolivia before Gomes Filho’s first senior goal and Mário defeated Defensor 2-0 and Lucas Rosado’s brace led a 4-1 win over Caracas. A 2-0 win at Defensor secured the group with 2 games remaining so Lazaró rotated, which saw Dimitri bag 4 in an 8-2 hammering of The Strongest before a 4-0 win in Venezuela.
The favourable draws continued as Santos got Paraguayan side Libertad in the 2nd round. A slightly rotated team won 2-1 in Paraguay a week after Copa América before annihilating them 8-0 at home led by Carlos Filho and Nílton braces. They played América de Cali in the quarters and Gomes Filho and Marcelo Pereira goals earned a wasteful 2-1 in Colombia. But they were again dominant at home as Luiz Fernando’s smart finish got them going, Aurélio tucked away a penalty and headed another and exciting youngster Bibi scored his first 2 senior goals.
The semis served up yet another clash with rivals and holders Palmeiras. The away leg was up first and Santos should have been ahead as Aurélio missed a sitter after 5 minutes. They had the better of the game but couldn’t find a way through and settled for a 0-0. Palmeiras scored their first shot in the second leg, but the exciting Bibi validated Lazaó’s decision to throw him in for the big game with a lovely finish from 20 yards. Palmeiras had the best of the game, but the sides cancelled each other and it went straight to penalties.
Mthimkulu got down low to his right to brilliantly save Palmeiras’ first penalty, Aurélio and the unflappable Bibi converted before Mthimkulu saved Palmeiras’ third. Centre back Lucio Mino smashed one over the bar, Palmeiras smacked one down the middle and Gomes Filho calmly tucked into the top corner. That gave Mthimkulu the chance to cement hero status… and he did, saving a third penalty of the shootout to send Santos into the Copa Libertadores Final!
Outside Title Hopes
The internationals returned with Santos in 4th place, 9 points behind Corinthians after 20 games. They fired Santos back into form, taking them into the final 10 games comfortably in 3rd but trailing Palmeiras by 6 points. Bibi scored twice in a 3-0 win at home to Vasco before Nílton and Gomes Filho inspired a 3-2 win at Bragantino, which moved them ahead of Corinthians but 6 points back from Palmeiras. And they never looked like getting close to their rivals, especially as they lost to Palmeiras, Flamengo and Corinthians in the final few games.
Palmeiras ended up winning a record-extending 17th title by 12 points with an impressive total of 90. Santos finished on 78 points after 24, wins, 6 draws and 8 defeats, which was as many losses as the last two title-winning seasons combined. They scored 74, which was 17 fewer than last season, and conceded 34. And Mthimkulu was the only top-ranked player with 13 clean sheets.
Copa Libertadores Final
The excitement around Santos was palpable for weeks as Lazaró and his young charges edged towards their first Copa Libertadores Final at Estadio Deportivo Cali, in Colombia. Lazaró was expecting to see perennial finalists River Plate standing in their way, but River’s six-year streak was ended by fellow Argentinian side Independiente in the semis. Santos were appearing in their first final since winning the tournament for the 3rd time in 2011. Independiente were in their first since winning their all-time record 7th in 1984.
Lazaró was without the suspended Rosado for the big game but had a clean bill of health, so he selected 7 academy products to start and 8 more on the bench for the biggest match of their lives, lining up:
Mthimkulu; Rafinha, Penchel, Mino, Passos; Gabriel, Forcato; Charles; Fernando, Dimitri, Aurélio
Subs: Mário, Hugo, Farias, Alison, Nílton, Pereira, G Santos, F Santos, Gomes Filho, Trivino, Bibi, Vergueiro
Santos were on the front foot straight from the kickoff as Fernando teed up Gabriel, but his shot was well saved. Independiente immediately went close and Dimitri smacked a 25-yarder off the bar on 8 minutes. And Santos soon mad their bright start count as a brilliant passing move ended up with Mino playing Matheus Forcato in on the left and his floated cross found Aurélio to power home a header at the back stick. Dimitri was struggling and Aurélio got injured so Lazaró threw on his two exciting talents Bibi and Gomes Filho, and they helped to kill the game off in a dire second half.
Santos won Copa Libertadores and were Champions of South America!
Lazaró Honoured As A Santos Legend
Lazaró’s successes at Santos saw him installed as a club legend by the fans. Not only that, he surpassed the great Pelé as the most legendary figure in Santos history. And Rafinha and Rosado join Aurélio as favoured personnel.
Aurélio again led the way with 33 goals plus 10 assists in 49 games, but the star of the season was arguably Luiz Fernando, who Lazaró had been losing faith in but restored it as he scored 18 with 13 assists. Other top performers were Nílton (15 goals and 8 assists), Dimitri (14 goals and 10 assists), Charles (10 goals and 12 assists), Pereira (12 goals and 9 assists), Gomes Filho (11 goals and 5 assists), Gonzalo Santos (14 assists) and Passos (11 assists).
Dimitri still leads the Ginga rating on 79 followed by Pereira on 77 and Charles on 75, but we’re still nowhere near developing a Neymar or Pelé-esque talent worthy of the esteemed 90 rating. Check out all the players’ stats and ratings by clicking the chart below:
Santos’ youth academy apparently surpassed Man City and Barcelona and was now ranked 2nd only to Palmeiras, with Flamengo in 5th. However, they had another poor youth intake that only delivered a 3.5-star prospect.
Despite his board being “disappointed” by finishing 2nd in Série A, Lazaró was delighted with his 9th season at Santos as they finished 2nd to an impressive Palmeiras and finally tasted Libertadores glory. The only concern he had was the quality of youngsters coming through recent youth intakes, despite their supposed great youth academy. But he was excited to keep developing his young side.
Could Santos reclaim the Brazilian title and perhaps win a first state championship of Lazaró’s reign? Join us next Monday to find out!
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