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Palmeiras and Água Santa played the first leg of Paulista’s final last Sunday, April 2nd, and the fans got impressed with Água Santa’s win. Especially, because Palmeiras is one of the most unbeatable teams in South America these last seasons. But the club from Diadema city made history winning the second biggest winner of the competition, and, even though the championship is not over yet, they are not the only countryside club that could ever win it. Here are some of the most unexpected teams that recently won this title:
Internacional de Limeira (1986)
Internacional de Limeira won their one and only Paulista title in 1986, commanded by Santos idol, Pepe. The club did an amazing competition, occupying the first position with the best championship campaign. Eliminating big clubs like Santos in the semi-finals and beating Palmeiras in the final, Inter became the first countryside club to win this competition.
Bragantino (1990)
Four years after Inter won it for the first time, Bragantino and Novorizontino played in the final, two clubs from the countryside. Bragança’s club got the trophy after two draws, and, in this case, the title would stay with the team that had the best championship campaign. This title was extremely important to put Vanderlei Luxemburgo on the top of the list of managers commanding Brazilian teams, besides the fact that Bragantino would soon become a big power in São Paulo.
Ituano (2002 e 2014)
In 2002, the four biggest clubs were playing another championship, the Rio-São Paulo, while Paulista was happening. Ituano took advantage of it and won the title for the first time, and they made history again in 2014 eliminating Palmeiras in the semi-finals and beating Santos in the final, becoming a two-times champion. In 2023 the club also cut Corinthians off the semi-finals, becoming a very hard club to beat and the last countryside club to win the competition.
São Caetano (2004)
Commanded by the historic player and manager Muricy Ramalho, São Caetano won the championship after beating big clubs, including São Paulo – the best team of the competition that year – and Santos. The game between São Caetano and Paulista, was the first countryside final since Bragantino X Novorizontino. After losing a lot of finals, including one against Olímpia in Libertadores, the fans could finally celebrate.
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The article above was edited by Ana Beatriz Aith.
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