Ivo10 Brazil Football Academy makes history by participating in Copinha 2022 just 10 months after starting activities in Teutônia

17/01/2022
Juan Reol

Less than a year after the start of activities in Brazil, the Ivo10 Brazil Football Academy unit in Teutônia, a city located in Vale do Taquari, in Rio Grande do Sul - Brazil, took another big step in its still early history: participating in the edition of 2022 of the Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior, the biggest event bringing together grassroots teams in the country and considered the biggest in the world. The team played in the three games of the first phase of the competition between the 3rd and 9th of January.

On May 10, 2021, when Ivo10 Brazil took its first “kick” in Brazilian lands - the project started in May 2020, in Macau, in southern China -, not even the most optimistic imagined that, just over 10 months later, representatives from Teutônia (RS) would be on the screens of the main sports channel in the country, playing against great Brazilian teams in a competition the size of the Copa São Paulo.

Ivo10 Brazil entered the competition through a partnership with Mixto Esporte Clube, from Cuiabá (MT). Holder of the vacancy by winning, after 16 years, the U-19 Mato-Grossense 2021 Championship, the “alvinegro cuiabano” needed support to play in Copinha 2022. Through businessman César Soler, from CSR Sports - co-founder of Ivo10 alongside Ivo and William Gomes, from Macau -, working together became possible.

About two months before the start of the Copa São Paulo, the pre-season began at the Ivo10 Brazil Training Center, in the Languiru neighborhood, in Teutônia (RS). The home team entered the partnership with the staff, work methodology, structure and 17 athletes from the region and others who arrived at the project through CSR Sports from São Paulo (SP). Mixto-MT, in addition to the shirt and the vacancy, selected its best Under-20 players and sent them to the South: 13 in all.

The 30 athletes, born between 2006 and 2001, that is, between 15 and 20 years old, started the pre-season in mid-October. In charge of the work, coach Serginho Almeida, from the Sub-17 of Ivo10 Brazil. As a technical assistant, Henrique Schwarzer, from Under-15. Rounding out the list of professionals are the executive football director, João Roberto Bandeira, the executive football manager, Rafael Lima Bandeira, the physical trainer Caíto Kunrath, the goalkeeper trainer Cristian Eidelwein, the football supervisor Gustavo Fell and the technical coordinators Renan Weber and Ferdinando Leda.

On January 1, 2022, at lunchtime, the dream of playing in the biggest U-teams championship in Brazil became a reality. The delegation, by bus, headed to Jaú (SP), headquarters of Grupo 10 and where the partnership Mixto Esporte Clube / Ivo10 Brazil Football Academy / CSR Sports played the games of the first phase. The trip took about 24 hours.

Mixto-MT was drawn in Group 10 of Copinha alongside difficult teams. Grêmio-RS, runner-up in 2020, the last year of the competition before the stop due to the Covid-19 pandemic; XV de Jaú-SP, a traditional team from São Paulo and local team, with a lot of support from the fans; and Castanhal-PA, a team from Pará with a strong investor and with young people at the age limit for competition and who had come from two years of many competitions, including the main ones in its state.

Mixto Ivo10 Brazil debuted on January 3, against Grêmio-RS. Even facing a superior team together and in good rapport, the boys from Cuiabá (MT) and Teutônia (RS) managed to equalize the forces in most of the match, receiving praise from those who watched in the stadium and on television, mainly from the commentators. Grêmio's goals, in the 42nd minute of the first half and in the 50th of the final stage, a 2-0 that did not live up to the confrontation, which deserved another final result.

On January 6, clash against the owners of the “house”. XV de Jaú-SP, who lost 1-0 in their debut to Castanhal-PA, wanted to show their value to their fans and came with everything to top Mixto Ivo10 Brazil. The final result, 0-0, showed again that the partnership, even with much less training time, was paying off. The first point scored by a team from Vale do Taquari in the history of football in that region of Rio Grande do Sul. A moment to remember.

The last game valid for the first phase of Group 10 of Copinha 2022 for Mixto Ivo10 Brazil took place on January 9th. The opponent was Castanhal-PA, which came from a victory over XV de Jaú-SP and defeat to Grêmio-RS. A triumph over the team of Pará was enough for the boys from Cuiabá (MT) and Teutônia (RS) to go ahead in the competition. The same was true for opponents.

In its fifth participation in the Copa São Paulo, Mixto-MT had advanced to next phase only once, in 2001. Ivo10 Brazil, on the other hand, would continue making history, debuting in the most disputed grassroots competition in the world already with a classification. The anxiety of a younger team against experienced athletes weighed on the “decision”, interrupting the pursuit of a dream. After a balanced first half, in which Castanhal-PA found the goal after a penalty in the 22nd minute, Ivo10 Brazil accepted the opposing pressure and, even before the 10th minute of the final stage, the team of Pará had already extended the score to 3-0.

Vini Alemão, top scorer for Ivo10 Brazil in 2021 with 12 goals and with the Under-15 and Under-17 titles of the Campeonato Liga Serrana 2020 - he was the winning goal in the grand final of the Under-15 - and Under-17 Campeonato Liga Serrana 2021 in the bag, scored the first goal in the history of Ivo10 Brazil in a Copa São Paulo dispute. In extra time in the second half, after a beautiful move by Gustavo Bigode on the left, he appeared between the defenders to send it to the back of the net. The final result of 3 to 1 was not what was planned, but it was the possible of a project of little more than 10 months that has a lot to show for the next years.

The executive director of football at Ivo10 Brazil Football Academy, João Roberto Bandeira, spoke about the historic participation of the team from Teutônia (RS) in the Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior. “Our expectation was to go against logic and not only be pioneers in the region in participating in the largest U-aged competition in the world, but advance in the phase. Unfortunately it was not possible, but the satisfaction for learning remains and the certainty that the experience gained will serve as a basis for future editions”, he summarized.

Serginho Almeida also analyzed the Mixto Ivo10 Brazil team at Copinha 2022. Ivo10 Brazil Under-17 coach since May 10, 2021, he knows well the youngsters who represented Vale do Taquari in the competition. In addition, for almost two months, he worked daily, in two periods, with the entire group, including the athletes who arrived from Cuiabá (MT).

“We were very happy to participate in the Copa São Paulo, the highest level competition in the youth championship in Brazil. We competed with our Under-17 team from Ivo10 Brazil in addition to the athletes who arrived from Mixto-MT, most of them with 19 and 20 years old. Very cool to have identified their quality, daring, courage in a competition with teams formed by 20 and 21 year old athletes, and ours, juveniles acting as equals”, Almeida began.

And he continued: “In the first game, against Grêmio-RS, it was very interesting to see our technical quality and courage on the field. And the intensity of the game, working with transition, reaching the opponent's goal at all times in the second half. Even with a bad result, it was a good debut. In the following matches, against XV de Jaú-SP and Castanhal-PA, we didn't get the classification because the boys were discovering themselves in terms of strength, using their bodies, ball time, a lot of things that, in football, are as you learn. But we were happy to see the courage, to see the daring and technical quality that these boys have. We know that we are going to reap many fruits, because they are good players, they are very interesting boys and Ivo10 was not ashamed of anything, on the contrary, it was a pride for all of us to see that the work was well done. It was really cool”, concluded coach Serginho Almeida.

The post-holiday presentation of the Ivo10 Brazil Football Academy is scheduled for February 7th. The Under-17 and Under-15 teams, commanded by Serginho Almeida and Henrique Schwarzer, respectively, start preparing for the challenges of the season, mainly the competitions of the Liga Serrana Championship - in search of the third championship - and of Gauchão Noligafi, at Centro de Ivo10 Brazil training, in the Languiru neighborhood, in Teutônia (RS).