[Photo Credit: santosfc.com.br]
The result was far from surprising. Despite the efforts of Santos’s players and coach to convince fans otherwise, everyone knew that the club’s sixteen game unbeaten run was an illusory standard to hold up. Santos in its current state is a shadow of a team, and Corinthians exposed that in stark detail. O Timão should have put the game away in just the first half alone. However, poor finishing and more heroics from Rafael saved Santos from humiliation. Inexplicably, Neymar and co. escaped from the Pacaembu with a respectable 2x1 defeat. Hope lives, but perhaps only in its Nietzschean form. Santos has a monumental task to overcome next week at the Vila Belmiro.
That is the only possible explanation for Santos continuing to go unbeaten despite playing like a drunkards week in and week out. Another soporific, undeserved win extended the club’s unbeaten streak This time it was over Joinville in the Copa do Brasil. Santos should have lost, but a goal from Durval from a set piece taken by Marcos Assuncão put Santos in the driver’s seat ahead of the second leg.
[Photo Credit: lancenet.com.br]
The quarterfinal against Palmeiras was a game Santos should have won in ninety minutes. Instead, a late equalizer meant the team had to progress after a penalty shootout. The shoe was on the other foot in the semifinal against Mogi Mirim. The home side dominated the encounter, and should have put Santos to bed long before Edu Dracena’s late leveler. Once again penalties were needed, and, once again, Rafael played the part of the hero. His saves sent Santos advanced to a fifth consecutive Paulistão final. The dream of the tetra lives on.
It was a nail-biting end to the first quarterfinal of the 2013 Paulistão. When the smoke of the penalty shoot-out cleared, it was Palmeiras who wore the mantle of despondency as Santos advanced to the semifinals. Rafael was the name on everyone’s lips after his two penalty saves, but he shouldn’t have even had the chance to be the hero. Santos had enough opportunities to put the game away in normal time and cruise into the last four.This worrying profligacy must be corrected if the road to a fourth consecutive title is to continue.
[Photo Credit: santosfc.com.br]
It may just be a coincidence, but since the “Esse Time Não Me Representa” campaign, there has been a new spring in Santos’s step when the team takes the pitch. The third occurrence of this phenomena was on display in the Vila Belmiro on Sunday. Goals from André and Cicero gave Santos a win over Penapolense, but the performance still left much to be desired. Energy was just one component that was missing this year. There are still others to find.