Sereias da Vila: two-time champions of South America

Guilherme Guarche, Memory Center

On October 17, 2010, a Sunday, the Sereias da Vila took Santos to the pinnacle of South American football for the second time. Champions of the inaugural Women’s Copa Libertadores in 2009, led by Queen Marta, the Sereias entered the 2010 tournament as favorites once again. The world’s best player had already left the club, but the core of the team remained intact, with prolific striker Cristiane and midfielder Maurine as its standout players.

The Sereias felt right at home playing at Arena Barueri, the tournament’s venue. In the first round, they played four matches and claimed four victories. Their toughest match ended in a 2–0 win over Venezuela’s Caracas. Their biggest victims, Uruguay’s River Plate, suffered a crushing 9–0 defeat. Colombian side Formas Íntimas lost 4–0, and Santos rounded off the first round by thrashing Ecuador’s Deportivo Quito 7–0. They scored 22 goals without conceding, averaging 5.5 goals per game.

In the semifinal, the Sereias da Vila faced one of Santos’s historic rivals: the storied Boca Juniors. In a difficult match, Maurine, who had inherited Queen Marta’s number 10 shirt, opened the scoring in the 74th minute with a beautiful free kick. Four minutes later, Suzana made it 2–0, sealing their place in the final.

For the final against Chile’s Everton, coach Kleiton Lima fielded Andréia Suntaque, Aline Pellegrino, Thorunn (later replaced by Suzana) and Renata Costa; Ester, Maurine, Thais and Joice (Dani); Pikena (Beatriz), Grazi and Cristiane. Everton, coached by Mario Vela, lined up with Endler, Galaz, Bravo, Sisterras and Saez; Quintana, Pardo (Vidal), Galeano and Salgado (Morales); Torres and Villamayor (Arias). Uruguay’s Claudia Unpierrez refereed the match.

As expected, it was a tough contest with few scoring opportunities, particularly in the first half. The clearest chance came in the 30th minute, when Thaís struck a powerful shot from near the edge of the penalty area. Chilean goalkeeper Endler reacted well, palming it away for a corner.

After the break, the Santos coach made two changes: he brought on center-forward Suzana for defender Thorunn and swapped fullbacks, replacing Joice with Dani Silva.

Santos enjoyed more possession, trying every possible way to break the deadlock, but the well-organized Chilean defense made it difficult for their attack to advance. Another opportunity arose in the 89th minute, when Suzana was fouled on the edge of the penalty area.

Three players stepped up to take the free kick: Dani Silva, Éster and Maurine. The latter, the team’s number 10, had already scored from a free kick in the semifinal and looked confident as she prepared to take it. With exquisite technique, Maurine chose placement over power and curled the ball into the right-hand corner of Endler’s goal. Overcome with emotion, she then ran to embrace coach Kleiton Lima and celebrate their second consecutive Copa Libertadores title.

In all, they claimed six wins from six matches, scoring 25 goals without conceding. To achieve this feat, the Santos coach used 19 players: Alline Pelegrino (captain), Andréia Suntaque, Beatriz, Carol Arruda, Cristiane, Dani Silva, Erikinha, Éster, Grazi, Janaína, Joice, Karen, Maurine, Pikena, Renata Costa, Sandrinha, Suzana, Thaís and Thorunn. With seven goals apiece, Cristiane and Grazi were Santos’s leading scorers in their unstoppable title-winning campaign.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.