The Derby Paulista (English: Derby of São Paulo; Paulista is a gentilic for those born in São Paulo state), also called simply Dérbi, is an association football match between Sport Club Corinthians Paulista and Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras, two traditional football clubs in the city of São Paulo. It is the rivalry between two of the oldest football clubs still active in the city of São Paulo. The Dérbi Paulista is ranked among the ten greatest derbies in the world."Football First 11: Do or die derbies". CNN. Retrieved on 17 July 2011 Journalist Tomás Mazzoni was the one who named the rivalry "O Derby", in reference to the most important horse race in the world, the Epsom Derby.
It is one of the biggest rivalries in world football: CNN considers it the ninth greatest derby in the world, the second in the Americas and the only one in Brazil to be among the main world rivalries."CNN coloca clássico Palmeiras x Timão entre os dez maiores do mundo" Globo Esporte, 23/10/2008 The Football Derbies website has placed The Paulista Derby as the 4th biggest rivalry in the world (and the first in Brazil), now ranked 8th in its world ranking,"FootballDerbies.com" while the Brazilian magazine Trivela ranked it as the second biggest one in Brazil, behind the Grenal."Te odeio, logo existo", Gustavo Hofman, Trivela número 32, outubro de 2008, Trivela Comunicações, pág. 36 Corinthians and Palmeiras have already decided state (Campeonato Paulista), regional (Torneio Rio-São Paulo) and national (Campeonato Brasileiro) level championships, plus a Copa Libertadores semi-finals and quarter-finals. No other Brazilian football rivalry has this many decisive encounters in major tournaments.
The rivalry between fans of the two clubs is also the biggest among the big fans in the state of São Paulo. A Datafolha survey in 2010 showed that 59% of Corinthians fans consider Palmeiras their biggest rival, while 77% of Palmeiras fans in the city consider Corinthians their biggest rival. In February 2017, a Datafolha survey released by the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper showed that the majority of the population in the city of São Paulo continued to consider the derby between Corinthians and Palmeiras as the one with the greatest rivalry in São Paulo. According to the survey, carried out between February 8 and 9, 2017, 35% of respondents rated the Derby Paulista as the biggest rivalry in the State of São Paulo.
The beginning of the rivalry – 1910s and 1920s
Corinthians was founded in 1910, associated with the lower classes of São Paulo society. Its name was inspired by Corinthian FC, from London, which was on a tour in Brazil at the time. Palmeiras was founded in 1914, as the representative of the huge Italian community of São Paulo, with the name Palestra Italia. Their current name, Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras, was adopted in 1942, during the Second World War, by an order of the government.
The first match between Palestra Itália and Corinthians, on May 6, 1917, ended in a 3–0 win for the palestrinos, with three goals scored by the striker Caetano. Two-time champions of the LPF Campeonato Paulista, in 1914 and in 1916, Corinthians had been unbeaten in 25 games for three years. That afternoon, at the Palestra Itália Stadium, Corinthians' streak was ended by the then newcomer, Palestra, which would become their bitterest rivals.
The third match between the two teams was on March 17, 1918. On the day of the game, the players of Palestra Itália passed in front of a pension where the Corinthians players were having lunch. The palestrinos took an ox bone, wrote "Corinthians is chicken soup for Palestra" on it and shot it the refectory. During their match, Palestra took the lead twice, but Corinthians managed to tie the game, which ended 3–3. Since then, Corinthians keeps the bone in their trophy cabinet.
The first Corinthians win in the derby was a 3–0 result, on May 3, 1919, with Américo, Garcia and Roverso scoring at the Estádio da Floresta.
In 1921, Corinthians, Palestra Itália and Paulistano, at the time the most winning team of the season, fought for the state title until the final rounds. In the last round, however, only Corinthians and Paulistano could ended up being the champions. Paulistano beat Sírio 3–2, reached 39 points and took the lead in the competition. Corinthians, with 38 points, had to face Palestra, with 36 points, in the last match of the championship. At that period of football, a win was worth two points, therefore, Corinthians would be the champion in case of a victory. Palestra and Corinthians played on Christmas, at the recently built Parque Antarctica, in a match that ended in a 3–0 win for the palestrinos and gave the title to Paulistano. This match is considered by many the one that consolidated their rivalry.
In 1929, when the Campeonato Paulista was organized by two different associations and Corinthians was champion by APEA, the most traditional of them. In the last round, the alvinegro took advantage of the fact that the palestrinos were playing with only ten players, as Heitor was injured during the match, to win the derby 4–1. This victory was worth the title of the competition, which had Santos as runner-up.
Palestra Itália's largest win in the history of the derby was on November 5, 1933, in a match played at the Palestra Itália Stadium, which was valid simultaneously for the Campeonato Paulista and the Rio-São Paulo Tournament of that year. With four goals by Romeu Pellicciari, one by Gabardo and three by Imparato, the alviverde defeated the alvinegro by a resounding 8–0, the biggest defeat in Corinthians' history. The impact of the thrashing was so huge to Corinthians that it overthrew the then president of club, Alfredo Schurig and caused some Corinthians fans to set fire to the headquarters of the club.
In the 1936 Campeonato Paulista, Corinthians and Palestra Itália made their first final in the history of the derby, as the alvinegro had won the first phase unbeaten and alviverde had won the second phase. The three games were played between April and May 1937. In the first match, at the Palestra Itália Stadium, the palestrinos won 1–0, with Corinthians leaving the field on the 31st minute of the second half, complaining of a foul on their goalkeeper. The second game, at Parque São Jorge, ended in a 0–0 draw. In the third match, at the Palestra Itália Stadium, Palestra won the final 2–1 and took the title.
An unusual fact in the history of the Derby Paulista happened in 1938, that involved São Paulo FC and also the Portuguesa. In early July of that year, just after the 1938 World Cup, a financial crisis made São Paulo create a friendly tournament, called Taça Mündell Júnior, in order to raise money to solve part of their problems. On the occasion, Corinthians and Palmeiras played a match, which was known as the “Jogo das Barricas” ("The barrels' match"). The game ended in a 0–0 draw and the black and white of Parque São Jorge classified due to a highest number of corners. In the final, Corinthians defeated Portuguesa, which eliminated São Paulo in the semifinals. After the tournament, the tricolor rose in the following months and was runner-up of the Campeonato Paulista of that year, also won by Corinthians.
In 1938, the Campeonato Paulista was paralyzed in April for the World Cup that year. As a way to keep the football teams in the state active in an official competition, APEA created the II Campeonato Paulista Extra — the first edition was in 1926 — which ended up being decided between Palestra Itália and Corinthians. The first game of the finals, on 21 August, ended 0–0. In the last and decisive match, on 18 September, Palestra Itália won 2–1, clinching their second title of the competition, in its second edition.
Rivalry in the 1940s In 1940, the newly built Pacaembu Stadium — at the time, the biggest stadium in São Paulo — had its first champion being crowned after a decisive Derby Paulista. Palestra Itália, Corinthians, Atlético Mineiro, and Coritiba participated in the friendly Taça de São Paulo Nacional. After the semifinals, on May 5, both the palestrinos and the corintianos made to the final. With a 2–1 win, Palestra Itália won the first title at the Pacaembu.
In the period of greatest turmoil in the history of Palestra Itália, during the Second World War, when the club was forced to change its name due to the laws of the Vargas Dictatorship against associations that made references to the countries of the Axis, Corinthians was constantly victorious in the derbies. During the transition from Palestra Itália to Palmeiras, the club adopted the name of Palestra de São Paulo, from March to September 1942. In the meantime, they played four times against Corinthians. The first one was 4–1 defeat to the alvinegros, on March 28, in the Quinela de Ouro Tournament. Almost two months later, on May 27, Corinthians thrashed their rivals by the same score, in the Manoel Domingos Corrêa Cup. In the 1942 Campeonato Paulista, Palestra was undefeated in the championship and, on June 28, remained so after drawing their first derby against Corinthians 1–1. Days later, on July 15, for the Taça Cidade de São Paulo, Corinthians thrashed Palestra again, this time by 4–2.
After Palmeiras won its first title in their first game with their current name, defeating São Paulo and winning the 1942 Campeonato Paulista, in a match that became known as the "Arrancada Heroica", they still had to face Corinthians in the last round of the championship. The alvinegros took revenge of their 2–0 loss in the Derby in the last round of the previous year championship, that took away a possible undefeated title from them, as this time it was Corinthians who prevented Palmeiras from being crowned undefeated champions, by beating their rivals 3–1, on October 4, in the first Derby Paulista with the alviverdes current name.
Palmeiras' first win in the Derby under its new name came only on May 23, 1943, in the first round of the 1943 Campeonato Paulista. The alviverde beat alvinegro 2–0, with two goals from midfielder Lima and an attendance of 63,344 people at the Pacaembu.
In 1945, the two rivals came together for a political cause. At the Pacaembu Stadium, Corinthians and Palmeiras played a historic friendly match that aimed to raise funds for the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB). The game ended with in 3–1 Palmeiras win, and that derby was portrayed years later in the book "Palmeiras x Corinthians 1945: O Jogo Vermelho", written by the politician Aldo Rebelo.
The second largest win in the history of the Derby Paulista took place on April 25, 1948. Palmeiras thrashed Corinthians 6–0 at the Pacaembu Stadium, in a match for the Taça Cidade de São Paulo.
The Derby Paulista in the second half of the 20th century The 1951 Torneio Rio-São Paulo was the second major competition that was decided by the two associations. The first leg took place on April 8 and Palmeiras won 3–2. In the second decisive match, on April 11, Palmeiras won again, this time by 3–1, with an attendance of 54,465 people at the Pacaembu. Jair Rosa Pinto (twice) and Aquiles scored for the Verdão, while Luizinho scored Corinthians' only goal.
The derby on January 18, 1953, was the match with most total goals in the history of the Dérbi Paulista. Corinthians defeated Palmeiras 6–4 in a Campeonato Paulista match at the Pacaembu Stadium. Cláudio, the all-time top scorer of the Dérbi, scored a hat-trick in that game, that was also the one in which the alvinegros scored more goals against their rivals.