Felipe Canavan Analyzes Team & Ituano Duel – ST Exclusive

Fluminense beat Reference this Tuesday (13) and advanced to the second knockout phase of Copinha 2026. The kids from Xerém drew 1-1 in regulation time and beat the São Paulo team on penalties. During the match, the tricolor had a dominant performance in the first half but ended up falling in performance during the second half. In an exclusive interview with our reporter Pedro Ribeiro, coach Felipe Canavan analyzed the team’s performance and commented on this drop in performance.

“Our challenge is to be as regular as possible. I agree that the first half was much better. We managed to impose our rhythm of the game and exploit what we knew would be important, but the drop in performance in the second half has a lot to do with the physical wear and tear on the players, because it is a competition in which we have a very short blanket. The athletes only had one day to recover from the match against Esfera, which also has a great impact on performance. Obviously we tried to renew our legs and breath with the changes, but it is not The game is very mental. We know that oscillation, unfortunately, is part of it, but we will try to be balanced and give the boys the confidence they need to seek greater regularity in the next phase”, said Felipe Canavan.

In the next phase, Fluminense will face the 2024 Copinha winner, Ituano. The coach of the kids from Xerém commented on the difficulty of this match against the team from São Paulo. Itu’s team has been impressive, having great campaigns in the competition in recent years.

“Ituano-SP is a super organized club, which has a very solid and relevant work in the state of São Paulo, always revealing good players, with a competitive professional team. We had the opportunity to watch one of their games on site, there in Embu das Artes (ES), and we know it will be a difficult duel, against a very qualified team. In the Copa São Paulo there is no easy confrontation. We need to be as recovered as possible to continue evolving game by game. I have told the players a lot that we need to advance in terms of performance. I am satisfied because I have seen our evolution throughout the campaign. For most of the time, we were a much better Fluminense team than Água Santa-SP, in the first round. I hope that, against Ituano, we will be even better than what we saw here against Reference.

With classification guaranteed in the next phase, there is a possibility that the kids from Xerém will have to change cities to face Ituano. The São Paulo team had a higher classification than the tricolor in the first phase, but it has not yet been made official by the competition. Felipe Canavan spoke about this possible change of city.

“It’s very difficult to predict. I hope not, because it’s a unique game and we need to compete wherever it is, but it won’t be a surprise. We know that the Copa São Paulo has its nuances, and the change of venue, at some point, will happen. We have to be prepared. If we move to Embu das Artes (SP), in the next phase, we will find a natural grass field, but much smaller than the one where we played the entire first phase and against Reference-SP. Which, without a doubt, conditions dynamics within the match. On the other hand On the other hand, we cannot imagine that it will be a major factor in us failing to compete at a good level. I hope that, if that is the case, the team will be able to adapt quickly.”