Fate wanted it that precisely in the week when he plays his last game with the Palmeiras jersey, this Thursday (30), against San Lorenzo-ARG, at Allianz Parque, for the Copa Libertadores, Endrick manages to relive the date of his debut for the club’s youth categories, when he was serving the under-11s.
The forward played his first game with the Palmeiras shirt on May 28, 2017, in a 6-1 victory over Guarani, in the São Paulo Youth Championship. He also scored his first goal, in a match played at the Academia de Futebol II, in Guarulhos.
The official match report, provided by Palmeiras, indicates that the match took place at 9am, on that Sunday. Endrick, wearing the number 11 shirt, opened the scoring of the rout. The other goals were scored by left-back Pedro Almeida and forward Luighi, with two goals each, and center-back Nickollas Silva.
At the end of the first half, which ended 5-1, Endrick gave what was his first on-field interview, for the then Sports Show channel, which covered youth games at the time, and showed a spirit of group by talking about a possible participation of the substitutes in the final stage.
“Very good score here in the first half, in the second the substitutes can come in to score more goals, and what I said in the first (time) there, where we were training, better to win the first victory here in the first round, to arrive in the last one already qualified and go to the final, if God wills.”
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Palmeiras went on to win the category title a few months later, in November, beating Santos 1-0 in the final at Allianz Parque. The goal? His: Endrick, who wore the number 8 shirt in the final.
“It seems like a long time, but sometimes it also seems like a short time, for the fan, because in the youth teams they don’t always follow, and the boys come and go every year, but for me it’s practically my life. Since I saw myself as a player for the first time, I’ve always been a Palmeiras player. It’s like a marriage, and you have to celebrate every year,” said Endrick now.
Among the players listed and who are now in the professional team, the midfielder Luis Guilherme, wearing the number 10 shirt, and the center-back Vitor Reis, who despite still belonging to the under-20s, trains with the first team. The number 9 and captain of that game was the forward Luighi Hanri, who turned 18 this year and is also seen as one of the club’s great promises, collecting dozens of titles in the youth teams and, in November last year, making his debut for the Brazilian National Team at the U-17 World Cup.
According to official Palmeiras data, Endrick joined the club in January 2017 at just 10 years old. Despite his young age, the boy soon stood out for his technical quality and ease in scoring goals, winning two important titles for the Under-11s: the São Paulo State Championship and the Bellmare Cup (Japan).
In the following years, he continued to stand out in other categories and won more trophies, such as the Brazilian Under-20 Championship and the Under-17 Brazilian Cup (2022); São Paulo State Under-13, Under-15 (twice) and Under-20; Nike Premier Cup Under-15; Mito HollyHock Cup Under-13 (Japan); Taça Brasil de Campo Bom Under-13; Copa Ouro Under-13 and Copa São Ludgero Under-13, in addition to the Torneio de Montaigu Under-17 for the Brazilian National Team.
Still in the youth teams, when he was only 15 years old, Endrick became known worldwide after being one of the main names of Palmeiras in the historic conquest of the São Paulo Junior Football Cup, in 2022. He was the top scorer of the competition with six goals in seven games. In total, the boy has 188 matches and 161 goals for Palmeiras’ youth categories, including games for Under-11, Under-13, Under-15, Under-17 and Under-20 – this count includes official and friendly matches. Considering only official games, there are 121 matches and 86 goals.
When making his professional debut against Coritiba, at 16 years, 2 months and 15 days, Endrick became the youngest player to ever play for Palmeiras, surpassing Rodrigo Taddei, who took the field for the club at 16 years, 3 months and 5 days (Botafogo-RJ 1-1 Palmeiras, on 06/11/1996).
The rest is history.
Remembering Zagallo
Sambafoot Series launched a new documentary about the football legend Zagallo. Known as ‘Velho Lobo‘ and as superstitious as it gets, Zagallo helped shape what Brazilian football is nowadays — as a player and as a coach.
Watch the full series, available on Sambafoot’s Youtube channel.
