From Northern Portugal to Derby: The Origins of Abel and Vitor Pereira, Rivals at Palmeiras against Corinthians | Brazilian series

On the Palmeiras side, Abel Ferreira has already been cemented as one of the greatest names in history after winning five titles in a year and a half in the business – however, he has yet to win in Brazil. Vitter Pereira, in turn, has been at Corinthians for just under two months and is looking to grab his third win in three matches in the National Championship.

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On the other side of the Atlantic, Dérbi will transport people in two small towns in northern Portugal, near Porto: Penafiel and Espinho. These are the places where Abel and Vitor were born, respectively, and report before General Electric It was in them to tell the origins of the coaches.

Today the Pinavel area where Abel grew up has a population of only 15,000, and the entire metropolitan area has a population of 70,000. Walking downtown and even in traffic, residents of the area greet each other with a closeness rare to see in places like São Paulo.

The leader of Verdau was born in the town which still harbors family members, including fathers and uncles. The house in which his wife and daughters live is very close there, but it is officially located in Menedo, which is part of the municipality of Losada, adjacent to Penafiel.

It was there that Abel Ferreira started playing for FC Penafiel as General Electric said on this matter last Friday. The club is in the Portuguese second division football league and is preparing to build a new training center in the region.

In addition to family members and former teammates, the coach still has a group of five childhood friends in town: Miguel Teca, André Arrivana, Carlos Manuel and Miguel 33, so named because he was born in Rua 33, where your childhood Abel also lived.

Captain Verdau still goes to town when on vacation and was named Honorary Citizen last year. However, its passages through the region are increasingly private.

Abel was already a very private person, as was his family, and this trait only stood out in the face of the growing success outside of Penafil.

Vitor Pereira was born in Espinho, a port town in Portugal and smaller than Penafiel, with a population of 31,000 throughout the municipality and 10,000 in its most crowded area.

While in Abel, the street where he lived underwent many changes, including building a house where he used to play football, in Espinho there is still much of the Corinthians coach’s childhood.

An example is his grandparents’ house, where he spent most of his days playing football across the street. Some neighbors at that time also remained in the place, as well as the three friends they still have today: Paolo Adriano Cajarola, Rui Tarico and Beto Capella.

Vitor graduated in physical education, like Abel, he even attended a school in the area until he settled into a coaching career in 2008, when he took over the administration of Santa Clara, in the Azores.

His wife and three children still reside in Espinho, with the coach only moving to Brazil after an agreement with Corinthians.

One of the great changes in the Portuguese city regarding the start of the coach’s career was at the end of SC Espinho, a club led by Vitor Pereira from 2005 to 2007.

The site was sold for construction and today only the remaining walls of the stadium are left. The terraces have already been demolished and there is no more grass. A new stadium is being built in the city, and in the meantime, SC Espinho is renting a playing field. The team has little expression in the country.