The 2012 Campeonato Paulista de Futebol Profissional da Primeira Divisão - Série A1 (officially the Paulistão Chevrolet 2012 for sponsorship reasons) was the 111th season of São Paulo's top professional football league.
The finals were played between Santos and Guarani. Santos won 7–2 on aggregate. It was the third consecutive year that they won. This had happened for the first time since 1968, when Santos won three years in a row for the last time (1966/1967/1968).
Format The top eight teams in the First Stage qualifies to the Quarter-Finals. The bottom four teams will be relegated to the Série A2. Quarter and Semi-Finals will be played in one-legged matches. The best-four teams not qualified to the Semi-Finals not from the city of São Paulo or Santos FC, will compete in the Campeonato do Interior.
Teams São Bernardo, Barueri, Noroeste and Santo André were relegated to the Campeonato Paulista Série A2 after finishing in the bottom four spots of the table at the end of the 2011 season. Santo André were relegated after they played the finals in the 2010 season against Santos, being runner-up. The four relegated teams were replaced by XV de Piracicaba, Comercial, Guarani and Catanduvese, that were promoted from 2011 Série A2. Comercial return to play in the first division after 25 years away from it while XV de Piracicaba, Guarani and Catanduvense, are back after playing the last time in the years: 1995, 2009 and 1993 respectively.
Club Home city 2011 result Botafogo–SP Ribeirão Preto Bragantino Bragança Paulista Catanduvense Catanduva Comercial Ribeirão Preto Corinthians São Paulo (Tatuapé) Guarani Campinas Guaratinguetá Guaratinguetá Ituano Itu Linense Lins Mirassol Mirassol Mogi Mirim Mogi Mirim Oeste Itápolis Palmeiras São Paulo (Perdizes) Paulista Jundiaí Ponte Preta Campinas Portuguesa São Paulo (Pari) Santos Santos São Caetano São Caetano do Sul São Paulo São Paulo (Morumbi) XV de Piracicaba Piracicaba
First stage
League table
Results
Knockout stage
Bracket
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Finals
Campeonato do Interior
Semifinals
Finals
Statistics
Top goalscorers Rank Name Club Goals 1 NeymarSantos 20 2 HernaneMogi Mirim 16 3 GiancarloBragantino 13 4 Willian JoséSão Paulo 11 5 FumagalliGuarani 9 XuxaMirassol 9 7 Hernán BarcosPalmeiras8 Marcelo CostaSão Caetano 8 Henrique DiasMirassol 8 EdsonBotafogo–SP 8 FelipeMogi Mirim 8 LenílsonLinense 8 MazinhoOeste 8
Source UOL Esporte and Futebol Paulista Last updated: 13 May 2012
Hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date Neymar Santos Botafogo 4–1 Willian José São Paulo Paulista 3–1 Fernando Gabriel Bragantino Catanduvense 3–1 Neymar Santos Guaratinguetá 5–0 Neymar Santos São Paulo 3–1
Scoring First goal of the season: Dener for Paulista against Portuguesa (21 January 2012) Last goal of the season: Alan Kardec for Santos against Guarani (13 May 2012). Fastest goal of the season: 17 seconds – Hernane for Mogi Mirim against Linense (25 March 2012) Largest winning margin: 5 goals Santos 6–1 Ponte Preta (25 February 2012) Santos 5–0 Guaratinguetá (29 March 2012) Santos 5–0 Catanduvense (15 April 2012) Highest scoring game: 8 goals Botafogo–SP 2–6 Palmeiras (11 March 2012) Most goals scored in a match by a single team: 6 goals Botafogo–SP 2–6 Palmeiras (11 March 2012) Santos 6–1 Ponte Preta (25 February 2012) Most goals scored in a match by a losing team: 3 goals Comercial 3–4 Linense (21 January 2012)
Discipline Most yellow cards (club): 83 Bragantino Most yellow cards (player): 9 Alan Mota (Ituano) Domingos (Guarani) Guilherme Andrade (Ponte Preta) Most red cards (club): 8 Guaratingetá Most red cards (player): 2 Alan Mota (Ituano)
Awards
Team of the year
Pos. Player Club GK RafaelSantos DF OzielGuarani DF Edu DracenaSantos DF RhodolfoSão Paulo DF CortêsSão Paulo MF Marcos AssunçãoPalmeiras MF PaulinhoCorinthians MF LucasSão Paulo MF GansoSantos FW NeymarSantos FW HernaneMogi Mirim
Player of the Season The Player of the Year was awarded to Neymar.
Young Player of the Season The Young Player of the Year was awarded to Romarinho.
Countryside Best Player of the Season The Countryside Best Player of the Year was awarded to Fumagalli.
Top scorer of the Season The Top scorer award went to Neymar, who scored 20 goals.
References