Crespo Praises São Paulo’s Character in Victory Over Fluminense

Speaking after the match, Hernán Crespo praised São Paulo’s resilience and collective effort following their 3–1 win over Fluminense in the 17th round of the Brasileirão. It marked the team’s third straight league victory, after beating Corinthians and Juventude.

“I’m very happy for the players and the way we played,” Crespo said. “But more so for how we reacted to adversity—missing a penalty, having a goal overturned by VAR—and still staying aggressive and hungry to play. The result came because of all that.”

Crespo made two changes to the starting XI: Ferreirinha replaced André Silva, who finished the last match with foot pain, and Enzo Díaz came in for Wendell, who was showing signs of fatigue.

With São Paulo fighting on three fronts — the league, Copa do Brasil and Libertadores — Crespo emphasized the need to manage physical demands carefully.

“It’s good that we’ve started collecting points. The league is tough. Today we had control, but with the quality of the opponent, it was 2–1 at one point. Nothing dangerous happened after, but it could have. We have to take it game by game, day by day. The wear is real, but we are São Paulo — we must always fight and compete.”

São Paulo’s next match is on Thursday against Athletico-PR in the first leg of the Copa do Brasil Round of 16. They will face Internacional away on Sunday in the league.