Every time the Allianz Parque speaker announces the Palmeiras line-up and Raphael Veiga’s turn comes, he exults that he has converted all the penalties he has attempted with the albiverde shirt. This is your personal brand. And the ‘torcida’ gives him one of the biggest ovations. The ’10’, who plays with the 23, is currently the footballer in the world who has the best streak from the 11-metre point: there are 23 consecutive penalties converted (including shootouts), the last one on Wednesday in the Cup do Brazil. Since he returned to Palmeiras, at the beginning of 2019, after a session at Ath. Paranaense, he is infallible.
Confidence, which works like a snowball, is the basis of the success of this left-footed midfielder, who normally executes his shots with a strong dry shotwhich can go anywhere in the goal, either up, down, center, right or left, which makes the goalkeeper’s task very difficult.
There are no ‘paradinhas’, no frivolities, like ‘cavadinhas’ (a la Panenka), or provocations. Veiga is a tight machine, with the same professional attitude that he displays throughout the 90 minutes. He never trembles, or doubts, or weighs the pressure.
The main ‘parapenaltis’ of South American football have not been able to with the palmeirense, as in the case of former Valencia, Diego Alves, to whom Veiga scored two maximum penalties in the 2021 Supercopa do Brasilor Cássio, one of the most important figures in the history of Corinthians.
In February, an iconic moment occurred when, in the Club World Cup final against Chelsea. After a childish hand from Thiago Silva, there was a face to face between the best goalkeeper in the world (the Senegalese, Edward Mendy awarded by FIFA), and the pitcher with the best percentage of success on the planet (Veiga and his 100% pristine)… and the pulse was won by the Brazilian, who deceived the Blues goalkeeper, who launched himself to the right of him, and the ball entered down the left. With the goal, Verdao forced extra time, but ended up falling in the 117th minute with a penalty from Havertz.
NOT EVEN THE TWO LIBERTADORES ARE WORTH IT TO GO TO THE SELEÇAO
Veiga, who will turn 27 in June, is much more than a specialist from 11 meters. He is a fundamental piece of a current two-time Libertadores champion Palmeiras, with whom he has won 6 titles. His regularity impresses under the command of Abel Ferrera.
The São Paulo press and the ‘crooked’ albiverde have been clamoring for his call-up in the Seleçao for a couple of years. Tite, however, does not give in, and, in his position, continues betting on Lucas Paquetá (Olympique Lyon) and on a highly contested Philippe Coutinho.
Veiga’s track record and statistics would confirm his presence in the five-time champion. In this 2022 he is the soccer player in Brazil with the most participations in goals: there are 27 games played with 17 goals (6 in the Copa Libertadores) and 7 assists. This year, he has scored more times than Neymar Jr., Richarlison, Gabriel Jesus, Philippe Coutinho, Lucas Paquetá and Rodrygo & mldr; and they all have the confidence of their coach who has called them up for the friendlies in June.