Ituano triumph in Paulista as Santos lose penalty showdown

Ituano won the Paulista state championship after a dramatic penalty shoot out triumph against heavily fancied Santos on Sunday evening.  Taking a 1-0 first leg lead into the game, the team from Itu found themselves on the wrong end of the same scoreline courtesy of a goal from Santos’ Cicero from the penalty spot on […]
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sambafoot_admin
2014-04-14 01:28:00

Ituano won the Paulista state championship after a dramatic penalty shoot out triumph against heavily fancied Santos on Sunday evening. 

Taking a 1-0 first leg lead into the game, the team from Itu found themselves on the wrong end of the same scoreline courtesy of a goal from Santos’ Cicero from the penalty spot on the stroke of half time.

However, the home team’s pressure could not break through to find an all-important winner and Ituano grabbed the glory after a 7-6 penalty exchange. Defender Neto was the culprit for the Serie A side, missing with his effort after an earlier miss from either side.

The Paulista victory represents only a second pice of state silverware for the club; they also won the title back in 2002.

And perhaps it is just reward for them and club president Juninho Paulista as they conquered Palmeiras over two legs en route to the trophy.