It wouldn’t be wrong shouting “Show me the money!”, as we’re still waiting for that Master Sponsor to be announced. It’s agonising. It’s frustrating. And increasingly difficult to understand. But let’s forget about it for a moment: after all, on Sunday our rival Corinthians await and we have all the reasons to look forward to the game as Palmeiras – alongside Santos – have started the season the best with 19 points out of 21. Let’s crunch some other numbers showing that Palmeiras are, truly, on a roll.
11 is the number of players up until now signed by the Verdão. Josimar, as presented in Sonar pings #66, was the tenth. And on Wednesday, offensive midfielder Bruninho became the eleventh player to join the squad. The former Portuguesa player has signed an four-year contract and will battle for a spot in the starting eleven primarily against Wesley and Josimar. Good one. What we lack now is one more right-defender to match/outmatch Wendel, a backup centre-forward to match Kardec and possibly one more centre-back.
27 Palmeiras players are currently not at the Academia, but instead rendering service at other teams. It’s a rather hefty number, but the Nobre administration’s philosophy is that these players are better of playing frequently than only training. It’s a mix of young and not so young players. Some are expected to sooner or later return to Palmeiras in condition to enter the A squad – as did Wellington. Others didn’t do too well in the Palmeiras jersey last year but are still on a contract; Maikon Leite is a good example of a player who we’re unlikely to see ever again flying our colours. Check out the complete list of outsourced players to your right (athlete’s name and position, where he’s at and until when; the * indicating that his contract ends at the same time as the end of his loan period).
10 is the current position that Palmeiras na TV – the clubs’ official TV channel on youtube – occupies in the football club ranking. It has happened incredibly fast: the Palmeiras channel had some 10.000 subscribers at the re-launch earlier this year, then saw its fan base expand to over 118.000 subscribers, overtaking Italian Internazionale as the tenth biggest youtube football club channel and rapidly closing in on Bayern Munich in ninth position. The tables to your right details the positions earlier this week. But as I mentioned: Palmeiras are already heading for 122K.
Do I have to say it? In case you haven’t subscribed yet, do it.
1.473 is the number of persons adhering to the Palmeiras supporter-programme Avanti so far in this month of February. Palmeiras are second best in this period, runners-up to Cruzeiro. Total number of Palmeiras supporters enrolled: 37.690 and counting. Palmeiras studied several European concepts, among them Barcelona, Benfica and Borussia Dortmund, before re-launching the Avanti last year.
14.549 is the average crowd paying to see Palmeiras play during home games in this year’s edition of the São Paulo Championship: the highest average of all teams in the Paulistão. At least 40% of spectators are Avanti, a clear indicators of the growing importance of the programme. What’s not to like? For as little as approximately US$ 30 a month, members are entitled to a ticket to every home game, completely free of charge, in addition to numerous other advantages.
Are we or are we not on the right path? Are we or are we not going to make Sunday a day to remember with a smile on our faces? I believe so, and so do the hundreds, possibly thousands of supporters who will attend the call made on social media to gather outside Palmeiras’ training facilities to motivate our squad tomorrow morning, filled with optimism and chanting:
Scoppia che la vittoria è nostra!
ANYTHING PALMEIRAS 
$30 per month? Avanti is a fantastic deal. O.o
Indeed it is.