Isac da Silva is a 19-year-old centre-back for São Paulo U-20. He helped São Paulo reach the Copinha final, scoring 3 goals along the way, including 1 in the final. He had previous stints at Sport Recife and RB Bragantino’s academies before transferring to São Paulo’s academy in early 2025. He has previously been called up to the U-17 Brazilian national team.
Isac stands at 1.86 m (6’1”). Overall, he is quite lanky, but is still pretty strong. He looks dominant in the air when challenging for aerial duels. He looks quite springy, almost like a basketball player. Isac looks comfortable dealing with contact when going up for headers, though it remains to be seen how he handles stronger, older players. Isac is very quick, showing good speed over short distances and above-average speed over longer distances. His pace is noticeable in defensive transitions, as he often catches up to opponents. His footwork and agility are quite good, as he can change direction swiftly. His long legs help him make multiple last-ditch slide tackles in the box due to his extended reach. He showed this multiple times throughout the tournament, characterized by his passionate celebrations after making a tackle.
The majority of Isac’s short-range passes are either to his center back partner or his right back, Igor Felisberto. He has a good technique on his long ball and switches of play. Usually, he looks to switch it out wide to his left winger or play a ball in behind to find one of his forwards. He liked to play curled balls into the right channel for his forwards to run onto, and he did so consistently. He showed good ball control when bringing it down and first touch when receiving, although it would bounce up on him sporadically. Sometimes, Isac will carry the ball forward and cover a lot of ground before playing a pass to one of his midfielders. His long strides help him get away from opponents, but also reach out and maintain possession if he takes a loose touch.
Isac is an aggressive defender. When stepping up to apply pressure, he gets tight to his opponents and generates a lot of contact. He uses his arms a lot to either push or hold off attackers in defensive situations. He can sometimes commit cheap fouls because of this. He has shown good timing in duels, being first to balls or forcing his opponent into a poor first touch. Occasionally, Isac steps up to apply pressure to an opponent and leaves a gap in the back line, but his defensive midfielder usually covers for him. His positioning and awareness can still improve. The gap between himself and his other center back can be significant sometimes, mostly in situations where he was covering for his right back whenever he got caught high up the pitch. In transitions, his positioning is decent but could be better. His spacing can be slightly off, leaving a gap that lets his opponent play a pass rather than forcing him to delay his pass. He was able to deal with long balls with no issue, either holding off the attacker and recycling possession or heading it out wide to his fullback or winger. He can switch off occasionally, failing to track runners, but has improved since the first time I watched him play.
Isac put in multiple great performances throughout the Copinha. I think he could be part of the senior squad as a depth/rotation piece. If not, maybe a loan to a team in the Brasileiro could help him begin earning professional minutes. A move to a league outside the top 5 as his next move would be beneficial for his development.
Target Scouting 