» Brasileirão

The Best of Brasileirao

Bruno Romani — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 03:58:36 +0000

One day after the end of 2009 Campeonato Brasileiro, the best players of the tournament were awarded. Placar, the most traditional football magazine in Brazil, handed for the 40th time the Bola de Prata (silver ball) and the Bola de Ouro (golden ball). Later, CBF awarded its Craque Brasileirão, a newer prize but the one that gets an official seal. And despite that the two prizes have different criteria to chose the best, only 4 differences took place.

For one of the defensive midfielders, Placar chose Palmeiras’ Pierre whereas CBF picked Sao Paulo’s Hernanes again. As leftback, Placar chose Kleber (the one Dunga dropped from the national team) while CBF picked Julio Cesar from Goias. For one of the offensive midfielders, Placar picked Marcelinho Paraiba who was relegated with Coritiba while CBF picked Palmeiras’ Diego Souza.

The two awards diverged regarding Brasileirao’s MVP. Placar handed it to Adriano while CBF picked Diego Souza.

The Bola de Prata squad, prize handed by Placar, is chosen in the following way. Journalists from the magazine watch every game at the stadium and grades each player from 0 to 10. The best averages in each position take the Bola de Prata. The best average of all takes the Bola de Ouro. So this is their team:

GOALKEEPER:
Victor (Grêmio)

RIGHTBACK:
Jonathan (Cruzeiro)

CENTERBACKS
André Dias (São Paulo)
Miranda (São Paulo)

LEFTBACK:
Kleber (Internacional)

DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS:
Pierre (Palmeiras)
Guiñazu (Internacional)

OFFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS:
Marcelinho Paraiba (Coritiba)
Petkovic (Flamengo)

FORWARDS:
Diego Tardelli (Atlético-MG)
Adriano (Flamengo)

GOLDEN BALL (MVP OF THE TOURNAMENT):
Adriano (Flamengo)

The team of the Craque Brasileirão Prize, award handed by CBF, is chosen in a different way. Players, coaches and journalists vote on the players they think were the best:

GOALKEEPER:
Victor (Grêmio)

RIGHTBACK:
Jonathan (Cruzeiro)

CENTERBACKS
André Dias (São Paulo)
Miranda (São Paulo)

LEFTBACK:
Júlio César (Goiás)

DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS:
Hernanes (São Paulo)
Guiñazu (Internacional)

OFFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS:
Diego Souza (Palmeiras)
Petkovic (Flamengo)

FORWARDS:
Diego Tardelli (Atlético-MG)
Adriano (Flamengo)

MVP OF THE TOURNAMENT:
Diego Souza (Palmeiras)

CBF also hands the following awards:

BEST COACH:
Andrade (Flamengo)

BEST NEW TALENT:
Fernandinho (Barueri)

BEST PLAYER CHOSEN BY THE FANS:
Conca (Fluminense)

The Best Brasileirao of History is History Now

Bruno Romani — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 03:56:19 +0000

The best Campeonato Brasileiro of history, and one of the best in the world, came to an end today. After 38 rounds, 4 clubs were fighting for the title: Flamengo, Inter, Palmeiras and Sao Paulo. Many were the possibilities. And three of them won.

Flamengo, with goals by David and Ronaldo Angelim, became the champion for the 6th time. Roberson scored for Gremio.

Inter thrashed and relegated Santo Andre 4-1, with goals by Alecssandro, defender Indio, Andrezinho (with another beautiful free-kick this season) and the promising Giuliano. Santo Andre’s last goal in the first division was scored by the good striker Nunes. With that, Inter finished in second and is going to the Libertadores.

Sao Paulo threw Sport’s farewell party. And the club from Recife will have to go to the second division with a 4-0 defeat. Washington, with a hat-trick, and goalie Rogerio Ceni, with a nice free-kick, scored the goals that took Sao Paulo to its 7th participation in a row in the Libertadores.

Shame is Green

The biggest disappointment of the tournament was Palmeiras. The club led the tournament for 20 rounds and arrived to the 38th round with chances of title. The result? The club did not even qualify for the Copa Libertadores. Palmeiras visited Botafogo, who was trying to escape, relegation and lost 2-1. (Wellington and Jobson scored for Bota; Robert for Palmeiras in the last minute).

This defeat combined with Cruzeiro’s 2-1 victory over Santos sent this year’s runner-up of the Libertadores one more time to the continental competition. The irony of all this? The goal that eliminated Palmeiras, was scored by Cruzeiro’s Kleber, the man who professed his love before to Palmeiras. Obviously, Luxemburgo wasn’t sad at all with Santos defeat, since he is still bitter for being fired from Palmeiras. The other goals of the match were scored by Wellington Paulista (Cruzeiro) and Neymar (Santos).

Clubs from Rio escape from Relegation

With the results already mentioned, Santo Andre was relegated and Botafogo escaped.

All attentions were in the Coritiba – Fluminense match. Whoever lost was going to the second division. the first-half ended 1-1, Marquinhos for Flu and Jeci for Coritiba scored. With the combination of the other matches, Fluminense ended its great recovery campaign saving itself. The draw relegated Coritiba at home in the year of its centenary. The fans went crazy and chaos took place, with fans beating anyone on their way, including the police.

Completely Unimportant

Atletico 0 – 3 Corinthians: After the match, Atletico’s Celso Roth was fired. Corinthians won with two goals by Sousa, a man who was hired to score many goals and failed miserably. The other goals was by Bill at the last minute. And Diego Tardelli missed a penalty. In general, the two sides had disappointing campaigns.

Nautico 0 – 1 Avai: Avai, under coach Silas, ended its excellent campaign with a goal by Eltinho. Nautico was already relegated.

Barueri 0 – 0 Atletico-PR: In its first year in first division, Barueri to stay with a solid campaign.

Vitoria 2 – 2 Goias: Roger and Leandro Domingues, Vitoria’s best two in the tournament, scored. Felipe scored twice for the reserve side of Goias.

After 17 Years, Flamengo Rules Brazil

Bruno Romani — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 03:10:39 +0000

It felt like it was never going to happen again. It seemed that Brazilian titles were going to be connected forever to the generation of Zico and Junior. But, today, Flamengo fans were released from the past. The most popular side in Brazil took home its 6th national title – the first since 1992.

And ironically, in order to live the present, Fla relied on characters from the past. Adriano returned to the club he loves and was, not only the top striker of the competition with 19 goals, but also one of the best of the entire tournament. Petkovic, the 37 year old Serbian playmaker, returned to Fla in a deal which seemed good only for the player. Fla had a huge sum of money to pay him from past contracts, but he exchanged some of that money for a place in the club when no other team in Brazil wanted him. Many thought he was over. And he conducted Fla with great flair.

But the biggest character of all, and that’s the beauty of it, belongs to the Zico generation. Andrade, the intelligent midfielder who won as a player the titles in 80, 82, 83 and 87, was the coach. And not that he was the first option. In fact, Andrade was an interim who made it happen. It was destiny. His first title as a coach had to be with Flamengo. More than that: Andrade is the first Black coach to win a Brazilian title. Historical, indeed.

This Sunday, 80 thousand fans were at the Macarana waiting for a simple victory against Gremio, a side that had only 1 victory playing away. Not only that, Gremio sent a reserve squad and had very little interest in winning. A victory was going to help Gremio’s main rival, Inter. But Gremio honored its history and made it very hard. With 21 minutes, Roberson opened the score for Gremio. Inter and Sao Paulo were winning their matches. Another Maracanazo? Adriano and Pet did not play well so a supporting character had to show up. It was up to David, a reserve defender who replaced Alvaro, to tie. The fans celebrated, but the title was still with Inter. And things did not change until the half of the second-half.

This time, Ronaldo Angelim, the other defender, wrote his name in the history books. With a header, he scored the goal that gave Flamengo its 6th title.

After that, it was matter of time for the fans to taste the glory again. When Flamengo wins, Brazil gets a bit happier. Congratulations, Flamengo!

Lots of cool pics here

More coverage at Globo.com and UOL.

What to Watch in the Last Round of Brasileirao

Bruno Romani — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 18:09:52 +0000

In about 24 hours the 2009 Campeonato Brasileiro, one of the best in history, will be over. But the last round reserved lots of emotions. The title can be lifted by 4 sides. Another 3 fight for 1 spot in the Copa Libertadores. And other 4 try to escape the two seats still available in the second division. So SeetheCup prepared this short guide on what to watch tomorrow. All the matches will played tomorrow 11am PT/2pm ET.

THE TITLE:

Flamengo (64 points), Inter (62), Palmeiras (62) and Sao Paulo (62) will try to take the title home. Flamengo is the one with more chances. Why? Because it needs just a simple victory at home against Gremio. The Maracana will be packed and Gremio already announced it will be sending a reserve squad to Rio. Gremio does not want to help Inter and Sao Paulo – the former for being the club’s biggest rival, and the latter for taking the title last year (when Gremio led most of the tournament). Big chances for Mengo.

If another Maracanazo takes place (which is not uncommon), then the other sides will have chances. The hard thing is that while Flamengo plays a side with no goals in the tournament, Inter and Palmeiras will play sides fighting relegation – which should produce tons of drama.

Inter will play Santo Andre at home, and has all the chances of getting a large score. Santo Andre needs a miracle to stay in the first division. Palmeiras has task even more difficult. It will play Botafogo in Rio, with Bota trying everything it can to escape. The good thing for Muricy Ramalho is that it will send to the pitch, for the first time in a long time, his 11 starters. Palmeirashas also to count that Inter will not beat Santo Andre.

Finally, Sao Paulo will face the impossible. All the 3 clubs above cannot win if the current champs want to take the title for the 4th time in a row. Sao Paulo will play at home against the worst side of the tournament, Sport, and it has to produce a large victory and pray.

Now, you may have noticed. It’s possible that the 4 sides will finish with 65 points. In that case, Inter will take the title because it has more victories than the other teams. With all this, this is what each clubs needs to win the Brasileirao

Flamengo: A victory against Gremio, A draw against Gremio as long as Inter does not win.
Inter: Victory against Santo Andre and at least a draw from Flamengo.
Palmeiras: Victory against Botafogo and draws, at least, from Inter and Flamengo. In case Flamengo and Inter lose, and Palmeiras and Sao Paulo win, Palmeiras has to keep the goal advantage it has over Sao Paulo (3 goals).
Sao Paulo: Victory against Sport and all the other sides cannot win. In case Sao Paulo and Palmeiras win, and the others lose, Sao Paulo has to score 4 more goals than Palmeiras. If, for instance, Palmeiras wins 1-0, Sao Paulo has to win 5-0.

LIBERTADORES

The chances that the 4 sides fighting for the title will be in the Copa Libertadores is huge, but Cruzeiro still has chances of taking the spots either from Sao Paulo or Palmeiras. Cruzeiro will visit Santos, which already gives signs of not offering trouble. Santos’ Luxemburgo is still angry at Palmeiras for being fired earlier this year, and he will not do much effort to help the green side.

In order to go to the continental competition, Cruzeiro (59 points) has to win and hope that either Palmeiras or Sao Paulo lose. If both lose, Cruzeiro takes the spot from Sao Paulo. But given the difficulties of the matches, it is more likely that Palmeiras will lose. Palmeiras and Sao Paulo go to the continental competition with a simple draw.

RELEGATION

With Sport and Nautico already relegated, 4 sides are trying to avoid the two spots to join them. They are Santo Andre (41 points), Botafogo (44), Coritiba (44) and Fluminense (45).

Santo Andre has the most difficult situation. It has to beat Inter in Porto Alegre and hope that both Botafogo and Coritiba lose at home. As we’ve seen, Botafogo will take on Palmeiras. At the same time, Coritiba will be taking on Fluminense. The hope for Santo Andre is that because the rivals of Botafogo and Coritiba have a lot at stakes, they will help Santo Andre to stay.

For Botafogo, besides having to beat Palmeiras, it counts on Fluminense beating Coritiba and Santo Andre not winning. But Botafogo can stay in the first division even if ties, as long as Coritiba loses against Flu. If Santo Andre, Botafogo and Coritiba finish with 44 points, Santo Andre is safe.

Coritiba and Fluminense will play a “final”. Whoever loses has great chances of relegation. Fluminense will save itself if it wins or draws. A defeat combined with a victory of Botafogo ends up with Flu relegated. With a victory, Coritiba also saves itself. It will be a great clash between Fred and Marcelinho Paraiba.

Brasileiro: Flamengo Very Close to the Title

Bruno Romani — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 07:37:43 +0000

After the 37th round of Brasileirao, 4 clubs have the chance of lift the title in next week’s final round – being Flamengo the one with a hand and a half in the trophy. (A round, by the way, with 44 goals, the record of this season).

Flamengo took on Corinthians in the city of Campinas. The two clubs did what they’ve doing in this tournament. Flamengo played really well as the visitor one more time. Corinthians delivered another shameful performance. The result? 2-0 Fla, goals by Ze Roberto and Leo Moura from the spot. With that, Flamengo took from Sao Paulo the first spot.

And things for Sao Paulo were terrible. The current champs visited Goias, a side that had no high aspirations in the tournament. Sao Paulo had ball possession, but Goias was efficient. It shot 4 times and scored 4 times – goals by Vitor (great right-back), Rithelly, Fernandao and Leo Lima. Sao Paulo was able to score only two times, both through Washington. Not only Sao Paulo lost the first place, but it was passed by Inter and Palmeiras in the number of victories.

Inter visited the relegated side of Sport, and it was shocked in the first-half as Vandinho scored by the locals. The ref also ignored a penalty for Sport. In the second-half, Inter put thing back to normal. First, Kleber, trying to gain his spot back in the national team, delivered a good performance again and scored. Then, Andrezinho did what he does best. He took a free-kick and scored, sending Inter to the second spot.

Finally, Palmeiras received Atletico-MG in what promised to be a thrilling match. Palmeiras had the return of midfielder of Cleiton Xavier, and the number 10 scored the first goal. Then, Atletico tied through Diego Tardelli again. It was his 19th goal in the league, which makes him the top scorer. After that, goalie Marcos made several saves until Diego Souza scored the most amazing goal of the tournament. You have to see it. Atletico tried to tie and left spaces, which Vagner Love used to score the final goal.

With the results of the weekend, this is the top: Flamengo 64, Inter 62, Palmeiras 62, Sao Paulo 62. It can’t get better than that.

Another Club Relegated

The fight against relegation has not been less thrilling and dramatic.

First, the second side relegated is known. And it is the second side from Recife. Nautico played the battle of the desperate against Santo Andre. The final score tells you how much they fought: 5-3 for Santo Andre. Nunes, Wanderley (both twice) and Romulo scored for Santo Andre and kept the club alive. Even though with minimal chances, Santo Andre has chances of staying in the first division. Carlinhos Bala, Andersson Lessa and Nilson scored the goals for Nautico.

Fluminense, Botafogo and Coritiba are the ones trying to avoid the last spot in the zone.

Fluminense so far seems the one with less chances of relegation. Why? Because the club delivered another one of those breath taking performances, and for the first time in 27 rounds, it is not in the bottom 4. Amazing stuff. The victim this time was Vitoria, massacred at Maracana 4-0. Alan, Fred (with a beautiful long range) and Conca (twice) scored.

The victory sent Flu’s rival, Botafogo, to the relegation zone. Bota visited Atletico-PR, who still had mathematical chances of being relegated. Those chances, however, were dissipated as Wallysson and veteran Paulo Baier scored.

The club no one seems to be talking much and with great chances of being relegated is Coritiba. This Sunday, the club visited Cruzeiro and scored first through Jeci. Then, there was an blue avalanche – Henrique, Jonathan, Wellington Paulista and Eliando scored.

The bottom of the tournament is this: Fluminense 45, Coritiba 44, Botafogo 44, Santo Andre 41, Nautico 38 (relegated), Sport 31 (relegated).

Not Important

Gremio 4 – 2 Barueri: Douglas Costa, Adilson, Souza, Maxi Lopes (Gremio) and Val Baiano twice (Barueri) scored. The only important fact of this game is that Gremio finishes the tournament without a single defeat at home.

Avai 2 – 2 Santos: Cristian twice (Avai), Kleber Pereira and Paulo Henrique (Santos) scored.

Wrapping Up the Second Division

Bruno Romani — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 23:31:00 +0000

The second division of Brasileirao officially came to an end today. Only one thing remained to be seen: the last club to be relegated. And sadly, Juventude was the one. Juventude and Fortaleza, two traditional sides that played the first division until 07, will be in third division in 2010. Final standings are:

Champion: Vasco
Promoted to first division: Vasco, Guarani, Ceara, Atletico-GO
Relegated to third division: Juventude, Fortaleza, Campinense, ABC
Top Strikers: Rafael Coelho (Figueirense), Marcelo Nicacio (Fortaleza), Elton (Vasco) – 17 goals.
Best Attendance: 81.904 people ( Vasco 2 – 1 Juventude)
Worst Attendance: 5 people (Duque de Caxias 4 – 1 Ponte Preta)

Final table (credit to UOL) is this:

Brasileiro: 2 Rounds Left; 4 Clubs Still Can Win It

Bruno Romani — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:16:06 +0000

When Palmeiras lost for Gremio on Wednesday, it seemed only Sao Paulo and Flamengo still fought for the title, right? Wrong! The two sides dropped important points, and Inter won. The result? 4 teams still have the chance to lift the title on December 6th.

Sao Paulo visited Botafogo, which found itself in a very difficult situation in the relegation struggle. With half of the team suspended, Sao Paulo suffered in the hands of forward Jobson, who scored twice (the second one in the final minutes of the match) and gave an assist to Renato. Bota scored first, Sao Paulo cameback (goals by Washington and Jorge Wagner),but the home team cameback again. Botafogo won its own final while Sao Paulo, despite losing, kept the lead with a help of Flamengo.

Flamengo played the night game, and stepped into the pitch of a packed Maracana already knowing that a simple victory was going to land them the first place. But that’s not what happened. In a good game of goalie Harlei, Goias kept the score board unchanged. The 78 thousand Fla fans could not be more frustrated. It was their chance.

While the “only” contenders (as the media saw, at least) lost points, Inter took on Atletico-MG at Mineirao. The two sides were focusing the Libertadores, but the lonely goal of Marquinhos in the beginning of the match gave Inter more to dream about. Inter took the third place from Palmeiras and is just 3 points away from Sao Paulo. That makes Inter a candidate for the title again. As for Atletico-MG, disappointing is the only word to describe its performance in the final rounds of the tournament.

At least, Atletico-MG won’t have to deal with Cruzeiro fans. Atletico’s main rival are out of the race for the title and is far from the Libertadores too. On the weekend, the club visited Atletico-PR and just tied. And it could’ve been worse. After Marcinho, ex-Cruzeiro, scored for Atletico, Cruzeiro had to wait until the last minute to celebrate the goal of defender Leonardo Silva.

This is the top of the table: Sao Paulo 62, Flamengo 61, Inter 59, Palmeiras 59, Atletico-MG 56, Cruzeiro 56

Relegation: 4 Clubs and 1 Funeral

The fight to escape the second division remains intense and close to an ending. At this point the two sides from Rio and the two from Curitiba are fighting to fill the last spot available.

On the weekend, every club trying to escape, but one, won their matches. Nautico visited Corinthians and won 3-2. Bruno Mineiro, Carlinhos Bala and Ailton, the decent names that Nautico has, scored. Bala scored with only 5 minutes left and Ailton with 2 minutes into the stoppage time. In a normal situation, this would’ve been a great result, but with the other sides winning, Nautico remains 6 points away from the first side outside the relegation zone.Ronaldo and Elias scored for Corinthians.

Santo Andre received and crushed the tournament’s sensation Avai. In the 4-2, veteran Marcelinho Carioca, Wanderley and Camilo (twice) scored for the home team while Muriqui and Marquinhos for the visitors. Again, this could’ve been a good result in a normal situation, but as Nautico, Santo Andre is 6 points away from the relegation zone. Very little can be done.

With Sport already relegated and Nautico and Santo Andre very close to that, there’s one spot left. Botafogo, Fluminense, Coritiba and Atletico-PR are the candidates.

Bota had the great result against Sao Paulo and is outside of the death zone. Atletico-PR tied with Cruzeiro. And Fluminense beat a dead horse as it visited Sport. After Sport’s Moacir was ejected in the second-half, Flu scored three times – the first an own goal of Ze Antonio. The other two by two of Flu’s best: Fred (again!) and Conca. What seemed impossible now is very possible to avoid. Flu wants to stay.

On the other hand, there’s a side that slowly is becoming my biggest candidate for the second division. Coritiba was humiliated by the not so strong side of Santos. After the match, Luxemburgo even said that his players should not get all excited because they Coritiba seemed dead on the pitch. The goals were scored by names that shined earlier this year: Madson, Kleber Pereira and Neymar (twice). In the year of its centenary, Coritiba is asking for it. And as reminder: in the very last round Coritiba will visit Fluminense.

The bottom of the table: 44 Coritiba, Atletico-PR 44, Botafogo 44, Fluminense 42, Santo Andre 38, Nautico 38, Sport 31 (relegated).

Not that important

Vitoria eliminated any possibilities of an unexpected relegation by beating Barueri 2-1. The three goals were scored by the best of each side. Leandro Domingues and Roger (14 goals in the tournament) for Vitoria and Val Baiano for Barueri.

A Day of Fury in Brazilian Football

Bruno Romani — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:43:34 +0000

As you’re probably aware, Brazilian football (CBF and CONMEBOL for that matter) have no respect for the international break. So two matches took place in Brazil on Wednesday night – one for Copa Sudamericana and one for the Brasileiro. And it was enough for the biggest collective nervous breakdown, I’ve ever seen.

In Rio, Fluminense and Cerro Porteno from Paraguay played the second-leg for the semifinals of Copa Sudamericana. Cerro was eliminating Fluminense, but the home team cameback (Gum and Alan) with two goals in the stoppage time. What followed was a typical South American fight in a continental competition. Players and the gentle police officers of the peaceful local police mixed in a cloud of hits:

In Porto Alegre, it was worse. The match was Gremio and Palmeiras for the 36th round of the Brasileiro. A defeat for Palmeiras meant saying bye to a title of a tournament they led for 19 rounds. In the final minute of the first-half, Rafael Marques scored for Gremio. As the Palmeiras players walked towards the lockers room, defender Mauricio and forward Obina started arguing about how Gremio scored. The players pushed each other, and Obina finished the fight with a punch with his left hand. When the two players returned to the second-half (actually, Obina stayed because he was going to be replaced), the ref ejected the two players. The result? Palmeiras was no challenge for a side that has no bigger goals in the tournament. It lost 2-0 (the second was score by Maxi Lopes), and has very little chances of lifting the trophy.

After the match, the two players were fired from the club in the lockers room and announced to the press moments later. The video:

Brasileiro: Sao Paulo or Flamengo?

Bruno Romani — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:41:05 +0000

After the 35th round of Brasileirao, one thing is clear: the champion will be red and black. The only thing that remains unclear is if it will also carry the white of Sao Paulo, or it will have just the two colors of Flamengo.

The two sides took advantage of Palmeiras’ tie against Sport and look ready for the title.

Sao Paulo received Vitoria at Morumbi and played one of its best matches of the year. The 2-0, goals by Jorge Wagner and Hugo, should’ve been much larger. But for the 53 fans at Morumbi that does not matter. Sao Paulo increased the lead over the second team and walks firmly towards the 4th title in a row.

That lead, however, could’ve been larger. But Flamengo won. And it won an extremely difficult battle against Nautico in Recife, the toughest of its 4 remaining matches. Again, Petkovic and Adriano scored. The duo is carrying Flamengo to very awaited title.

Another result that made Sao Paulo and Flamengo the biggest favorites for the title was the defeat of Atletico-MG against Coritiba. One more time in history, the side of Celso Roth lost steam. Coritiba is just fighting relegation, and Atletico managed to lose. The winning goal came only in the 85th minute with a penalty taken by Marcelinho Paraiba. Romulo (Coritiba) and Eder Luis (Atletico) had scored before.

Libertadores

As Atletico-MG said by to the title, its rival, Cruzeiro, may have said good bye for a sport in the Libertadores. The club tied at home against Gremio. The 1-1 had an important detail: Gremio had two players ejected and scored in the stoppage in the second-half with a goal by Herrera. Gilberto scored from the spot for the home team, which lost 24 points at home in this tournament. This is unacceptable.

Taking advantage of this draw, Inter returned to the top 4 after beating Santos. It was a easy journey since Santos had a 21 hour travel from Mexico, where it played a friendly match, Danilo Silva, Marquinhos and D’Alessandro scored for Inter while youngster Neymar scored the only goal of the visitors.

Another team new to the battlefor a spot in the Libertadores is Avai. This Sunday, the club thrashed Corinthians 3-1, with two goals by William and one by the good midfielder Leo Gago. Even the goal that Corinthians scored was actually an own goal by defender Marquinhos. The final scored could’ve been much larger.

The top of the table is the following: Sao Paulo 62, Flamengo 60, Palmeiras 59, Inter 56, Atletico-MG 56, Cruzeiro 55, Avai 53.

Fluminense Resurrects

Among the clubs in the tournament, Fluminense always seemed the one doomed to the second division. With 3 matches left, however, the club is the one who looks the best. After this weekend, things appear fantastic, as every other rival trying to escape lost and Flu.

Flu took on Atletico-PR at Maracana, and guess who scored again. That’s right. Fred. It was his 10th in 10 matches. Maicon, who’s been playing well since Fred returned, scored too. And it was a beautiful one. The goal by Marcelo did not change the fact that Flu is ready to stay in the first division.

And it may stay at the expense of a big rival, Botafogo. The reason for this is simple. Bota has not been playing well. On the weekend, it visited Barueri and was massacred as Val Baiano pulled a hat-trick. On top of that, the other spots for the second division seem filled.

Besides Sport, already relegated, Nautico and Santo Andre have the face of second division. Nautico lost to Flamengo. Santo Andre visited Goias and lost 3-1. The club jumped ahead with a nice goal by veteran Marcelinho Carioca, but once again, it lost steam. Fernandao with two headers and Iarley scored in the second-half.

Coritiba benefited from the victory over Atletico-MG. The result in the table is this:

Coritiba 44, Atletico-PR 43, Botafogo 41, Fluminense 39, Santo Andre 35, Nautico 35, Sport 31 (relegated).

Brasileiro: Sao Paulo Reaches the Top for the First Time

Bruno Romani — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:13:47 +0000

Without even stepping into the pitch on the weekend, Sao Paulo did something that has been very common for the club lately: It reached the top of Campeonato Brasileiro. In the 34th round of the tournament, the club, who fights for its 4th Brazilian title in a row, benefited from the defeats of Palmeiras and Atletico-MG.

Palmeiras went to Rio to take on Fluminense and did not resist the great moment of Fred. The ex-Lyon scored his 8th goal in 9 matches, which is, coincidence or not, the number of matches the Flu has been unbeaten. True that Palmeiras had a legal goal strangely made illegal by referee Carlos Eugenio Simon, but the ex-leader was never a threat to the home team. The decline of Palmeiras is clear. In the last 7 matches, it won only 5 points. On the other hand, the 67 thousand Flu fans who went to Maracana gained new hope, as the players seem to be making a real effort to not be sent to second division.

Flu’s rival, Flamengo, was the other club that helped Sao Paulo. Fla had a gigantic battle against Atletico-MG at the Mineirao, in a match that resembled some of the great clashes between the two clubs in the 80’s. Before Atletico could even think about pressuring Fla, the visitors opened the score with another Olympic goal by Petkovic, his second in that way in the tournament. Atletico felt the heat and tried to jump into an attacking mode. However, it gave lots of space for the counter-attack and this is how Fla reached the second, through defensive midfielder Maldonado. The 2-0 cooled down the actions of the home team, despite the fact that it kept great ball possession and missed a few chances here and there. Not even when Atletico score, through Ricardinho, things got on fire. Right after that, Adriano, who was having his personal battle against Atletico’s Diego Tardelli, gave final numbers. It was his 18th in the tournament, same number as Tardelli. With the victory, Flamengo took the third position from Atletico and is just 2 points away from Sao Paulo. Despite helping Sao Paulo, Fla is a real contender for the title.

Among the clubs still dreaming of title, Inter was one more time a failure and Cruzeiro confirmed the good moment. Inter just tied with Barueri after a blunder of goalie Lauro. Marcio Careca scored. The goal by Fabiano Eller did very little to help the side headed by Mario Sergio. What promised to be a good year for Inter is turning into frustration. Cruzeiro, on the other hand, visited Sport and had an impressive comeback. The home team led 2-0 with two goals by Wilson. But Cruzeiro, taking advantage of the defensive weaknesses of the last side in the table, cameback with two goals (by Leonardo Silva and Guerron) in the second-half with goals. The comeback started with Thiago Ribeiro in the first-half. The victory kept Cruzeiro with the best campaign of the second portion of the tournament. As for Sport, the defeat left the club a step away from the second division.

After the 34th round, this is the top of Brasileirao: Sao Paulo 59, Palmeiras 58, Flamengo 57, Atletico-MG 56, Cruzeiro 54, Inter 53.

Rio Up, Recife Down

The fight against relegation is getting tighter. After the weekend, the clubs from Rio were benefited while the clubs from Recife seem to be dying together.

Besides Flu, who jumped to 17th, Botafogo won on the weekend with goals by Renato and Lucio Flavio. The victory was against a direct rival, Coritiba, and left the club 5 points away from the relegation zone. It seems Bota and Flu will fight to see who will be going to second division, but if Coritiba does not watch, it may just getting relegated in the year of its centenary.

As for the clubs from Recife, what a terrible round. Sport, after the defeat against Cruzeiro, can get relegated already in the next round. And its rival Nautico is not that far. Nautico visited Santos at Pacaembu and watched the return of the good game of Neymar, after the miserable failure in the U17 World Cup. The kid left the bench and scored twice in the second-half. Kleber Pereira had opened the score for Santos in the first-half. The lonely goal by Ailton did not help the visitors.

The other club that seems ready for the second division is Santo Andre. The club played against Corinthians and saw Ronaldo deliver it again. The phenomenon scored from a long range and had participation in the the second goal by Dentinho.

After the 34th round, this is the bottom of Brasileirao: Coritiba 41, Botafogo 41, Fluminense 35, Santo Andre 35, Nautico 35, Sport 30.

Not Important

Atletico-PR 2 – 0 Goias: Goals by Marcinho and Wallyson

Vitoria 0 – 1 Avai: Goal by William