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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.

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.

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

Brasileiro: Palmeiras Gains New Hope

Bruno Romani — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:07:28 +0000

Until the 32nd started, things looked dull for Palmeiras. There was enormous pressure and the fear that the team had just lost the Brasileiro. But after the last mid-week round of Brasileirao, things changed again. Palmeiras won and all direct rivals, but one, lost precious points. With that, the hopes of Palmeiras fans have been renewed.

On Thursday, Palmeiras received Goias pressured by the victory of Sao Paulo the day before. After the first-half, the fans were worried. Palmeiras did not play well and Goias did not score for simple details. Then, in the second-half, Obina decided to shine. The folkloric forward pulled and hat-trick. Not satisfied with it, he gave an assist for Deyvid Sacconi using his heel. A brilliant touch of the name of the entire round. The 4-0 was an statement of a team who is far from being dead. The fans have a lot to celebrate, after 4 matches of suffering.

The only rival who did not let Palmeiras go was Sao Paulo. The current champs received Inter in the match considered by the Brazilian press as the “final” of the round. This was so because both Sao Paulo and Inter are after Palmeiras and the title. Coach Mario Sergio carved an offensive attitude in the players of Inter and the visitors were more dangerous the entire match. Bosco, the reserve goalie who replaced Rogerio Ceni, saved Sao Paulo. And the home team wasn’t lucky only in its defensive lines. In the attack, Sao Paulo shot on goal twice, both with forward Washington. And one of them ended in the back of the net of Inter. Sao Paulo is still on the chase of Palmeiras (2 points behind), while Inter is stuck 5 points behind the leader. It was the first defeat of Mario Sergio ahead of Inter.

Atletico-MG and Flamengo, two sides that seemed on fire until the round started, failed against relatively easier rivals.

Flamengo visited Barueri without Petkovic, and missed its main playmaker. The club from Rio suffered in the hands of the locals, who scored through Val Baiano (nice goal by the way), and Everton (who received an assist from Val Baiano). Fla lost after 11 matches and fell to sixth in the table, having its chances of title reduced greatly.

Atletico-MG did even worse. It visited Fluminense, last side in the table, and had a unspeakable performance (not in a good way). Flu scored in the first-half from the spot with Fred, and, before the first minute of the second-half, scored the second through Conca. The Argentinean is truly one of the few players from Flu honoring the club. Minutes later, Diego Tardelli scored his 17th goal in the league (top scorer), but it wasn’t enough. Eder Luis had the chance to tie, but he shot the ball in the skies. Atletico was punished by the terrible performance with seeing Palmeiras increase the difference between the two clubs.

New force

It was clear that Cruzeiro was going to fight for a spot in the Libertadores. However, no one thought the club was going to be in 5th at this point. And Cruzeiro reached that position after a dramatic second-half at home against Santo Andre. With 13 minutes, Gilbero served Guerron to open the score. But Santo Andre did not make it easier. Four minutes later, Nunes scored a beautiful goal and tied the match. The, Santo Andre came-back with Junior Dutra. It took 10 minutes for Cruzeiro to tie again. Gilberto served the youngster Eliandro. The match seemed to be going to a breath taking draw. But Cruzeiro had one final gasp. And Thiago Ribeiro, with 2 minutes into the stoppage time, took Cruzeiro to the lead and to the 5th place in the table.

The top of Brasileirao now looks like this: Palmeiras 57, Sao Paulo 55, Atletico-MG 53, Inter 52, Cruzeiro 51, Flamengo 51.

Rio de Janeiro Breathes

if on the top two sides from Sao Paulo rule, in the bottom the two sides from Rio are giving signs that they do not want to go to second-division. Fluminense beat Atletico, whereas Botafogo beat a direct rival in the bottom four.

Bota received Nautico at home and was awarded by the referee a penalty that did not exist. Juninho took it and scored the only goal of the match.

If the sides from Sao Paulo and Rio showed force (or some reaction), the sides from Recife had a poor round. Nautico lost. And Sport just tied 1-1 at home against Coritiba (Fabiano for Sport and Ariel for Coritiba scored the goals.

This is what the bottom looks like now: Coritiba 38, Botafogo 35, Santo Andre 32, Nautico 32, Sport 30, Fluminense 30.

Not important

Three matches did not involve title nor relegation. They were:

Gremio 3 – 1 Avai: Goals by Tcheco, Maxi Lopes and Souza (Gremio); Emerson(Avai):

Vitoria 0 – 1 Corinthians: Goal by Defederico – his first at Corinthians.

Atletico-PR 1 – 1 Santos: Goals by Bruno Costa (Atletico) and Kleber Pereira (Santos)

Brasileiro: Flamengo and Atletico-MG Want it!

Bruno Romani — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 06:07:45 +0000

Up until last week, the Brasileirao seemed the tournament no one wanted to win. The favorites kept losing points with pale football. But the 30th round shows signs of change by two sides. Flamengo and Atletico-MG want to take the title home after a long time.

While Palmeiras, Sao Paulo, Inter and Goias gave another display of loss of steam, the two sides pocketed the three points in very important matches.

Flamengo visited Palmeiras at Parque Antartica – one of those matches to be pictured as a final. The clash was between the leader and the best team of the moment in the league, and Diego Souza and Adriano were back from the national team. The man of the game, and of the round, was one more time 37 year old Petkovic. The veteran Serbian midfielder controlled the match, and scored twice – one in each-half. In the first goal, Pet pushed the ball to the back of the net with a graceful touch. The second one was an Olympic goal which resulted from a mistake of goalie Marcos. In the end, Vagner Love had the chance to put Palmeiras closer, but he took the penalty like Roberto Baggio. With the 2-0, Palmeiras is still the leader, but Flamengo is just one point away from the Libertadores zone. The club from Rio, which now seats on a 9 unbeaten streak, will be a real contender for the title.

Atletico-MG had also a symbolic victory. The club headed by Celso Roth visited Sao Paulo at Morumbi, another one of those “finals”. Before the first minute, Diego Tardelli, who was returning from the national team, scored his 15th in the league. Not only Tardelli became one of the top scorers, but also he gave the victory to Atletico against his old club. After the goal, Sao Paulo tried to pressure, but midfielder Ricardinho, who was in the group that lifted the 2002 World Cup, controlled the midfield. With the victory, Atletico is in second, 4 points away from Palmeiras. Sao Paulo fell to 4th.

While Palmeiras and Sao Paulo lost to direct rivals, Inter and Goias dropped points in different situations. Inter visited the virtually relegated side of Fluminense and tied in two goals, which feels the same as a defeat. Flu tied in the last minute. True that forward Alecssandro scored and reached 15 goals, which makes him one of the top scorers of the league. But a club that wants to be the champion cannot allow a defender named Gum to score twice. Marquinhos scored the other goal for Inter. With the draw, Inter jumped to third, but failed to be just three points away from Palmeiras. Fluminense remains in last, walking firmly towards second division.

Goias lost again. True, visiting the good side of Avai is no easy task. The problem is how it happened. Goias jumped ahead with a goal by Leandro Euzebio in the first-half. However, in just 10 minutes in the second-half, Goias allowed Avai to comeback. Leo Gago with an accidentally beautiful goal and the good midfielder Marquinhos scored between the 7th and 17th marks.

The top of the table looks like this: Palmeiras 54, Atletico-MG 50, Inter 49, Sao Paulo 49, Flamengo 48, Goias 46.

The tournament no one wants to participate

While clubs on the top are working hard to not lift the trophy, a group of teams seems to be working hard to not participate in next year’s edition of Brasileirao. It seems they want the second division.

Fluminense has its fate decided. The draw against Inter just confirmed that. But Nautico, Santo Andre, Botafogo and even Coritiba seem to fight for a spot in serie B.

Nautico visited Vitoria and started the match with its goalie denying a penalty to the locals. In the second-half, Nautico score through Bruno Mineiro. Victory coming, right? Wrong. Vitoria came back in the final half-hour with two goals by Leandrao. The forward who left the bench also served veteran midfielder Jackson to score the final goal. Nautico remains in the relegation zone.

Santo Andre is also stuck in the relegation zone. This time, the club was thrashed by Atletico-PR 3-0. Paulo Baier, the conductor, from a beautiful free-kick scored the first. Then defender Marcel scored an own goal. And finally, Marcinho gave final numbers to the match.

Two other clubs are dangerously close the relegation zone. And they both lost on the weekend.

Botafogo visited Cruzeiro and created huge difficulties for the home team. But in the second-half, Thiago Ribeiro scored the single goal of the match. With the victory, Cruzeiro still dreams of Libertadores.

Coritiba also played away from home, and the opponent could not be tougher. Gremio is the only side of Brasileiro that remains unbeaten at home. This Sunday, Perea and midfielder Souza scored the goals of the match.

The only side that showed signs of life this weekend was Sport. The club from Recife beat Corinthians at home with goals by Bolivian forward Arce and Wilson, two ex-Corinthians players. The problem is that Sport has had such a poor campaign that it still is the second the last side in the table.

This is how the bottom of Brasileirao looks like: Coritiba 34, Botafogo 32, Santo Andre 29, Nautico 29, Sport 28, Fluminense 26.

ZzzzZzZzzZZZzZz

For the second week on a row, Santos had a nil draw. This time against Barueri. True that forward Kleber Pereira was ejected, but the side of Vanderley Luxemburgo is the most boring of the league by far.

Brasileiro: Palmeiras Increases the Lead

Bruno Romani — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:08:07 +0000

The 26th round of Brasileirao smiled to Palmeiras again. The side headed by Muricy Ramalho increased the lead to 5 points over the second team, and sees the title getting closer. Besides the great victory, Sao Paulo and Inter did not win again.

On Saturday, Palmeiras received Atletico-PR. The man of the match was Danilo (picture), who is on load from Atletico-PR. In order to have the defender on the pitch, Palmeiras had to pay an extra R$ 100 thousand (US$ 1 = R$1.80) to Atletico, as part of the loan contract. Palmeiras did not play well, but at the end of the first-half, Danilo sent the ball to the box, as if trying to get rid of it, and found left-back Figueroa to score the first goal. Then, in the second-half, Atletico-PR scored through Chico – and the ball deflected in Danilo. Just 7 minutes later, Danilo, in a corner, went to the rival’s penalty box. And he scored the winning goal ! Destiny? Wait. With 8 minutes left, Paulo Baier had the chance, no goalie in front of him, to tie again. But Danilo was there and saved. With the victory, Palmeiras has 50 points. And with it, and all its coincidences, it is hard not to think of the title going to Palmeiras and coach Muricy Ramalho (who will lift his 4th title in a row).

Sao Paulo played the derby against Corinthians. The territorial control of Sao Paulo gave no results. And, it actually almost collapsed. In a quick moment in the first-half, Ronaldo seemed like a ghost haunting defender Andre Dias and goalie Bosco. The duo made a primary mistake that resulted in the first goal of Corinthians (scored by Ronaldo). It took some time and a lot of ball possession for Sao Paulo to tie. The goal came through Washington. But that was it. The draw leaves Sao Paulo with just 45 points.

In Porto Alegre, the heavy rain gave no chance for football. And Inter and Flamengo understandably produced (?) a nil draw. Too bad for Inter, which has 44 points.

With the the results, Sao Paulo and Inter not only saw Palmeiras increasing the lead, but also lost their positions in the table for Goias and Atletico-MG respectively.

Goias received Gremio and got an important victory. Gremio scored first through midfielder Souza. But the home team came back to and scored through Leo Lima and Felipe. And with that, Goias jumped to 45 points and stole the second place from Sao Paulo.

Atletico-MG took the 4th place from Inter after massacring Santos. With just 5 minutes, Evandro opened the score board. Later, Diego Tardelli scored twice and became one of the three top scorers of the tournament with 13 goals. Kleber Pereira scored for Santos.

Hope in the relegation zone

The last two sides in the table, those for whom relegation seems unstoppable, won. Fluminense and Sport finally pocketed three points.

The case of Fluminense is amazing. Avai jumped ahead twice in the match with goals by William and Muriqui. But Flu tied twice with Alan and Fabio Neves. And, in the second-half, Alan scored again. After 51 days, Fluminense won. It was the 4th victory in 26 matches!

Sport had an important victory because it was against Santo Andre, direct rival in the relegation struggle. Arce scored first, Santo Andre tied through Rodrigo Fabri, but, in the second-half, Vandinho gave the victory. Sport has now 23 points, just 3 points behind the first team outside the relegation zone.

But that was it. The other sides fighting lost again.

Botafogo and Nautico lost. Botafogo was massacred by Vitoria at home, 3-1. Leandro, Leandro Domingues and Glaucio (this one of the most beautiful of the weekend) scored for Vitoria. Laio scored for Bota.

Nautico visited Coritiba and was no challenge for the locals. Romulo and Marcelinho Paraiba scored.

No worries

Barueri and Cruzeiro, two sides with very few aspirations in the league, played on Saturday. And Cruzeiro won with an offside goal by ex-Brazil veteran Gilberto.

After a Crazy Game, Santos Reaches the Final

Bruno Romani — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 10:43:42 +0000

Santos is in the first club qualified for the finals of Sao Paulo state championship. The club visited Palmeiras at Palestra Italia this Saturday and won 2-1. The match had all elements of a great game: inspired midfielders and forwards, a blunder from a goalkeeper and a good and old fight.

After the midweek horrible draw in the Copa Libertadores, Palmeiras needed a simple victory to advance to the state finals. But the side headed by Luxemburgo, considered one of the best by the press in the beginning of the season, failed again at home.

Santos played better all the time. Madson, Neymar and Kleber Pereira exposed all the cracks in the rival’s defense, which was missing veteran Edmilson due to a broken arm. With 17 minutes, Neymar left Madson face to face with Marcos. The short midfielder had no problems in scoring. At that point, only two goals could save Palmeiras. The ticking clock started to get in the nerves of Palmeiras’ players, especially Diego Souza.

In the beginning of the second-half, Paulo Henrique put Neymar in front of Marcos. The number 7 was stopped by defender Mauricio Ramos, who made the penalty and was red carded. Kleber Pereira took the penalty and scored the second. With 39 minutes left to score 3 goals and short of one man, Palmeiras fans gave up. And Santos controlled the situation. The club that almost did not qualify for the semis was eliminating the leader of the group stage of the tournament.

With 15 minutes left, things started to get interesting again. Pierre shot from very far. The shot with no high aspirations. Well, Fabio Costa who had made an important save in the first-half had an incredible blunder. Ball passing under his legs. A mistake that, he later confessed, was the worst of his career. Palmeiras was back in the game. Even the fans got excited again. But somebody forgot to tell Diego Souza that.

In the 36th mark, Santos coach Vagner Mancini sent defender Domingos to the game. Seconds later, the defender whispered a few good words in Diego Souza’s ear. He got crazy. Both player were ejected. Without touching the ball, Domingos took from the match the best player from Palmeiras.

A great confusion was started. It took a few minutes to remove Diego from the pitch. When everyone thought the number 7 found his way into the locker’s room, he returned to the pitch to attack Domingos again. This time he managed to kick hm. It seemed the number 7 from Palmeiras, so many times center of fights when Edmundo had the number, was alive again.

After the match, in a press conference, Diego called Domingos “coward”. Coaches Luxemburgo and Vagner Mancini also exchanged nervous comments.

After the fight, Santos had total control. That was the end of the line for Palmeiras, whose fans must be asking “where was Keirrisson?” The hype of the year has not been playing well, specially in important matches.

Santos now awaits for either Sao Paulo or Corinthians.

The goals and the blunder in HD here. The fight below:

Locals Win In the Semis In S. Paulo

Bruno Romani — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 05:25:55 +0000

The two semis in Sao Paulo were big games. Santos beat Palmeiras 2-1. Corinthians for the same score defeated S. Paulo. The two sides playing “at home” came back to win. But similarities end here.

If you want to talk about a technical match, full of chances missed and attacking situations, then let’s discuss Santos and Palmeiras. Three of the great names of the two sides visited the net. Keirrisson for Palmeiras. Kleber Pereira and Neymar for Santos. The midfielders were fundamental as well. Paulo Lima for Santos and Diego Souza for Palmeiras (Watch for Lima, as he may be the new Diego). Besides that, the two goalies worked hard, especially Santos’ Fabio Costa.

But if you want to talk about a nervous match, then let’s talk about Corinthians and S. Paulo. Corinthian had much more ball possession, but Sao Paulo had more goal chances. Miranda scored for Sao Paulo, and minutes later Elias tied. The match followed full of tension with player putting extra strength in every play, including Ronaldo who was yellow carded after tackling Andre Dias. The match followed this and when the tie seemed the finals core, Cristian got a long range shot. With seconds left, Corinthians clinched the victory.