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Video: A Volley From the Midfield

Bruno Romani — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 07:48:25 +0000

The most amazing goal of Campeonato Brasileiro. Diego Souza from Palmeiras scored it against Atletico-MG

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:

Video: Palmeiras and Sport Sharing Misery

Bruno Romani — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:32:54 +0000

Recently, Palmeiras and Sport played some thrilling and decisive matches, with one side side usually celebrating at the end. Sport eliminated Palmeiras from Copa do Brasil. Palmeiras eliminated Sport from Libertadores – and before that they battled in the group stage.

Last night in Sao Paulo, Palmeiras and Sport tied in 2 goals for the 35th round of Brasileirao. It would’ve been a great result for Sport in normal situations. And for Palmeiras, under regular circumstances, this would’ve not been that bad, given that Sport started with a 2-0. The result, however, was terrible for both sides.

With the draw, Sport is the first Brazilian club relegated to second division next year. And that’s bad enough, especially because the club played a great Libertadores this year.

For Palmeiras, getting 1 point at this stage of the tournament was catastrophic. This match was supposed to be easiest one of the 4 remaining ones. Getting one point means that that the club that had the title so close now sees it getting far away. The club won only 6 points in the last 8 matches. Sao Paulo and Flamengo now have the chance of getting more distant from Palmeiras.

And the two sides can both complain from the referee regarding Palmeira’s second goal. The referee blew the whistle to point an offside when Danilo received the ball. He wasn’t offside. When the linesman run to confirm the goal, the referee ignored his first whistle and, with some degree of shyness, confirmed the goal. The problem is that in the first whistle Sport players stopped playing. It is the first case in history where a referee did right by making a mistake, and made a mistake by doing it right. It’s all over the Brazilian press.

Besides the philosophy of the question, the fact is that after the final whistle (I’m sorry. I could not avoid it), the two teams felt defeat. And for the first time, the two will not be able to make fun of the other.

Video: Cruzeiro 1 – 2 Palmeiras

Bruno Romani — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:31:25 +0000

This is a bit a late, but it confirms what i wrote earlier this week about the 25 round of Brasileirao. It was a Palmeiras round. The club visited Cruzeiro and performed like a club coached by Muricy Ramalho: solid in the defense and precise in the counter-attacks. The winning goal, by Vagner Love, was constructed in such fashion. Cruzeiro pressured a lot, but the fact that Palmeiras tied the match just minute after Thiago Ribeiro opened the scored board got in the nerves of the home team. And again, the name of the match was Diego Souza, who with all the justice, is in the national team.

Palmeiras leads the Brasileiro with 47 points, 3 ahead of Sao Paulo.

Video: Ronaldo Breaks His Hand

Bruno Romani — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 08:21:48 +0000

It was the same stadium Ronaldo broke the fence that separates the pitch from the fans by scoring his first goal in this return to Brazilian football. This time he did not shine. And with 20 minutes into the derby against Palmeiras, he broke his hand. (this post will be updated as we get more info)

What’s the Limit for Bad Refereeing in Brazil?

Bruno Romani — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:18:11 +0000

For many years now, the level of refereeing has been terrible in Brazil. Last weekend was another one to not be forgotten.

1) Look at the second goal of Santo Andre. Marcel is clearly offside. The linesman has been suspended:

2) Obina was called offside in the most beautiful goal of his career. He clearly wasn’t. Linesman suspended again (look 1:53):

3) But now THE WORST OF ALL. Santos received Atletico-MG at Vila Belmiro. The visitors were winning 3-2. The referee gave 4 extra minutes in the second-half, so that makes 49 minutes, right? When the clock reached 47 minutes, he ended the match. Santos players got crazy, complained a lot. Wagner Mancini, the coach, invaded the pitch and showed his clock to the man in yellow. The unbelievable took place. The referee started the match again and made clear to everyone it was his mistake. Atletico players were already on their way to the lockers room. The security and reporters were on the pitch. Everyone was forced back to their places. Everyone knew something worst was going to happen. Santos scored a goal in those additional 2 minutes. Djalma Beltrami, the referee, called a foul, and Santos lost the match. Useless to say that confusion took place. And, be surprised. THE REFEREE WAS NOT SUSPENDED:

Libertadores: No Goals, One Out, One In

Bruno Romani — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 07:29:29 +0000

Palmeiras and Gremio played the second leg of the Copa Libertadores quarter finals.

The first in Montevideo, visiting Nacional. The second receiving Caracas in Porto Alegre.

The two controlled the first-half. The victory seemed close for the two.

One, Palmeira, had no time. The other, Gremio, had all the time of the world.

As time passed by, Caracas got smaller. Nacional, on the other hand, grew playing in front of its fans.

But the Brazilians clubs were better.

There was only one difference: Palmeiras played with passion. Gremio was bureaucratic.

Obina came in the second-half for Palmeiras and missed two chances that cannot be missed. Maxi Lopes, for Gremio, missed many others since the first-half.

The end of the match was hot in Uruguay and cold in Porto Alegre.

The zero resisted in both matches.

Palmeiras was out. Gremio was in.

The two teams had a draw in 1 goal in the first-leg. But this is where lie the detail of the rule. Palmeiras allowed a goal at home. Gremio scored one as a visitor.

After a few miracles in this year’s tournament, Palmeiras is out. Gremio, after taking on another non traditional side, advances.

For one, the elimination does not taste that bad. For the other, the qualification for the semis raises more questions than creates answers.

Not all losses hurt. Not all victories are celebrated.

And this is why we love football.

Brazil, the new England – Part 2

Bruno Romani — Fri, 15 May 2009 20:27:16 +0000

Yes, Brazil continues to be in the Copa Libertadores what England is in the Champions League. The quarter finals are almost defined – Boca Juniors and Defensor from Uruguay is the only battle that still has to be decided. And from the 8 clubs in the next stage, 4 of them are Brazilian. What makes it even more interesting is that the 4 Brazilian qualified are all previous champions of Copa Libertadores.

Besides Palmeiras, who qualified after the miracles of Sao Marcos, and Sao Paulo, who qualified because of the swine flu, Gremio and Cruzeiro reached the quarter finals after a smooth round of 16.

Gremio added yet another victory against unknown sides in this year’s edition of the continental competition. Universidad San Martin from Peru was not a big challenge for the imortal. After last week’s 3-1 victory, Gremio beat the side from Peru at home with goals by Jonas and Argentinean Herrera. Now, Gremio will take on another supposedly easy side: Caracas from Venezuela.

Cruzeiro received Universid from Chile (the amount of clubs with “Universidad” makes me feel this is a college competition) and won by the minimal difference, with a goal by Kleber, the gladiator. Cruzeiro, however, missed many chances of having a larger score. Now, Cruzeiro will take on Sao Paulo, what promises to be a thrilling Brazilian clash.

The quarter-final matches will be:

Gremio x Caracas
Sao Paulo x Cruzeiro
Estudiantes x Boca or Defensor
Nacional x Palmeiras

And this is how the next round look like in terms of countries:

Brazil 4 (Sao Paulo, Palmeiras, Cruzeiro, Gremio)
Venezuela 1 (Caracas)
Uruguay 1 (Nacional)
Argentina 1 (Estudiantes)

Argentina or Uruguay could add one more team, as Boca and Defensor still have a match next week in Buenos Aires.

Saint Marcos Does Another 3 Miracles

Bruno Romani — Wed, 13 May 2009 19:21:22 +0000

Saint Mark is back. Or I should say Sao Marcos. The goalie that became a saint after denying important penalties in the Copa Libertadores in the late 90′s/early 00′s did some of his miracles again.

Palmeiras visited Sport for the second-leg of Copa Libertadores’ the round of 16. The locals played better all the time, missed important chances and scored only one goal. The 1-0 victory took the match to the penalties. And this is when Marcos wrote another chapter of his career in the history of Palmeiras. Marcos denied 3 penalties and qualified Palmeiras!

With the 3 penalties, Marcos now totals 10 penalties denied in the Copa Libertadores. Impressive. Palmeiras will now take on Nacional from Uruguay. And Sport is the first Brazilian side eliminated in the continental tournament.