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)

Related posts:

1. The Biggest Salaries in Brazilian Football
2. Dunga Calls Another 4 Players for Wednesday
3. Dunga Calls the National Team and Naldo Returns

In the 23rd round of the Brasileirao, the race for the title came down to what is promising to be a tight one. Palmeiras (44 points), Inter (43) and Sao Paulo (40) won their matches and offered no chance for each other to relax.

On the match that marked the return of Vagner Love, Palmeiras received Barueri at home. But it did not have an easy time. Still trying to adjust to the absence of Pierre (who had a ankle injury during a practice session), Palmeiras was bombarded by Barueri in the first-half. The lack of a good striker took the chance away of Barueri of jumping ahead. In the second-half, Muricy Ramalho made a few changes and that blocked the appetite of Barueri. The match had a mild feeling when Cleiton Xavier served Diego Souza to score the first. Thing did not change and Obina left the bench to get a penalty that did not exist from the referee. Vagner Love took it and scored. Barueri swallowed the goals and kept trying, which resulted, with 4 minutes left, in the goal by Leandro Castan. It was the victory of champion.

Inter visited Avai, one of the greatest positive surprises of the league. But Avai had no chance to beat one of the best Brazilian sides. Inter controlled Avai with a fast and precise game whose moments of flair were a glimpse of what this team can do. In the 34th mark, defender Fabiano Eller scored on his return to Inter after failed spells in Spain and at Santos. Following the goal, his defensive buddy Indio was red carded. Things were to get hard? No, Inter kept a superior game and attitude in the entire second-half. The result was a goal by Magrao on 80th mark. Minutes later, Bolivar was red carded. But Inter did seem to feel that as well. It was another victory of a champion.

Sao Paulo traveled to Belo Horizonte to meet Cruzeiro for the first time after the clash in the Libertadores that resulted with Cruzeiro’s qualification. Sao Paulo took over the midfield, but did not have a creative mind to arrange its offensive power. This resulted in Cruzeiro giving heat to Rogerio Ceni and the defensive midfielder Richarlysson. In the end of the first-half, neither of them could stop the promising Diego Renan from scoring for the locals. In the second-half, coach Ricardo Gomes pushed the “luck button”. With 19 minutes, he sent 20 year-old Marlos. On his first touch on the ball, the midfielder tied the game. With 35 minutes, the lighting stroke again. Gomes sent forward Borges to the match. On his first touch on the ball, he scored the second for Sao Paulo. Indeed, a victory of a champion.

Favorite Score: 2-1

Besides Corinthians 2 -1 Santos (match played on Wednesday), Palmeiras 2 -1 Barueri and Cruzeiro 1 -2 Sao Paulo, the round had another 2 matches that ended with the 2-1 score. Both of them important in the fight against relegation.

On Saturday, two sides in the bottom 4 played in Recife, as Sport received Botafogo. With only 6 minutes into the match, the score already marked Sport 2-0 Botafogo – it seemed as if Botafogo’s defense was just enjoying the extended Independence weekend. Fabiano and Wilson had no problems to score. In the second-half, defender Juninho, who is horrible but has the most powerful shot in Brazil today, scored from a free-kick. The result was terrible for Botafogo as it remains with only 23 points. Sport jumped to 20.

In Santo Andre, the local team received the fading side of Atletico-MG. Santo Andre was having an important victory until the 88th mark with a goal by Wanderley. But Atletico decided to show it is not dead yet, and Eder Luis tied. And before the match was over, Diego Tardelli may have heard that Dunga will may need some new forwards for Wednesday. With 2 minutes into the stoppage time, the striker scored with a header his 11th goal in the league, which makes him one of the top scorers. By staying with 25 points, Santo Andre joined the bottom 4 again. This defeat was typical of those looking for relegation.

Almost 2-1…

In Porto Alegre, Gremio and Vitoria regretted not scoring one more goal. The 1-1 was bad for both sides. For Gremio, losing 2 points at home is always something bitter. For Vitoria, letting Gremio tie with 4 minutes for the end of the match also hurt. Neto Berola scored in the first-half, but Jonas, again, scored a beautiful goal for Gremio.

In Rio, the 1-1 was terrible for the home team. Fluminense received Nautico in a direct battle against relegation, and failed. Conca, one of the few that plays well for Fluminense, scored first, but Carlinhos Bala scored the goal that removed Nautico from the relegation zone. Fluminense remains as the last team, and it is faded to second division – a karma that returned after Fluminense was promoted from the third to the first division by CBF in 2000.

In Goiania, Goias would’ve loved to see a 2-1 in the score board, but Coritiba and its forward Ariel did not let it happen. Ariel scored in the first-half, Goias came back with goals by Felipe and Leo Lima, but with minutes left Ariel had a glimpse of a genius. With a bicycle-kick, he tied the game again. The 2-2 was terrible for Goias as it watched the leaders to get some distance.

Bed time

Atletico-PR 0 – 0 Flamengo. Two teams without high expectations. No goal. best moment was Atletico’s coach, Antonio Lopes, fighting with the linesman. Ok, Flamengo is still able to say it never lost at Arena da Baixada, but wake me up…

Related posts:

1. Brasileiro: Palmeiras Gains New Hope
2. Brasileiro: Palmeiras and Sao Paulo Share the Top
3. Brasileiro: Flamengo Very Close to the Title