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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.

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 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: 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.

Photo: Football or Swimming?

Bruno Romani — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:04:48 +0000

The heavy rain in Porto Alegre turned the match Inter – Flamengo into a swimming contest.

Impressive Collections of Jerseys from Brazilian Clubs

Bruno Romani — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 23:26:00 +0000

The Blog Memoria E. C. has a entertaining series that features fans that collect jerseys of their clubs> There’s a lot of nice material.

The collector of Santos (click here to see pictures) has about 170 jerseys – 155 used by the players.
Highlight: Jerseys signed by Pele and the powerful sqaud from the 60′s.

Three collectors were put together to represent Vasco (pictures here). One has 80 jerseys, another has 71 and the last one has 55.
Highlight: A Jersey from 1977 worn by side-back Orlando Lelé.

Four fans represent Flamengo (pictures here). Number of jerseys each? One of them with 120 jerseys and another one with 100.
Highlights: Jersey used by forward Nunes in the final of 1982 Brasileirao and a jersey worn by forward Anselmo in the final of the 1981 Copa Libertadores.

The record in number comes from the Atletico-MG fan: 300 jerseys! (pictures here).
Highlights: A jersey from 1958 worn by forward Amorim.

Photo: Football Players Cannot Levitate

Bruno Romani — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:00:21 +0000

Defender Jean Rolt tried to prove the opposite in the match against Flamengo…

… and failed.

Photo: Flamengo’s New Kit

Bruno Romani — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:39:48 +0000

Flamengo finally got rid of Nike. The new sponsor? Olympikus, a Brazilian brand who is debuting in the football world. The result? Not that good.

More here

Adriano Gets a Hat-Trick

Bruno Romani — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:43:44 +0000

A beautiful touch, a free-kick and a penalty. The emperor’s hat-trick

Review of the Week – 2

Bruno Romani — Fri, 15 May 2009 20:02:56 +0000

The quarter finals of Copa do Brasil started with the promise of lots of goals. Ronaldo, Fred, Nilmar… There was a great amount of names. The star of the night, however, in the two most promising matches were the goalies and the post.

Corinthians 1 – 0 Fluminense: This was supposed to be a Ronaldo x Fred contest. The winner? Fluminense’s Fernando Henrique. True, the strange goalie saw Dentinho score and hit the post in the first 19 minutes. But after that, it was his match. Corinthians controlled the match, but was stopped by the goalie in a number of occasions.

Flamengo 0 – 0 Inter: In Rio, the participation of the goalies was even more decisive. Lauro and Bruno were, ironically, together in the mission of holding the zero in the score board. When it wasn’t possible to reach the ball, the post helped them. Fla hit it twice. Inter once. And the 0 draw was a victory for the two men wearing the number one. The final save of Bruno is symbolic of how hard they worked.

Ponte Preta 2 – 2 Coritiba: In the most ignored match of the quarter finals, the goalies suffered with deflections. This is how Coritiba and Ponte scored their first goals. Ponte, which is the surprise of this year’s competition, gained control in the second-half and came back. But, it allowed the visitors to tie with a few minutes left. Marcelinho Paraiba, again.

Life is Sweet

This is what Vasco fans must be thinking. The club faced Vitoria, the team that sent Vasco to the second division last year. And revenge is something to be tasted slowly. At the same stadium where Vasco fans cried last year, now they only had smiles. Vasco humiliated Vitoria with a 4-0, having absolute control of the match. Rodrigo Pimpao was the man of the match. And in the year which it is playing the second division, Vasco is very close to the semifinals in the competition that has a ticket for Copa Libertadores as a prize. Indeed, life is sweet.