The new league season began last weekend in Brasil with 4 of the clubs (Santos, Corinthians, Vasco and Fluminense) minds firmly planted in the Copa Libertadores and thus they played mostly reserved filled teams. I would think each of those 4 along with Internacional and São Paulo have to be considered the favorites for the league title.

Sambafoot provides pretty good English language coverage of Brasilian football and here is their weekly review of round 1 play, including highlights of all the goals:

http://www.sambafoot.com/en/news/31486_bra...o_round-up.html

Botafogo's German Herrera with 3 goals in their 4x2 win over São Paulo was probably the weekend highlight. Fluminense beat Corinthians 1x0 in a match of the last two league champions.

A very good capsule look at each of the teams in the Brasilian championship with their major comings and goings. It is well worth viewing to get an idea of the various clubs.

Two games into the season and Botafogo, Vasco and Atletico Mineiro are the only clubs with perfect records. Coritiba and Corinthians the only two without points.

Two surprising signings, goalie Dida has signed to play for newly promoted Portuguesa. He is 38 and has not played since he left Milan in the summer of 2010!

Left back Fabio Aurelio, once of Valencia and Liverpool, has signed with Gremio.

Pretty amazing news about Dida, I think everyone thought he was retired. He's going to a club where he should find playing time and if he recovers his old form then he should benefit Portuguesa.

The big news in Brasil, however, is Ronaldinho terminating his contract with Flamengo because of unpaid wages. Flamengo for their part were left holding the bag after Traffic pulle dout of their sponsorship agreement with the club which was to cover his wages. Traffic's reason for pulling out? Ronaldinho's unprofessionalism!

I wanted to give Ronaldinho the benefit of the doubt and was hoping he could lead Flamengo to glory but mostly he partied, when he did play he laid off some nice passes occasionally, hit a few good free kicks but mostly just strolled around the field of play. He was not worth the money and Flamengo can use that money better elsewhere.

Alexao, even though I haven't posted, I am enjoying your analysis. It is much appreciated

Thanks Alexao for keeping the thread alive in my absence. I am back now and ready to contribute. Good riddance to Ronaldinho. While Flamengo have been and probably always will be a mess organizationally, it was his lack of professionalism which i think led the club to witholding some of his wages. Plus his lackluster player was not attracting the sponsorships necessary to maintain a high salary.

Now please Mengao, do not compound your mistake by signing Adriano!

It looks like Atletico Mineiro, the longest suffering "big club" in Brazil (see our thread in the General Soccer Discussion about Big Clubs with Long Title Droughts), are about to engage in the folly of signing Ronaldinho! Not many beaches for him to hang out in though in Belo Horizonte!

No beaches but still plenty of nightclubs in Belo Horizonte. Ronaldinho will still have his fun. But how well will he play with Atletico MG? The signs from his recent play with Flamengo are not promising.

A few topics recently from Brasilian club football:

1. Palmeiras will meet Coritiba in the Copa Brasil Final, Palmeiras got by Gremio in a matchup of two former Brasil national team coaches, Scolari versus Luxemburgo. Coritiba defeated Sao Paulo in the other semifinal.

2. Cicinho has signed for Sport Recife, his former Roma teammate Mancini will play for Bahia.

3. Corinthians and Santos have been playing reserve filled teams while they participate in the Libertadores, as a result neither are doing well at the start of league play, after 5 matches played Corinthians are in last place with only 1 point, Santos are not much better, in 17th place in the 20 team league with only 3 points. Of course Copa Brasil finalists Coritiba (6 points) andPpalmeiras (2) are not doing much beeetr either.

4. Vasco, Cruzeiro and Atletico Mineiro are 1,2,3 in the league with 13, 11 and 10 points respectively.

5. Nilmar has agreed personal terms but not yet signed with Internacional.

6. Denilson's loan at Sao Pauo has ended and he returns to Arsenal in England after a loan spell with more pain than glory.

Cruzeiro took over first place after they beat Vasco 3-1, Walter Montillo was the inspiration behind Cruzeiro's victory.

Corinthians got their first win of the season even playing with reserves as they beat local rivals Palmeiras 2-1. Young attacker Romarinho (no relation to THE Romario) with both goals, one an excellent backheel much like Welbeck's goal for England against Sweden. A name to watch in the future for Corinthians.

Gremio sold their goalkeeper Victor to Atletico MG where he will now team up with Ronaldinho. Guess who Victor's new team plays this weekend? Yes, his old one Gremio!

Kleberson, the 2002 World Cup winner has signed with Bahia.

Botafogo have announced they have signed Clarence Seedorf. he has a Brasilian wife and it was long rumored he would head there at the end of his career. But as he showed with Milan, he still has something to give a team and should be a good signing for Botafogo.

The Uruguayan press are reporting another big name could be coming to Brasil as Diego Forlan is close to signing with Internacional.

We are seeing the benefits of Brasil's improved economic position.

Going the other way, however, is Romulo, the Vasco midfielder who will likely be on Brasil's U23 Olympic Team, he heads to Spartak Moscow.

Man, those are some big names coming to Brasileirão. I always tell people to watch this league...Now I have more reasons why they should.

These are excitig times in the Brasilian league, that is for sure. Cruzeiro lost this weekend 3x2 to Sao Paulo, who last week fired their coach Emerson Leao, a great former goalie but an arrogant ass as a coach. With the defeat Cruzeiro gave up first place in the league to city rivals Atletico Mineiro who won 1x0 away to Gremio. Yes Ronaldinho's new team are playing well, Jo with the only goal in their win today. Atletico MG also announced the signing of experienced defender Ceara who left PSG to return home. A good addition to a team which already features, in addition to Ronaldinho and Jo, centerback Rever, defensive midfielder Pierre and attacking midfielder Danilinho.

Corinthians league match was postponed to give them additional time to prepare for the Libertadores 2nd leg.

Botafogo are allowing Sebastian Abreu, German Herrera and Maicoseul to leave to help clear the way for Seedorf and his high wages to arrive. Botafogo have traditionally been the least successful of Rio's big four clubs but they have been winning praise for their signing of Seedorf. He is not here for a vacation, he's a very professional player and should be a good contributor to the team.