Guide to the Campeonato Brasileiro 2009

Hi Brazilian football fans!

Pitacodogringo's guide to the campeonato brasileiro 2009 is out!

http://pitacodogringo.wordpress.com/2009/0...rasileiro-2009/

thanks for all your support

Jon

No, thank you. Hope one day to quaff some brews together & you rap about your best broadcasting moments. My favorite was that fight w/ Corinthians & Gremio a few seasons back. Well, I think it was Gremio. It could have been Vasco. Either way, you guys were caught off guard I thought it was funny, cause you guyz didn't know what to say. The police ran on to the pitch trying to stop the fight between the players.

Nice work pitacodogringo but add now it is official that Adriano will be with Flamengo. That will definitely help the newly crowned Carioca state champs.

If Adriano gets his head screwed on staright then Flamengo have the potential to be very good. Adriano, Ibson, Obinna, Kleberson, Jonatas, Leo Moura, et al, that is a pretty good team. I do wonder about their defense a bit though. But this is a club with some ability on the offensive end.

I am a Flamengo fan and I am looking forward to this weekend's start of the Brasileirao. I think with Leo Moura, Juan, Ronaldo Angelim and Bruno in goal Flamengo's defense can be pretty good. The club's main problem to me is it's inherent instability and poor organziation. The club need money because its directors steal from the club and thus the team are always in need of selling players. Signing Adrian is a good start but I would not be surprised if 2-3 starters leave at some point in the season as they are sold to European or Middle Eastern clubs. That is what happened last season as players like Renato Augusto and Marcinho left during the season and a team which could have challenegd for the championship faded at the end of the season, missing out on a spot in this year's Libertadores.

Welcome to the forum Alexao, good to have more posters here in the Brazilian section of the message board. The Brasileirao always is a coin toss with clubs changing players in the middle of the competition as pitacodogringo's excellent preview notes. But as they say in boxing you have to knockout the champion to take his belt and Sao Paulo have a great streak going. Rogerio Ceni will be missed but that should give Bosco time to develop. Elsewhere the club are solid, with good forwards, a strong midfield and a solid defense. Maybe Sao Paulo do lack a little creativity but Hernanes from deeper in midfield and Borges from forward may help out in that department. I also think Washington is poised to have a good season.

As for other contenders I say look at Internacional. They look very strong right now. D'Alessandro and Nilmar give them two game changing players.

Here is an interesting factoid, 3 of Brazil's 4 forwards from their 2006 World Cup team will be playing in this Brasileirao: Ronaldo (Corinthians), Adriano (Flamengo) and Fred (Fluminense). Only Robinho is missing from that 2006 squad. That helps add extra excitement to an already fascinating league.

Don't forget Guiñazu. Excellent motor for the team. Awesome talent for any team.

Don't forget Guiñazu. Excellent motor for the team. Awesome talent for any team.

That bald SOB is one tough player. I agree with you robdog he is a real benefit to his club.

I was impressed with what I saw of Internacional last year in the Copa Sudamericana. And since then they have seemed to have gotten better so yes I think they will be candidates for the Brasileirao. I place them with Sao Paulo, Cruzeiro, Gremio and Corinthians as one of the legitimate title contenders.

Welcome Alexao, nice to see you join our discussions. I look forward to reading what you have to say. And since Flamengo are Brazil's most popular club, we have needed a Flamengo supporter here, it is only right!

Football is a strange sport, this weekend in Brazil Flamengo and Sao Paulo dominated their big name opponents Cruzeiro and Fluminense but both lost. Cruzeiro playing down a man beat Flamengo on the counter to win 2-0 while an early Mauricio goal gave Fluminense a 1-0 win over Sao Paulo as they held on and defended well after that quick goal. Flamengo might have changed things around if they converted the penalty which caused Cruzeiro to be down a man but goalie Fabio saved Juan's penalty.

I am another who thinks Internacional are going to be contenders, not only are they winning, they destroyed everybody, including Gremio, in the Mineirao state championship but they are playing attractive football. They began the Brasileirao on the right foot with a 1-0 win over Corinthians at the Pacambeu. OK Corinthians were resting Ronaldo for their midweek Copa Brasil game but Internacional do have a solid team, in addition to Nilmar, D'Alessandro and Guinazu who were mentioned before, watch out for Taison, a young withdrawn forward whose progress enabled the club to sell Alex to Spartak Moscow.

And check out Nilamr's great goal to beat Corinthians:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTM6R00wdSI

The radio broadcaster blows a gasket describing this all but it really is a great goal. He beats 7 players plus the goalie!

Thank you for the welcome to the forum. I like what I have seen of it and will be contributing both in this section and elsewhere.

Nilmar's goal was fantastic and worth clicking on the link Martin gave. There has been talk of Ronaldo coming back to the selecao but the guy I think Dunga should consider at forward is Nilmar. Apparently Dunga's assistant Jorginho was at the stadium to observe him against Corinthians. I would say he will get a favorable report!

Flamengo's loss against Cruzeiro really frustrated me. The game was there to be won but Fla just missed it's chances and Cruzeiro were deadly on the break. It is just 1 of 46 games so nothing to be too concerned about but Adriano, who has not yet begun training with the team, will be needed to provide goals

As the announcer says, Que golaco!

Good to read that Jorginho and Dunga are keeping an eye out for Nilmar, he is quite a talent. I know injuries bothered him when he was in Europe but he sure looked good scoring that goal and was excellent during Internacional's run to the Copa Sudamericana title last year.

Internacional rested most of their starters for this week's Copa Brasil game against Flamengo but still sent Guinazu, D'Alessandro and Nilmar on as late substitutes and D'Alessandro scored an injury time goal on a rebound of a Nilmar shot (great save by Palmeiras' Marcos on Nilmar by the way) as Internacional beat Palmeiras 2-0. I think this win underscores the strength of Internacional this season, even their reserves were too strong for Palmeiras' first team for most of that match.

After 2 matches only Internacional and Vitoria have perfect records. That is a sign of the tough battles ahead for all the clubs. Right now Flamengo neeeds Adriano to get back in form has the club are not scoring goals in either league or Cup play. That is worrisome for all of us Mengao fans.

Cruzeiro just sold Ramires to Benfica, but I do not know if that means Ramires will remain with Cruzeiro through the summer or if he'll have to stop playing for the club?

The same applies with another midfielder, Botafogo's Maicosuel who is going to new German champions Wolfsburg.

Anybody know if they'll remain in Brasil for awhile?