Guide to the Campeonato Brasileiro 2009

And on Sunday Flamengo won 2-0 over Nautico and Internacional defeated Santos 3-1. First division newcomers Avai beat Corinthians 3-1 and move dup to 7th only 2 points back of Cruzeiro and only 3 points back of a Libertadores palce! her eis a team who have snuck up on everybody.

The top of the table with 3 games left:

Sao Paulo 62
Flamengo 60
Palmeiras 59
Internacional 56
Atletico MG 56
Cruzeiro 55
Avai 53

And Fluminense won again and now are only 2 pioints from first division survival.

Flamengo's rise has been what has really surprised me. Fueled by the evergreen Petkovic, who scored again today, and Adriano, who also grabbed a goal and led by Andrade's coaching, the former Flamengo great has really revitalized the club since taking over. Interestingly both Sao Paulo and Flamengo will play Goias in the next few weeks, the advantage Flamego has, however, is they'll play Goias at home while Sao Paulo must face them away. The teams sinking in the standings are Palmeiras and Atletico Mineiro who each might have to change their goal from winning the championship to securing a top four finish and a Libertadores spot.

Avai are coached by foreign Brazilian international Paulo Silas and the team from Florianopolis' best known fan is the now retired tennis star Gustavo "Guga" Kuerten.

To be honest Martin I too am surprised Flamengo have turned around their season so well. Just look back on this discussion from a few months ago and I was hoping at best for the team to sneak in and catch 4th place and a Libertadores spot. You have pointed out the primary keys to Mengao's success, Petkovic and Adriano from a playing perspective and the renewed confidence brought from Andrade's coaching. I'll add that Alvaro and Ronaldo Angelim have played well in the center of defense and combined with goalie Bruno they have stabilized the defensive end for the team enabling Adriano and Petkovic to win games with their offensive abilities.

3 games left and here is this weekend's schedule:

Round 36
Atletico MG x Internacional
Flamengo x Goias
Gremio x Palmeiras
Atletico PR x Cruzeiro
Botafogo x Sao Paulo

Botafogo hosts Sao Paulo at the Engenhao a few hours before Flamengo plays Goias at the Maracana so all eyes will be on Rio on Sunday. The Atletico MG x Internacional game is almost an elimination match between the two, a loser there can kiss goodbye their title hopes. Palmeiras has a difficult trip to play at Gremio and that too is a game the Verdao cannot lose.

Roberto Carlos to Corinthians appears to be getting closer to reality, the sides have reached verbal agreement, all now remaining is for the player to terminate his contract in Turkey and sign a contract with Corinthians.

I think this week and next will decide the title because on the final weekend both Sao Paulo and Flamengo, home to Sport (by then likely already relegated) and Gremio respectively have winnable matches. But this weekend each play reasonably difficult games, Sao Paulo away to Botafogo, a team trying to keep it's head above water and keep a hard charging Fluminense from moving ahead of it in the battle to avoid relegation while Flamengo are home but play a pretty good Goias club.

Then next week both Sao Paulo and Flamengo go on the road, Sao Paulo at that same Goias while Flamengo at Corinthians in what always is a rivalry matchup. Trouble is do Corinthians beat Flamengo and thereby help their even greater city rivals Sao Paulo or do they fold and let Flamengo win in order to stick it to SPFC? Interesting question but either way these next two weeks will be crucial.

Palmeiras meanwhile not only have to fight off their 3 game winless streak but also have to play at Gremio and home to Atletico MG. If they struggled against lesser foes, odds are they'll also have trouble against these better clubs. Then they close the season against Botafogo in what by then might be a must win game to survive for the carioca club.

The thought of Roberto Carlos joining Ronaldo at Corinthians is very intriguing. No doubt the club are making a push for their first Libertadores championship.

I rather have André Santos in the Left Back spot

Of course O Coringão will lose As long as São Paulo or Palmeiras don't gain any silverware this season, then it's a win-win situation.

No wonder Palmeiras keeps losing, the players are fighting among themselves!

http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news?slug=r...uters&type=lgns

Palmeiras team mates Obina and Mauricio will not play for the club again after being sent off for fighting in a league match, the Brazilian club’s vice-president said on Thursday.

The pair came to blows when they came off the field at halftime during Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat at Gremio and were shown the red card, leaving Palmeiras two men short for the entire second half.

“The two players will never again wear the Palmeiras shirt,” club vice-president Gilberto Cipullo told reporters.

Striker Obina and defender Mauricio argued over Gremio’s opening goal, scored in first half stoppage time by central defender Rafael Marques after keeper Marcos parried a shot from Argentine striker Maxi Lopez.

The pair argued as they walked off after the halftime whistle at the Olympic stadium in Porto Alegre, then exchanged punches and had to be pulled apart by other players.

Lopez scored Gremio’s second in the 70th minute.

Palmeiras, who had spent 19 consecutive rounds of the Brazilian championships in first place, have now won only one of their last nine matches and are in third place.

What a season this is! There is the craziness with Palmeiras' Mauricio and Obina which Yogi mentioned and how many clubs have told players who fight that they are through with the club? Probably not many but then again how many have fought in a game and got sent off while their club is disputing a championship? Palmeiras are not yet dead though as today Sao Paulo lost in a wild game 3-2 to Botafogo. Jobson of Palmeiras with a cracking shot from outside the box to make it 1-0, Washington ties it for the Tricolores of Sao Paulo on a header, Jorge Wagner puts Sao Paulo up 2-1 in the 2nd half, then Renato ties it for Botafogo in a crazy pinball like play, Jobson goes to the end line crosses and then his momentum carries him over the end line, his cross rebounds off of Sao Paulo's Renato Silva, back to Jobson who has returned to the field and he flicks the ball to Renato to head in! The final flick and Renato's header was almost identical to Henry's flick to Gallas for France during that fateful World Cup qualifier, well with one exception, Jobson didn't handle the ball! At first I thought Jobson was offside but the officials made the right call because it rebounded off of a Sao Paulo player.

In the 89th minute Botafogo are now down a man and the game looked ehaded to a draw but a flicked on header found Jobson one on one with Miranda, one of the best defenders in the league, Jobson dribbles miranda and beats Rogerio Ceni to give Botafogo the win and open the door for Flamengo to possibly overtake sao paulo for first if they ebat Goias later today. And with Fluminense winning again that Jobson goal keeps Botafogo out of the bottom 4 with 2 games left. Now the bad news Jobson already with a card took off his shirt in celebration and got a second yellow and sen t off so Botafogo's hero will now miss their next game which could be key in the relegation fight.

At halftime it is Flamengo 0-0 Goias.

Flamengo-Goias ended 0-0 while Internacional beat Atletico MG in belo Horizonte 1-0 So Sao Paulo hold on to the league elad:

Sao Paulo 62
Flamengo 61
Internacional 59
Palmeiras 59
Atletico MG 56
Cruzeiro 56

And at the bottom of the table,

Coritiba 44
Atletico PR 44
Botafogo 44
Fluminense 42
Santo Andre 38
Nautico 38
Sport 31

Sport are already down, it does not look good for either Nautico or Santo Andre while Fluminense can't seem to lose but are still in need of some help to avoid the drop.

More drama this week, an incredible scene with Palmeiras losing two players sent off for fighting with each other! While harsh, the club's judgment against both Mauricio and Obina is I think justified. They really let their teammates down with their fight and subsequent red cards.

Jobson had an incredible game for Botafogo, as autogol describes it he was involved in all of their goals but then got himself foolishly sent off near the final whistle for his exhubirant celebrations. With Fluminense looking unbeatable, Botafogo needed that win, if they had drawn with Sao Paulo, Fluminense would have moved ahead of them and pushed Botafogo into the relegation zone. So pitacodogringo, was it hot enough for you in Rio?

I didn't think Flamengo played poorly against Goias but Harlei and Iarley kept Goias from losing! I could not resist writing that, actually goalie Harlei did play well for Goias, but forward Iarley and his teammates also put enough pressure on Flamengo to keep them honest defensively, only at the end were Flamengo throwing everybody, including goalie Bruno, forward. Despite the draw, I don't see Corinthians helping their rivals Sao Paulo when Corinthians play Flamengo next week so Sao Paulo better win their match or else they'll go into the final week trailing Flamengo.

I was happy to see that Santos, 4-0 winners, assured themselves safety. Neymar, their 17 year old forward who has struggled this year, which should be expected, is starting to live up to his expectations though and he scored twice, Madson and Kleber Parreira each once. After watching them in the Paulista, I expected more from Santos, not necessarily championship material but at least closer to the top of the standings. By the way I read that Roberto Carlos, a lifelong Santos fan, is also considering Santos along with Corinthians for his return to Brazil. Corinthians with their greater resources, however, remain the leaders to capture his signature.

it might sound harsh but I admire Palmeiras stand on this, declaring to both players who fought on the field that you will not play for the club again. That should be a deterrent to other teammates who may end up fighting on the field. But particularly under the circumstances, a team fighting for a championship in the final weeks of the season, that was a costly argument.

In Argentina recently San Lorenzo's Renato Civelli and Pablo Pintos got into an on field fight and I believe only Pintos was sent off but they apparently made up and the club did not make any further punishment, at least publicly, of them both. They each are back playng for the club.

Maxi Lopez from everything I have read really enjoys it at Gremio and hopes to stay there next season but he's on loan from a Russian club so it will be up to Gremio to renegotiate a new deal. I hope it works out for him as I have always liked how Maxi Lopez plays.

Technically Sao Paulo can wrap up the title this weekend if they win away to Goias while Flamengo loses at Corinthians and Inter (away to relegated Sport) and Palmeiras (home to Atletico Mineiro) both do no better than draw. Unlikely on all 3 counts but especially with Corinthians hosting Flamengo, with nothing at stake for Corinthians we all know there is little chance of Corinthians helping rivals Sao Paulo out!

Sao Paulo will be without Dagoberto and Borges suspended still for their expulsions against Gremio several weeks back and Miranda and Richarylson suspended due to last weekend's match vs Botafogo. Jean the right back had his 3 game suspension from the Gremio game reduced to one so he will be back sending Adrian Gonzalez back to the bench. I am guessing one of Hugo or Marlos will take the spot Borges or Dagoberto would have occupied next to Washington.

I don't know if Corinthians will be looking to help Flamengo out this Sunday but I won't complain if they do! What I do hope is that Goais plays Sao Paulo as tough as they played us last weekend. In reality this has been a very exciting season and you want the ending to be as fair as possible. As merengue wrote, odds are in the final weekend both Sao Paulo and Flamengo have games they should win so this Sunday could well be the decisive set of games in the championship.

Palmeiras still has an outside chance for the championship too and they play at home against Atletico MG who have lost 3 straight. This might be Atletico MG's last chance to stake a Libertadores spot. No excuses though from their coach Celso Roth who said the team tried hard and were in good physical shape, they simply were not good enough, on either the offensive or defensive end to win the championship. Some refreshing comments instead of excuse making by the coach.

We were taling about the excellent coaching job Paolo Silas has done at Avai. But he could not reach agreement with the club on an extension, they likely didn't want to pay him more, so he's leaving. He'll find employment elsewhere.

A loss to Flamengo will help Coringão