Saint Marcos Retires, Muricy Named Among Best, and More

By: Junior | January 6th, 2012

The big news from the last few days is that São Marcos is retiring. Marcos spent 19 years with Palmeiras and was Brazil’s number one during the successful 2002 World Cup campaign. Unlike many of today’s players, Marcos has only played for one team his entire career, resisting the temptations of Europe to stay with his beloved Palmeiras. Without having seen any action for several months now, the veteran keeper leaves Palmeiras in a time of turbulence (the club has not lived up to its name in recent seasons). His charisma and humility has made Marcos a favorite not only for Palmeiras fans, but for football fans around Brazil.

Muricy Ramalho was named the sixth best manager in the world (best in South America) by IFFHS. The top two were, of course, Pep and Mou. Muricy’s position seems about right. He is definitely the best in Brazil, and has been for some time. Some people might not like his brand of football, but his ability to win championships is to be admired. I’d prefer him over Mano any day…

I don’t very much care about transfer rumors (there are too many and few prove true). But if something has been annoying me lately it has been the Montillo transfer saga. The talented Argentine has been struggling to be released by his club, Cruzeiro. Corinthians seems to really want the guy and is willing to offer a huge salary, but don’t want to cover the 15 million euro transfer fee. The question becomes a moral dilemma: should he be professional and stick to the contract he signed or should Cruzeiro allow him a life changing opportunity to make millions? Either way I hope it gets done quickly…tired of reading about it.

Another bit of news I found interesting was that Corinthians has already sold out general seating for the Copa Libertadores group phase. The first match is only on March 7! Sorry if I sound surprised but there is usually such a huge lack of organization and common sense in Brazilian football that to hear such news coming from Corinthians of all people is shocking.