10 thousand fans are expected to see him in the afternoon.

And with this picture, I’m officially on vacation. (Maybe) I’ll see you next year.

On the other hand, Flamengo, whom Ronaldo fed the hopes of fans during all this time, was caught by surprise. The fan movement “Fica Ronaldo” (Stay Ronaldo) is already talking about burning pictures of the forward.

Great to see another huge name back to Brazil.

Vasco is another victim. Not a victim of bad football. A bad moment is expected within every single club or national team. But for a club who is 4 times Brazilian Champion, a club that won Copa Libertadores, a club who has a history that includes Romario, Bebeto, Juninho Pernambucano and many others relegation is not normal. Relegation ins this case is a consequence. And Vasco has been a victim of a group of people who took over the club as a land who has no owner. A group that stole all the glory and has entered dark paths. A group that caused political convulsion. A group that fractured the club. A group who was smart enough to leave just before the ship sunk.

Vasco had to beat Vitoria. It did not. It lost 2-0 at home in the last match of Edmundo, maybe the last whisper of a great player to play for Vasco. But at the age of 37, Edmundo could not save the club his professes love. Not only that. The campaign has been so poor that even if Vasco had beaten Vitoria, the club’s final destiny would’ve the second division. Atletico-PR and Nautico did not lose. Even Figueirense, the other relegated club, won its match. Now, Vasco leaves the small group of clubs who never played second division (the others are: Flamengo, Cruzeiro, Sao Paulo, Santos and Inter). It will be a tough 2009 for Vasco. And the return will not be that easy. On other hand, second-division has proven to strength between club and fans.

Fluminense, Palmeiras, Corinthians, Botafogo, Atletico and Vasco. How many more traditional clubs will have to collapse through the hands of corrupt officials before Brazilian football adopts a professional model of administration?

Be Strong Vasco!

ps: Vitoria also is part of history. After sending Palmeiras to second division in 2002, Vitoria now sends Vasco.

In the first-half, D’Alessandro and Nilmar made the lives of Estudiantes defenders hell. Especially Nimar. He was the one who was fouled in the penalty area when Inter already had 10 men. The ref also ignored to onside situations that could’ve given Inter a larger score.

In the second-half, Inter played with heart and bravery in the defense. Estudiantes suffocated Inter in the defense with many crosses. But no ball arrived to goalie Lauro. Alvaro and Indio were superb in the defense. In the attack, Inter tried to counter-attack and almost found a second goal.

With the lead, finally Brazil may be winning this tournament. This blog hopes that happens. It’s time for Brazilian clubs to value this cup.

They did it again. Or almost. São Paulo is very close to clinching its 6th Brazilian title, the third consecutive. Today, the club went to Rio to take on Vasco, a very difficult match given that the home team is desperately fighting relegation. And São Paulo, who started the round 2 points ahead of Grêmio, went home with 5 points ahead of Grêmio with just two rounds to go. This is so because São Paulo beat Vasco 2-1 (goals by Jorge Wagner and Hugo) and Grêmio was humiliated by Vitória 4-2. The marks for São Paulo are remarkable. It hasn’t lost a match in 3 months (the last one was against Grêmio in August). After that loss, São Paulo found itself seating 11 points behind Grêmio, the leader at the time. Now, São Paulo is 5 points ahead of Grêmio.

There are reasons why Muricy Ramalho was the favorite to become the coach o the national team before Dunga pulled off that great victory against Portugal. Muricy may become the first coach to win 3 Brazilian titles for the same club. In fact, São Paulo may become the first Brazilian club to win 3 national titles in a row. Since 2006, the first year which São Paulo lifted a Brazilian trophy with Muricy, the club lost only 16 matches in the league. Vasco lost 19 only in the 2008 campaign. São Paulo needs only 2 points in the next two matches to make history. On Sunday, São Paulo plays at home against Fluminense, ironically enough, the club that eliminated São Paulo from this year’s Copa Libertadores.

For Vasco, the situation is dramatic. With the loss, the club no longer depends only on itself to avoid the second division. It is another very traditional Brazilian club going down One of the 5 that never visited the second division. Their defense is terrible.

As for Grêmio, the club was introduced by the same curse that hit the other clubs fighting for the title: losing by a large margin in an important moment. Cruzeiro, Palmeiras and Flamengo had to get the ball many time sin the back of their nets in moments of decision. This time, Vitória came back to score 4 goals and hand the title to São Paulo. Vagner Mancini, the good coach from Vitória, had his sweet revenge. In the beginning of the year, Mancini was fired from Grêmio without having a single loss. No explanations provided. If even without a loss Mancini was fired, imagine what will happen to Celso Roth now that his club sees the club slip through his hands after being on the top for many rounds.

Libertadores

Given that São Paulo and Grêmio are in the Libertadores, the other two spots are being fought by Cruzeiro, Palmeiras and Flamengo. Cruzeiro and Flamengo played one of those matches with heavy importance at Mineirão. What a match! 51 thousand fans watching the contest between Ramirez and Ibson – two good midfielders and symbol of their clubs. Cruzeiro scored with Fernandinho. Flamengo tied with Ibson. Cruzeiro scored with Thiago Ribeiro. Flamengo tied with Obina. At the end of the match, Ramirez (it had to be him) scored the third for the home team. The 3-2 could’ve been different if Carlos Eugênio Simon, the decadent ref which will represent Brazil in the next World Cup, had given a penalty to Flamengo. But Simon made another mistake and Flamengo is out of the top 4. This man has connections.

Palmeiras took advantage of that to even playing a pale football beat Ipatinga 2-0. Now the club of Luxemburgo seats in 4th and Fla in 5th.

Relegation

It remains tough, but a few clubs see the light at the end of the tunnel. Fluminense beat the reserve side of Inter 2-0. Atlético-PR tied in 2 goals with Botafogo.

Other clubs are seeing the water level rise. Portuguesa just tied at home without goals with Goiás. Figueirense, despite beating Naútico 4-3 (great match, by the way). Naútico, despite the goals of the good forward Felipe.

Some clubs in the “I don’t care zone” added to the entertaining value of the weekend. Sport beat Atlético-MG 3-0 and Coritiba beat Santos 5-1 with 4 goals by Keirrisson. What a decadence for Santos.

Goals from the Round:

What to watch in the next round:

Botafogo – Figueirense (Nothing – Relegation)
Internacional – Cruzeiro (Nothing – Libertadores)
Vitória – Palmeiras (Nothing – Libertadores)
Portuguesa – Sport (Relegation – Nothing)
Coritiba – Vasco (Nothing – Relegation)
Náutico – Atlético-PR (Relegation – Relegation)
Flamengo – Goiás (Libertadores – Nothing)
Ipatinga – Grêmio (Relegation – Title)
Atlético-MG – Santos (Nothing – Relegation)
São Paulo – Fluminense (Title – Relegation)

Inter deserves this final. It has one of the best line-ups in Brazil. No other club has a midfield with the combination of force, with Magrao and Guinazu, and skills, D’Alessandro and Alex – even though the last one was with the national team tonight. The attack with Nilmar. The defense with Bolivar and Indio. It is a great line-up. It invested. Too bad, it took them too long to start playing collectively. otherwise, they’d be fighting for the Brazilian title as well.

With this line-up, Inter needs only one player to be inspired. Tonight, it had two. D’Alessandro and Nilmar scored 2 goals each and drove the fans crazy.

But, more than that, Inter is teaching Brazil how to like Copa Sulamericana. And the campaign so far – eliminating traditional sides such as Boca, the rival Gremio and Chivas – indicates that Inter may be bringing home another continental title.

highlights:

more info soon.

… and goalie Felipe (in yellow) celebrates with the fans. After 329 days, one of the most traditional clubs of Brazil is back to first division, leaving behind the worst chapter of its history. With the 2-0 victory over Ceara at home (goals by Douglas and Chicao) and the defeat of Barueri against Parana, Corinthians reached 70 points. Even it loses every single game from now on, the timao will be back to first division of Campeonato Brasileiro. The main names of the campaign were Herrera, Douglas, Felipe, Dentinho and Andre Santos.

Update

It was a tough year for Corinthians. The fans still wondered how the second most popular club from Brazil ended relegated to the second division. Reason for sadness for the fans and jokes for rivals. But these 329 days taught great lessosn for the club. Nowdays, people managing clubs must be professional and passionate about the clubs. Second division sent away people who have been sucking the blood of this club for too long. Players, agents, partnerships and officials. Even the fans, who are known in Brazil for their passion, were able to show how much they love the club. Second division cleaned up Corinthians. The campaign was perfect. The best of a club in the second division. And as much as people say that this was just a duty, many people doubted in the beginning of the year if Corinthians could do it. But Corinthians did it. 20 victories, 10 draws and only 2 defeats. The final 6 matches for the second division will be a happy farewell from a place the club hopes to never return. Like the lyrics of O PORTÃO, song by Roberto Carlos used by the club for this moment, say, Corinthians “returned to its place and now it is for good”.

The official video from the promotion with the chorus of Roberto Carlos’s song:

Highlights of the Match:

More pics:

fans packed the Pacaembu

Douglas Celebrates Goal

Happiness

Hottie

Chicao scores the Second

For Palmeiras, on the other hand, the victory with the reserve side (the first goal was a beautiful volley by Jorge Prea) means that they still have to play this competition while fighting for the Brazilian title. “What a pain in the ass” must be thinking Luxemburgo. For some very little is a lot. For some, very little is just very little. Both sides would’ve been much happier if Vasco had qualified.

Santa Cruz, the club where Rivaldo started his career, has suffered the biggest fall a Brazilian club has ever seen. The traditional club from Pernambuco was relegated to the fourth division in 2009. This is the third relegation in a row after the club reached the first division in 2006. In 07, the club was sent from B to C. With the creation of fourth division, Santa did not achieve good results in third division and end up being sent to the série D. The relegation was confirmed after Caxias thrashed Brasil de Pelota 5-1. The club was the victim of amateurish administrations, as it has been current in Brazil. Santa Cruz is not as big as the clubs from South/Southeast, but it is a traditional side of the state of Pernambuco and has extensive participations in the main divisions of Brazilian football. For the fans, it must hurt even more to see rivals Naútico and Sport in série A (with the last one winning Copa do Brasil earlier this year). Now, it’s time for Santa to regroup and clean its board of officials. Hope to hear better news from the club in the near future.

The time line for Santa Cruz

2006 – Série A

Campaign:
7 wins, 7 draws, 24 losses. 24 goals scored. 76 allowed.

Worst score:
4-0 against Vasco playing at home.

Main players:
Jorge Henrique, Carlinhos Bala, Márcio Mixirica.

Besides the league:
Eliminated in the second round of Copa do Brasil by Vitória. Second in the state championship after losing in the penalties for Sport.

2007 – Série B

Campaign:
10 wins, 12 draws, 16 losses. 47 goals scored. 65 allowed.

Worst Score:
6 – 0 against Ponte Preta playing away.

Main players:
Marcelos Ramos, Kuki, Carlinhos Paraíba

Besides the league:
Eliminated in the first round of Copa do Brasil by the unknown Ulbra Ji-Paraná from Rondônia. In the state championship, only the 6th place.

2008 – Série C

Campaign:
Last club in the second stage of the tournament

Worst Score:
3-0 for Potiguar playing away.

Main Players:
Rosembrick, Sandro

Besides the league:
Eliminated in the first round of Copa do Brasil by Fast from Amapá. 7th spot in the state championship, which forced the club into a tournament to escape relegation.