Semifinals time in the State Leagues - (featuring videos)

By: Bruno Romani | April 15th, 2007

State leagues traditionally stay in the hands of traditional and bigger sides, with few surprises every year. This weekend, however, showed these clubs they’d better watch out.

Paulista Championship

In the Paulista Championship, São Paulo and Santos, the two best Brazilian teams in the season, were able to pull-out just disappointing draws against São Caetano and Bragantino, respectively. On Saturday, Santos could not find its way into the net of Bragantino. The club that revealed Wanderley Luxemburgo back in 1990, with the Paulista title, held on strongly to the zero on the scored board, and blocked almost every action of Santos.

On Sunday, it was São Paulo’s turn to not justify the favoritism it had. Hugo scored in the first half for the tricolor, but Richarlysson scored an own goal for São Caetano, who managed the result until the final blow. Both São Paulo and Santos need a simple draw next weekend to advance to the finals, but fans were quite disappointed.

Rio, Rio Grande do Sul and Minas

In Rio, Botafogo and Cabofriense played the first game deciding who will join Flamengo in the final. The final score of 2-2 came as unexpected as Cabofriense’s presence in this decision itself. Dodô scored with a beautiful bicycle-kick, but Cabofriense came back on the scored board, holding the victory until the final moments of the game. Next Sunday, a new draw will lead the game to penalty shoot-outs.

If draws were shocking and disappointing for fans of bigger clubs, Grêmio’s performance this Sunday against Caxias for the semifinal of the Gauchão angered its fans. The tricolor gaucho lost 3-0, a result that left the club more distant from the finals. The fans booed-off the players, and Lucas, the young talent, had a mediocre match. Internacional, the other traditional side from Porto Alegre was eliminated in the group stage.

In Minas, Cruzeiro, headed by Paulo Autuori, just tied against Tupi for the semifinal of the local state tournament by the scored of 0-0. Its biggest rival, Atlético-MG, was the only traditional club to win this weekend. The galo had a comeback in the score board and won 2-1.

Links for Highlights:

Tupi 0 x 0 Cruzeiro

http://globoesporte.globo.com/ESP/Noticia/0,,MUL22146-4401,00.html

Bragantino 0 x 0 Santos

http://video.globo.com/Videos/Player/Esportes/0,,GIM665105-7824-MELHORES+MOMENTOS+BRAGANTINO+X+SANTOS+PELA+SEMIFINAL+DO+PAULISTAO,00.html

Sao Caetano 1 x 1 Sao Paulo

http://globoesporte.globo.com/ESP/Noticia/0,,MUL22247-8068,00.html

Cabofriense 2 x 2 Botafogo

http://globoesporte.globo.com/ESP/Noticia/0,,MUL22341-8066,00.html