2 Rounds and The Countdown for Relegation Has Started

By: Bruno Romani | May 18th, 2008

Kleber - Santos

Campeonato Brasileiro reached only its second round, but the countdown for relegation has started for one club: Ipatinga. The youngest club of the league in terms of age (about 10 years old) and participation (first year in série A ever) is still pursuing their first goal in the main stage of national football. Today the club from Minas Gerais visited Santos at Vila Belmiro only to find their second defeat in first division. Like Corinthians in série B, whose participation in seems to get shorter every match, the presence of Ipatinga in série A gets shorter each round. More than the relegation of Ipatinga, the 4-0 sends a clear message about the participation of Santos in Copa Libertadores: the club is not dead. Kléber Pereira pulled a hat-trick and Kleber, the left-back, completed the final score.

Another 2 clubs also give signs of a tough year in first division. Goiás and Vitória. The former just tied in 1 goal at home with the very poor squad of Atlético-MG. The latter tied in a mtach without goals against Sport, whose main focus at the moment is on the semi-finals of Copa do Brasil. The other two semifinalists of Copa do Brasil, Vasco and Botafogo, played on Saturday. Vasco took on Portuguesa in the match of the clubs of the Portuguese communities. Conducted by veteran Edmundo who scored twice and by forward Leandro Amaral, Vasco won 3-1. Botafogo, on the other hand, visited Cruzeiro, who confirmed their status as favorites to lift the trophy. The blue club won 1-0.

The only other club with 2 victories in 2 rounds is Naútico. The timbu faced the reserves of Fluminense at Maracanã and had no difficulties in scoring 2-0. Flu is getting ready for the clash againt São Paulo on Wednesday for Copa Libertadores. The club from São Paulo also sent their reserves to Paraná for the match against Atlético-PR and got a satisfying draw in one goal.

Denilson - Palmeiras

2 huge favorites to win the league faced each other in São Paulo in something considered by the press as the first final of Campeonato Brasileiro. Palmeiras was visited by Inter. The match was tough for both sides, as a final has to be. The trio Valdivia-Denilson-Alex Mineiro worked better than the trio from Inter Fernandão-Nilmar-Alex, and Palmeiras won its first match of the league, 2-1. Denilson scored first for the locals while Indio tied in the final moments of the first-half. Alex Mineiro, from the spot again this year, gave the victory for the locals, who played the last 15 minutes with a two men advantage.

Finally, Coritiba and Figueirense, who both had successful debuts in the league, faced each other, and Figueira won 2-1. The 0 draw between Flamengo and Grêmio tells everything about the game.