4 Clubs and 2 Derbies: A Preview of Copa Libertadores in the States Leagues

By: Bruno Romani | February 10th, 2008

A month later, the season in Brazil seems to be taking off. Both the Paulista and Carioca Championships had great derbies on the weekend, involving 4 of the 5 Brazilian clubs in this year’s Copa Libertadores.

Sao Paulo - Fabio Santos celebrates

In São Paulo, the match was São Paulo and Santos. The tricolor controlled all the actions in the first-half, but Santos scored first through Kléber Pereira with 15 minutes into the match. São Paulo kept missing chances until Fábio Santos scored to tie. The second-half started and defender Juninho took a free-kick to score his first goal as a São Paulo player. It seemed as if São Paulo was ready for an easy victory. But 10 minutes later Rodrigo Souto tied for the visitors with a beautiful header. From that point, Santos missed clear chances through Kléber Pereira. Suddenly it seemed it was 2002 again when Santos with a squad made of young and unknown talents such as Robinho and Diego beat São Paulo full of stars, such as Kaká and Luis Fabiano. This time, however, São Paulo’s coach Muricy Ramalho sent Carlos Alberto to action and he scored with 3 minutes left the last goal of the afternoon. Before the referee blew the whistle, Adriano tried to be Zidane. Not in a good way. The forward, who was having a poor performance, tried to hit defender Domingos with his head and was sent-off.

goals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKaKD8-JSLM

Thiago Neves celebrates (Fluminense)

In Rio, the first Fla-Flu of the year took place. Full of reserves, given the odd schedule of the tournament which put face to face two sides already qualified. However, it was thrilling, with lots of emotions. In the first-half, both goalies showed their skills, keeping the 0 untouched in the scoreboard. In the second-half, the story was different. With 4 minutes, Kléberson (yes, the one who lifted the 02 World Cup) scored. Just 3 minutes later, the name of the afternoon started to appear. Midfielder Thiago Neves, whom you head about first in this blog, took a free-kick and tied for Fluminense. 20 minutes later, another free-kick. Another goal by Thiago Neves. With 10 minutes left, Thiago Neves completed the hat-trick in a beautiful play in which he dribbled Egídio by passing the ball between his legs. To complete, Mauricio scored the last goal for Flu. A sound victory no matter the number of reserves on the pitch.

Other results of big clubs around Brazil:

-Palmeiras 3 x 0 Guarani and Ituano 0 x 2 Corinthians. The big rivals both win after 4 matches in the Paulista championship. The leader is still is Ponte Preta, who won beat Rio Preto, 1 -0.

-Without Romario, Vasco destroyed Cabofriense with a 5-1. Botafogo was surprised by Madureira, losing by 2-1.

-Reserves of Cruzeiro beat Democrata 3-0 and kept the 100% campaign of the club in the local championship. Atlético-MG beat Vila Nova.

-In Rio Grande do Sul, Inter killed Brasil from Pelotas with a 5-0 conducted by midfielder Alex. Grêmio beat Novo Hamburgo with 2 goals before the 10th minute mark. The 2-0 also had the the debut of midfielder Roger.