SÃO PAULO WINS CAMPEONATO BRASILEIRO FOR THE 6TH TIME

By: Bruno Romani | December 7th, 2008

It’s hard to talk about the third Brazilian title in a row of Sao Paulo without repeating all the cliches. I spent the day thinking a different way to put it, but the supremacy of the club over Brazilian football is obvious. The club is the youngest of the traditional clubs in Brazil – only 73 years-old. Nonetheless, it is the club with the greatest amount of Campeonato Brasileiros. In 38 editions of the tournament, Sao Paulo won almost 1/6 of them, and reached the finals and many others. This is not to mention that no other club in Brazil has also the same amount of Copa Libertadores and club world cup titles.

Sao Paulo has a serious project. It brings together a coach who is a workaholic, a captain who loves the club and has been there for 18 years, a structure that includes one of the biggest private stadiums in the world and training centers that develop young players and recover great stars. In the Brazilian titles of the last 3 years, Sao Paulo played 114 matches and lost only 16. That is a huge number. And that shows one thing: if Sao Paulo does not play beautiful football, it rarely loses. Usually, when the team plays a bad game, it gets a draw.

This year, the title had a little more drama. Last year, everyone got bored by the fact that Sao Paulo lift the trophy 4 matches before the final date. This year, the battle was intense in what probablyw as the best Campeonato Brasileiro in a long time. And the way that happened actually made the title a small detail. In August, Gremio (the runners-up) beat Sao Paulo, putting a 11 points difference. The press and the players thought they had no chance. But, what nobody knew is that that was the last defeat of Sao Paulo in the year. From there, 18 matches took place. Sao Paulo won 12 and tied 6. The 11 points behind turned into 3 points ahead. And the title, one more time went to Morumbi, turning Sao Paulo into the most victorious club of Brazilian football.

Yesterday, Sao Paulo, who played for a simple draw, had absolute control over the match against Goias. The team marked as very few ever had in Brazilian football. To make things easier, Borges, the striker who Sao Paulo fans prefer over Adriano, scored his 16th goal in the tournament. 1-0 was enough. Hernanes, Miranda, Andre Dias, Jean (who did not play), Dagoberto, Jorge Wagner, Hugo and obviously Rogerio Ceni are names to be remembered. But above all these names, Muricy Ramalho, the coach, is the face of this title. Winning 3 times in a row with the same club a title which has at least 11 favorites every year and 17 different champions in the history is not easy.

The question for next year, as it has been for the last 4 years, is obvious too. Who can beat Sao Paulo?

Watch the 66 goals from the campaign. A great opportunity to see Hernanes (number 15 and the best player of the team), Borges (number 17, top striker of the club who scored 16 goals) and even keeper and captain Rogerio Ceni in action.