does lulinha play for corinthians, and is he any good, and what is the story with Kerlon?

Kerlon's been out since January with a cruciate ligament injury and isn't predicted to return until October. In fact, he's been plagued by injuries for the last two years. He's been angling for a move to Europe and is fed up at Cruzeiro because he's not guaranteed a first team place. I would think Cruzeiro would be delighted to get whatever they can for him.

Pitacodogringo would be able to give you a more informed assessment of Lulinha. I haven't seen much of him - my initial impression was talented but still a bit lightweight physically. He's been having a tough time at Corinthians and has been in and out of the team. The lad's still only 18 but the fans have given him a lot of stick for some erratic performances and for missing the chance that would have won them the Copa Brasil.

he's very small alright. He looked good for brazil in the u-17 world cup and has a fantastic scoring record in underage internationals, but as you suggest, he might have difficulty making the step up. He's also a star in football manager, and has a ridiculous buyout clause, that is 1/10th of the real one.

Does anyone here have any thoughts on the da silva brothers Rafael and fabio who signed for man utd. they look like very exciting players, but from what i've seen they mightn't be the greatest defenders on god's earth.

too much was expected of Lulinha (and Dentinho) when they hit the scene less than a year ago. Lulinha is talented though i've never seen him do anything special for Corinthians. a few months ago, the fans used to sing his name when he was on the bench. now, many of them want him to leave the club. Lulinha was over-hyped from the beginning (not his fault). he needs time to develop but he may not get it at Corinthians.

why on earth are the corinthians fans trying to crucify an eighteen year old? that's just insane.

It is insane but there are many, many insane things about Brazilian football. Flamengo have just lost the chance to sign the Uruguayan Morales and last year's top scorer Josiel, both players saying they're too frightened of the fans.

For those interested in Corinthians there's a big game tonight. After their recent slump, they could be overtaken at the top of Serie B if they lose at second-placed Avaí.

Thought I would start watching the games on SportsXchange and for some reason have picked Vasco da Gama as a team to follow. What have I let myself in for?

there was a rumour that Corinthians wanted to use Lulinha as part of a deal to buy Morais from Vasco but apparently that's been knocked on the head (though Corinthians still want Morais)

Saw the last game Corinthians played against Vila Nova and they threw it away. I really like their new home kit though. Should have got it when I was out there. What I did get was a book chronicling the history of Corinthians. Pele writes the foreword. In it he says he was a Corinthians fan as youngster. Is this really true? Or, as I suspect, does his childhood team depend on who is paying him the most money to write forewords in books?

Gremio Sao Paulo does indeed look tasty. They looked to be the two best teams I saw on the telly when I was out there.

Yeah I wouldn't have thought Lulinha would have prospered playing for Vasco at the moment. I would imagine Morais would want to be on his way asap as he's another player who has recently refused to play because of intimidation by supporters.

Chas, Vasco have a great tradition, a fantastic kit, a lovely old stadium but unfortunately a lousy team and no money with which to improve it. Their main problem is the defence, though for a team in the relegation zone, they've scored a fair number. Edmundo, at 37 (years, not goals) is leading scorer.

I think they'll find it tough to avoid relegation. Look on the bright side though - no-one will accuse you of being a glory-hunter.

I watched a couple of games last night, Gremio V São Paulo and Sport V Bota, neither game was up to much. Awful goal by Gremio that was about 5 metres offside, the linesman's attention drawn more to the fact that he might have to call a foul or the ball would go off for a throw rather than watching what was going on in the penalty area. Diego Souza was f*cking ace for Gremio, yet another player who slipped through Benfica's fingers.

I think they'll find it tough to avoid relegation. Look on the bright side though - no-one will accuse you of being a glory-hunter.[/quote]

Phew, thought my mediocre-hunting credentials were being questioned. You are right about the kit, it is cool. Nice to see that Reebok have not messed with the classic design.

I see Edmundo scored again this weekend. Relegation...pah!

Sometimes it seems that the more I learn about Brazilian football the less I know. Last amtch Vasco fans had a big banner saying 'We would play for free. And better than you'. By the end of yesterday's game they were giving them Olés. Of course it helped that Nilmar missed an early chance for Internacional and that keeper Clemer did an airshot from a backpass for the first goal but in the second half Vasco really were good, in particular Edmundo and the terrier-like midfielder Madson. Sorry, Colorado Matt, but you could see why Inter are so poor away from home as their defence just watched as Edmundo strolled through for his two goals.

Some things though are more predictable. For example, Alex Mineiro will score for Palmeiras, Kléber Perreira will score for Santos and Grêmio will just win, albeit as Steveeee said, from a blatantly offside goal. They're at Flamengo on Thursday so I'll get a chance to see if they're as good as their record suggests.

Sport v Botafogo was a poor game which was hardly a surprise on Sport's ploughed field of a pitch but Botafogo have won five in a row and are now fourth. Of course, I had predicted that they'd be Rio's weakest team this year.

Can't remember when it last happened but, amazingly, all four Rio teams won! Vasco scraped a 1-0 win at Portuguesa and Fluminenese, courtesy of another Washington hat-trick, won 3-1 at Naútico to pull clear of the relegation zone.

At the other end Botafogo went third thanks to a dodgy penalty against Cruzeiro and it may just be that Flamengo have turned the corner. Their 2-1 win over Grêmio owed more to sweat and hard work than any real quality but they just about deserved it against a disappointingly unadventurous Grêmio. Surprisingly, it was their star keeper Victor who spilled Juan's long range effort for Maxi to score but Grêmio will have thought they'd secured a point with Souza's fantastic free kick. This only spurred Flamengo to greater efforts and Toró scrambled a late winner. It was only Grêmio's third defeat of the season - all of them in Rio.

Ah - excellent. Just found out that Juan has been called up to the Brazil squad for the WC qualifiers. Hope that Dunga a) select shim and b) allows him as much licence to go forward as he gets at Flamengo.

A look at Brazil's Serie B (I was checking whether Corinthians were walking to promotion, and they are) reveals that none of Rio's smaller clubs are at that level. Is that unusual? I'd expected, after the "Big 4" from the Carioca, that Rio's smaller clubs would still be "bigger" than some of the provincial teams that make up Serie A, never mind B.

I'm trying to remember a time when London's dozen or so league clubs have split so that say Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea and West Ham were all in Division One, and everyone else was in Division Three or lower, but can't.