Grêmio must be feeling very happy that, having gained just one point out of six, their lead remains at 5 points. Of the chasing group, only Palmeiras and Vítoria won with five out of the 10 games ending in draws.

Botafogo missed the chance to go second, conceding a late equaliser to Vasco which ended a run of six consecutive wins. They've had some good fortune but their success has been built on a well organised defence, the good form of midfielders Túlio and Lúcio Flavio and the ability to grab a goal and defend the lead. For creativity they're over-dependent on Carlos Alberto who's always likely to pick up suspensions. As for Gil, he only plays when Jorge Henrique or Wellingon Paulista are unavailable and whenever I've seen him he's been anonymous and the fans don't seem to like him much either. New striker Zárate has arrived from Argentina so his opportunities could be further limited.

Matt - sent you a PM

Just discovered this thread, excellent stuff. I'll see if I can get any joy from some of those TV links.

Always had a soft spot for Vasco, not just for the reasons already cited but also they are named after an explorer... Always loved Edmundo too.

Can anyone tell me if Brasilia has a team in the championship?

The two teams from Brasilia, Gama and Brasiliense, both play in Serie B.

Easy to sum up this week as Grêmio and Palmeiras both win to stretch their lead over the next six teams who all draw. Botafogo and Cruzeiro will both be kicking themselves for conceding late equalisers to Naútico and Coritiba who had both been reduced to 10 men.

There were audible gasps at Botafogo as Zárate waddled on from the subs bench. Forget Cabanas, this truly is the fattest man in South American football. There's Brazilian women who'd pay a fortune for a bunda like that.

And a classic Fla-Flu clássico in front of 62,000, with Flamengo getting a deserved equaliser at the end but the goal of the game coming from a stunning strike by the excellent Conca.

Gone a bit quiet in here lads!

Tite could be the latest managerial casualty if Inter lose to struggling Portuguesa tomorrow evening.

Bolivar is expected to dropped to the disappointment of fans. Former coach Muricy Ramalho (currently at Sao Paulo) talked about how he was interested in returning when Abel Braga left the club but he would not want to move now.

I'm reading that as a "Yes, I'd love to come back but can't say that whilst someone is still in charge there."

It has gone quiet, hasn't it? I suppose people have more exciting news to talk about from England. I expect to see my first Man City shirt here shortly.

Anyway, Matt, Atlético PR have beaten Inter to it and sacked their third manager this season. That's an average of about seven league games each. The last guy lasted 20 days. The new manager is Geninho who, as far as I recall, is on his third club this season, though I may have missed one. They may regret sacking their first manager, Ney Franco, who is currently working wonders at Botafogo.

I'll do my usual round up after tomorrow's games but the real excitement here is the WC qualifiers against Chile and Bolivia and the news that Dunga has picked a team with only two defensive midfielders! Corinthians fan President Lula has also entered the fray slagging off the Seleção by comparing them unfavourably to Argentina, and Messi in particular, saying that when they lose the ball they just stand around with their arms folded.

I expect to see my first Man City shirt here shortly.

That was one of my first thoughts when I heard that Robinho was going to Manchester City. (My first thought was the same as everybody else's - ..what the fuck..?)

Is he getting the no 10 shirt at City, does anyone know?

I was asked to bring 2 Chelsea shirts over to Brazil this summer, in honour of Felipao, but now, as sid says, Man City shirts may now be more in fashion.

QUOTE:
Is he getting the no 10 shirt at City, does anyone know?

Yes.

sidjames wrote:

QUOTE:


Anyway, Matt, Atlético PR have beaten Inter to it and sacked their third manager this season. That's an average of about seven league games each. The last guy lasted 20 days. The new manager is Geninho who, as far as I recall, is on his third club this season, though I may have missed one.

President Lula has also entered the fray slagging off the Seleção by comparing them unfavourably to Argentina, and Messi in particular, saying that when they lose the ball they just stand around with their arms folded.

APR are on their fifth coach (including a caretaker) this season! they won the league with Geninho in 2001.

i agree with lula about the folding of the arms thing - thiago neves, roger (ex grêmio), diego (werder) are all masters of this art

With Grêmio's surprise defeat at home to Goiás, this was meant to be the Sunday when Flamengo and Botafogo staked their claim to the title - and of course they blew it. Flamengo were comprehensively defeated at São Paulo and Botafogo crashed to their first defeat in 13 games at home to Inter. The big winners were Palmeiras who closed the gap to 3 points with a win at Cruzeiro.

To complete a miserable day for Carioca teams, Vasco and Fluminense both slipped further into relegation trouble. Vasco somehow contrived, for the second game running to end up with 9 men, a striker in goal and a 3-1 defeat, this time to Naútico. Flu succumbed to Santos including, of course, a goal from Kleber Perreira who's now the artilheiro and has scored an incredible 62% of his team's goals this season.

The championship is finally starting to come to head now! Gremio dropping points yet again! :)

Excuse the shameless plugging but results, table and all the goals can be found here- http://internacionaluk.blogspot.com

Palmeiras to win title? Vasco to go down?

Well, the gap is now down to one point with Palmeiras' comfortable win over Vasco so you could be right. And I'm sure you're aware that next Sunday Grêmio have a rather tricky clássico to get through.

Vasco, now under Renato Gaúcho again, will have to hope to win some home games but Fluminense are in an even worse position having thrown away a lead and a ludicrous late winner at home to Coritiba. Only two Carioca teams in Serie A next season? Surely unthinkable.

Not that Botafogo and Flamengo are much better. Botafogo lost at bottom of the league Portuguesa and their excellent run is well and truly over and although Flamengo returned to the top 4, they had to hang on for a 1-0 win against Ipatinga. I don't rate their chances of staying there.

Sid, how is Marcelinho Paraiba doing with Flamengo since his arrival from Germany? I always rated him a pretty good player and I think his signing can be a boost for Flamengo and help offset their player losses during the championship.

He's doing fine and has already scored three times including the winner on Sunday. In fact he's the only one of Flamengo's belated reinforcements to have made an impact so far and he deserves a good deal of credit as he's been played both up front and in midfield in an ever changing line-up. If Josiel can settle in, he might be able to form a decent partnership with him.

And you'll be pleased to know he's now dyed his hair red and black.

I suspect Colorado Matt my appear here soon for his take on Inter 4 Grêmio 1. Palmeiras go top despite just drawing at Naútico.

Incredibly, Flamengo, having played pretty abysmally for a number of weeks, are now just 4 points off the lead after a comeback win over Sport.

The news for Fluminense and Vasco just doesn't get any better and they now occupy the bottom two places. Vasco managed to lose at Ipatinga and only an added time equaliser saved Flu in the clássico against Botafogo. Well, I say clássico but only 12000 bothered to turn up in the pouring rain. Flu desperately need a win on Wednesday at home to Goiás who are currently the league's form team. As for Vasco, I think they need either a completely new defence or a miracle.