Plenty has happened since my last post, notably Scolari getting sacked at Palmeiras and Ganso getting his long-awaited transfer to São Paulo.

On the pitch, there were some big surprises at the top with Flu and Atlético losing to Atlético-GO and Naútico respectively but Grêmio and vasco couldn't take full advantage as they were both held to 1-1 draws.

At the bottom Palmeiras are in big trouble after losing to Corinthians and are now eight points from safety. Their supporters smashed up thre Pacaembu and tried to invade the VIP area to attack their directors. They now face losing home advantage for a lengthy period. Also in trouble are Flamengo who still can't win and their 1-1 draw at home to Grêmio kept them just four points above the relegation zone.

Goal of the week from guess who - yes, Neymar.

Wow. The buildup's even better than the final burst through the lines and finish.

Sam Kelly wrote:


Echoed, thanks for keeping the thread up during the hard times Mr. Singing Rooster.

Thanks Steveeeeeee.

On Saturday, I decided to do a bit of ground-hopping and catch some Serie C action. Duque de Caxias beat Brasiliense 1-0 in front of about 200 people to go top of the league. It's quite possible that they could be playing Palmeiras (or even Flamengo) next year.

Significant action at both top and bottom this weekend. Fluminense opened up a 4 point lead after struggling to a 2-1 win over Náutico but they had the referee to thank for not giving this blatant penalty as they were hanging on at the end. Flu will also have been delighted to gain two points on each of their closest rivals as Atlético and Grêmio drew in a fine but goalless game.

Palmeiras and Flamengo both increased their chances of avoiding the drop by recording rare wins against relegation rivals Figueirense and Atlético-GO. However,Palmeiras are still 5 points from safety.

Flamengo, who have had difficulty in persuading anyone to join them, resorted to signing 31 year-old Cleber Santana from Serie B Avaí. It says something that he was their best player and scored their first goal. The best moment, though was Wagner Love's effort from 2 yards out. I just loved the commentator's reaction.

cantagalo wrote:


Why does he keep repeating "Futebol Clube, Sporte Clube"? Not the easiest bit of commentary to understand, despite my lower-intermediate Portuguese. I get, "Unbelievable! Football Club, Sport Club, Sport Club. I've no way of knowing what you wanted to do. You're going to be finished in this attack without argument. Give back your shirt Wagner!"

How's Airton doing? He's coming back to Benfica in January. I always liked him until Jorge Jesus started playing him at right back.

Actually, that clip does need some explanation. Globo TV have this feature called 'Inacreditável Futebol Clube' for which players are 'signed' for making ridiculous misses such as Wagner Love's. They go to the training ground and award them the 'Inacreditável' team shirt. The best ones are where the´player refuses to accept the shirt and storms off in a huff but most of them accept the piss-take gracefully. Probably the most famous inductee into IFC is Deivid (a player who makes a habit of spurning open goals) whose miss against Vasco was considered the funniest of all time.

I didn't catch all of the commentator's hysterics either, but he did say something like 'He'll have to wear the shirt, no argument. Put on the shirt now, Wagner'.

As for Airton, at the moment he's out injured again but he hasn't had a great season. Sometimes the fans unfairly scapegoat him for not being the creative midfielder that Flamengo desperately need and he's no worse than any of their other numerous volantes. It's not easy playing for Flamengo this season but for me he's far too inclined to make rash or violent tackles. I would certainly like to see him playing for Benfica in the later stages of the Champions League!

Excellent explanation, cantagalo, but you've accidentally linked to that same Wagner Love goal rather than Deivid's miss against Vasco. I would just let that slide, except I really want to see the Deivid miss if it's considered better than Wagner's...

Ah sorry about that. Here's Deivid's miss in all it's glory.

For even more amusement, just search YouTube for 'Deivid gol perdido' for more of the great man's numerous misses.

Fucking hell. And he does that often enough to have a reputation for it? How on earth is he a professional footballer?

Sam Kelly wrote:


Zico bigged him up, a lot. He was at Sporting for a season and was very average, but Zico bought him for stupid money when he was in charge of Fernerbache (I think that was the club).

Thanks for the background on that clip canta, the "volta a camisola" makes more sense, asking a player to give back the shirt is more a fan thing that a commentator expression.

Regarding Airton, in the last moments of his Benfica career he started suffering from the same infliction that hits many Brazilian players in Europe. He just started putting on tonnes of weight. Too many churascos at Luisão's house.

Here's five classics from Deivid in 2011. My favourites are the header against Atlético which goes in the wrong direction by 180 degrees and the miss against Santos which perhaps didn't get the attention it deserved because it was in that famous Neymar v Ronaldinho 4-5 game.

cantagalo wrote:


That is truly amazing. I agree, the Atlético header is a truly incredible miss, but No.1 against Santos deservedly sits on top spot. I lover the clip afterwards, not the expression of Wanderlei Luxemburgo, but the black player with the dreadlocks behind him, who is motionless in disbelief.

I also love the fact that his is only his misses in 2011!

The player with the dreadlocks is Diégo Mauricio, also a forward, thinking 'Just what the fuck do I have to do to get in this team'?

Three weeks ago, our hero was transferred to Coritiba. He hasn't wasted much time.

Last night there was that rarity in Brazilian football - a capacity crowd with a proper atmosphere. Cut-price tickets and the return of pantomime villain Ronaldinho attracted 39,000 to the normally atmosphere-free zone of the Engenhão to see Flamengo produce a spirited performance to beat Atlético 2-1 with goals from Wagner Love (a fine volley) and the winner from Liedson when Atlético were just getting on top after Jô's equaliser. After the normally excellent Réver completely lost his head to get himself sent off that was it.

So Atlético remain four points off the lead and Flamengo no longer need to worry about relegation but they could yet do Atlético a favour in Sunday's Fla-Flu clássico.

cantagalo wrote:


Fantastic. I honestly believe I'd have scored at least 3 and possibly 4 of those 5 myself (I'm epically shit at headers, even when compared with how bad I am at every other skill in football. But I'd have done better than he did with that one, too).

Fluminense opened up a six point lead at the top after to a 1-0 win over Flamengo thanks to this golaço from Fred and a penalty save from Diégo Cavalieri. They're no-one's idea of a great team but always seem to find a way to win whether it's through a set piece, a moment of individual brilliance from Fred or some defensive heroics. In fact, Flamengo had enough chancrs to win comfortably. Cleber Santana has an open goal from 5 yards out but was struck by the curse of Deivid.

Atlético's poor form continued as they could scrape a draw at Portuguesa. I actually think they're a better team than Flu but even though they still have to play Flu at home, 6 points is a lot to make up in the remaining 10 rounds.

Neymar hit the headlines again but this time it was for getting sent off as Santos fought back to draw 1-1 at Grêmio and there was an unusual incident at Naútico where the referee refused to start the game until a banner stating 'Não irão nos derrubar no apito' (Literally - They will not knock us down by the whistle) was removed. Naútico haven't been getting many decisions recently, including the one I referred to at Fluminense last week. The banner was eventually withdrawn and the match started 17 minutes late.

Wins for each of the top four mean that Flu maintain their 6 point lead over Atlético and of course it was a goal from Fred that squeezed them past Botafogo. However it was Atlético and a sensational performance from Ronaldinho in their 6-0 win over the doomed Figueirense who provided most of the entertainment. He scored three, including a curler into the top corner and one of his trademark under-the-wall free-kicks, and made two of the other three goals. Well, have a look for yourselves.

At the bottom Palmeiras are now 6 points from safety aftr a 3-0 thrashing in the clássico against São Paulo, a game which included the goal of the week from the unlikely source of Arsenal's very own Denilson.

Off to Belo Horizonte early tomorrow for the holiday weekend so just time to report that Flu seem to have almost wrapped up the title with a 2-0 win at Bahia. They now have a nine point lead over Atlético whose defeat at International means that Grêmio move into second place as they have just won at Sport.

And a massive game at the bottom tonight as Coritiba win 1-0 at Palmeiras who are now nine points from safety and look doomed. It was a late penalty that won it and guess who had the bottle to step up and coolly convert it - yes, the great man himself, Deivid!

A strange symmetry in the games of leaders Flu and Atlético this weekend. Both went behind early and both achieved very late victories thanks to dodgy refereeing decisions. I saw the Atlético game in the excellent Arena Independência and Sport could feel very aggrieved to not have been awarded a penalty after going behind to an injury time Atlético winner. If anything, Flu had even more help from the referee with a dubious penalty and scoring the winner from a free kick that should have been given to Ponte Preta. See what you think. (Includes goal of the week from Ponte Preta's Luan).

Grêmio fell back to third after conceding a late equaliser to Botafogo and São Paulo move up to fourth (and a potential Libertadores place) replacing Vasco who leave the top four for the first time in 54 rounds (including last season).

So with Fluminense's nine point lead at the top and the bottom four of Sport, Palmeiras, Figueirense and Atlético-GO at least eight points from safety, the usual exciting ending to the Brasileiro looks very unlikely.