In an interesting January transfer window with several big money moves all over Europe, over at Gibfootballshow I profile the newest arrival at Blackburn Rovers, Argentine number ten Mauro Formica.
Click here for the article
A big thanks to Gibfootballshow for inviting me to write the article, I recommend you take a look round there, a truly excellent site with articles and features from all over the world. Check out the Gibfootballshow podcast too, great football chat once a week, a must for your iPod.
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
Copa São Paulo 2011
As those of you who follow my Twitter feed will know, I have been closely following this year's edition of the Copa São Paulo de Juniores. Also known as the "Copinha" (the little cup), the Copa São Paulo is widely regarded as the most important domestic youth competition in Brazil with 92 of the country's best clubs sending their under-18 sides to compete in matches all over São Paulo state.
The competition always takes place in the month of January, and is set up in a fairly traditional group-knockout format. The 92 teams are split into 23 groups of four, with the winners and nine best-placed runners up in each group advancing to the knockout stage. The tournament is well publicised in Brazil, with several matches broadcasted live on national television, and the final taking place in the 38,000 capacity Estádio do Pacaembu in the heart of São Paulo city.
The competition has an excellent reputation for showing the real talents of the future, with such players as Rivaldo, Djalminha, Vagner Love, Neymar and Paulo Henrique Ganso emerging into the public eye with impressive Copinha campaigns. 2010's edition saw São Paulo FC take the trophy, with impressive midfielders Lucas and Casemiro the players of the tournament.
This year's tournament came to a close only this afternoon, with Flamengo of Rio de Janeiro overcoming Bahia by two goals to one to take their 2nd Copa São Paulo title. There have been several good performances at every stage of the tournament, and we have seen quite a few players who may well become household names in years to come.
I am currently in the process of re-watching a few of the matches, taking another look at certain players who caught my eye in the past month. In the coming weeks I am planning to put together a few articles scouting some of the individuals that impressed me the most, and I hope they will be of some interest to all of you. Also if any of you watched any of this year's Copa São Paulo or have seen a few of Brasil's under 18 players, I'd love to hear from you so we can compare notes and opinions. Leave a comment, or alternatively you can reach me via e-mail through the Contact link at the top of the page.
The competition always takes place in the month of January, and is set up in a fairly traditional group-knockout format. The 92 teams are split into 23 groups of four, with the winners and nine best-placed runners up in each group advancing to the knockout stage. The tournament is well publicised in Brazil, with several matches broadcasted live on national television, and the final taking place in the 38,000 capacity Estádio do Pacaembu in the heart of São Paulo city.
The competition has an excellent reputation for showing the real talents of the future, with such players as Rivaldo, Djalminha, Vagner Love, Neymar and Paulo Henrique Ganso emerging into the public eye with impressive Copinha campaigns. 2010's edition saw São Paulo FC take the trophy, with impressive midfielders Lucas and Casemiro the players of the tournament.
This year's tournament came to a close only this afternoon, with Flamengo of Rio de Janeiro overcoming Bahia by two goals to one to take their 2nd Copa São Paulo title. There have been several good performances at every stage of the tournament, and we have seen quite a few players who may well become household names in years to come.
I am currently in the process of re-watching a few of the matches, taking another look at certain players who caught my eye in the past month. In the coming weeks I am planning to put together a few articles scouting some of the individuals that impressed me the most, and I hope they will be of some interest to all of you. Also if any of you watched any of this year's Copa São Paulo or have seen a few of Brasil's under 18 players, I'd love to hear from you so we can compare notes and opinions. Leave a comment, or alternatively you can reach me via e-mail through the Contact link at the top of the page.
Saturday, 11 December 2010
A virada de mesa
On Monday, the who’s who of Brazilian football gathered in the Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro for the traditional curtain-closer to the Brazilian season, the Prêmio Craque do Brasileirão. Basically it is an awards ceremony, the player of the year (or Prêmio Craque) is announced, as are various other awards like manager and team of the year. Furthermore, the ceremony sees the first time the Brasileirão trophy is presented to the champions of that year.
This year’s edition belonged to Fluminense. Not only did the 2010 champions receive their third Brasileirão trophy in their long history, but midfield talisman Dario Conca was chosen as Prêmio Craque and Craque da Galera (fan’s player of the year), while manager Muricy Ramalho scooped the manager of the year award. However, not everyone was cheering for Flu.
Taking to the stage as part of his team’s centenary celebrations, Corinthians president Andrés Sanchez took the microphone and delivered a speech that seemed to be congratulating the Rio de Janeiro club. However, his words soon changed the mood amongst the audience. Here’s what he said:
“Quero parabenizar Fluminense, Coritiba e ABC, que foram campeões. Eu sei o que é cair para a Segunda Divisão, porque eu caí com meu time. Mas tenho orgulho de ter voltado a Primera Divisão pela porte da frente.”
Roughly translated, this reads: “I want to congratulate Fluminense, Coritiba and ABC, who were champions. I know what it is to fall to the Second Division, because I fell with my team. But I am proud to have returned to the First Division through the front door”. Now, those with knowledge of Brazilian football over the last fifteen years would recognise right away that this was a direct dig at the club in the spotlight Fluminense.
The sounds from the Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro were truly superb. At first there was a collective (and somehow audible) cringe throughout the audience, the cameraman then focused on Corinthians left back Roberto Carlos, who had by now adopted a hilarious facial expression of complete surprise (see picture). Soon after a group of Fluminense supporters sitting in the upper tier began chanting “Sem ter nada” (meaning “having nothing”, a popular chant directed at Corinthians this year, a play on the word centenário (centenary), it refers to Corinthians being without any trophies this year, and without owning their own stadium.)
Roberto Carlos pulling the classic "arse-clencher" pose.
Now, even though this untimely slur smacked of sour grapes, and perhaps a little too much cerveja, what Sanchez said wasn’t untrue. So here’s a (hopefully interesting) history lesson about the bizarre story of Brazilian football in 2000, and the Copa João Havelange…
Before we get to 2000, we need a little background on Brazilian league football up to that date. From the 1970’s all the way up to 2001, the format of the league was constantly changing. These changes included some bizarre rule introductions, constant alteration of the number of teams in the top flight, and one year they even tried to do away with tied games.
This particular story starts in 1996, and our current champions Fluminense finished the season in 23rd position in the league of (at the time) 24 teams. This meant Flu were to be relegated, something that was unheard of in Brazil, a big team being relegated into the second tier. What followed were debates and arguments behind the scenes, resulting in the decision that 1997’s Brasileirão was to contain 26 teams, conveniently allowing Fluminense to avoid relegation and remain in the top tier.
The CBF were pretty happy with themselves, until the end of the 1997 season, where Fluminense managed to finish second from bottom once again. This time, not even the dodgy dealings of the CBF could save Flu, and they were relegated, eventually finding themselves in the Third Division by 1999.
The CBF were presented with yet another problem in 1999. As another measure to try and avoid large sides being relegated, they introduced a relegation system similar to the one used in Argentina (in Argentina clubs are relegated based on their cumulative performances over three years). This didn’t work as well as the CBF would have liked, because soon afterwards another Rio de Janeiro side Botafogo fell into real danger of relegation.
Near the end of the season Botafogo lost a match against São Paulo, in which it was later revealed that the Paulista club had fielded an ineligible player, Sandro Hiroshi. Botafogo contested the result in the Sports Supreme Court of Justice (STJD), and bizarrely they were awarded the points for the game. This brought Botafogo out of the relegation zone, and sent smaller side Gama down to Série B. Naturally outraged at the STJD, Gama took the case to the civil courts, who granted them the right to stay in the top division. Then to further complicate things, with clubs not being allowed to contest issues in the common justice system, FIFA stepped in and banned Gama from all competitive leagues.
Oh Sandro Hiroshi. Who knows what would have happened had he not lied on his birth certificate.
Ok so are you still with me? The CBF now had a major headache to contend with, FIFA had banned Gama from being included in any national league they organized, but due to civil court ruling, Gama had to be included in the top division by law. What followed was arguably the largest virada de mesa in Brazilian football history, and this is what Sanchez was referring to in his speech on Monday.
The heads of the most influential clubs in Brazil, a group known as the Clube dos 13, got together and created their own one-off national league; they called it the Copa João Havelange, named after the Brazilian former FIFA president. The Clube dos 13 took all 116 league clubs (including Gama), and split them into three ‘modules’. Essentially this gave them the freedom to put whoever they liked into the top division. So into the highest module, the ‘Blue Module’, went the teams of the previous Série A campaign (including Gama), and funnily enough, Série C’s Fluminense.
The Copa João Havelange was played out in haphazard fashion, with uneven fixtures, ending with a final between Vasco de Gama and São Caetano. Vasco eventually won that tie 4-2 on aggregate after a controversial two legs featuring violence and crowd trouble, but that’s another story. As the year 2000 ended, the CBF announced that they would revert to the original Campeonato Brasileiro format (if there ever was an original), and that all teams who contested the Blue Module would form the 2001 Série A, ‘to avoid legal disputes’. How convenient.
Nowadays it seems that the days of radical change in the Brazilian leagues are over, the CBF have established a stable and popular format, gaining viewers from all around the world. This obviously meant that when Corinthians were relegated to Série B for 2008, they had to make their way back the ‘honest’ way, winning the second tier at a canter to return to Série A for 2009. Or rather in the words of Sr. Sanchez, they had to do it pela porta da frente.
I hope you found this interesting, and if you are looking for some further reading in regards to the history of Brazil’s constantly changing championships, check out Marco Aurelio Klein’s Futebol Brasileiro, it’s also full of loads of invaluable stats and reference from Brazilian football history.
This year’s edition belonged to Fluminense. Not only did the 2010 champions receive their third Brasileirão trophy in their long history, but midfield talisman Dario Conca was chosen as Prêmio Craque and Craque da Galera (fan’s player of the year), while manager Muricy Ramalho scooped the manager of the year award. However, not everyone was cheering for Flu.
Taking to the stage as part of his team’s centenary celebrations, Corinthians president Andrés Sanchez took the microphone and delivered a speech that seemed to be congratulating the Rio de Janeiro club. However, his words soon changed the mood amongst the audience. Here’s what he said:
“Quero parabenizar Fluminense, Coritiba e ABC, que foram campeões. Eu sei o que é cair para a Segunda Divisão, porque eu caí com meu time. Mas tenho orgulho de ter voltado a Primera Divisão pela porte da frente.”
Roughly translated, this reads: “I want to congratulate Fluminense, Coritiba and ABC, who were champions. I know what it is to fall to the Second Division, because I fell with my team. But I am proud to have returned to the First Division through the front door”. Now, those with knowledge of Brazilian football over the last fifteen years would recognise right away that this was a direct dig at the club in the spotlight Fluminense.
The sounds from the Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro were truly superb. At first there was a collective (and somehow audible) cringe throughout the audience, the cameraman then focused on Corinthians left back Roberto Carlos, who had by now adopted a hilarious facial expression of complete surprise (see picture). Soon after a group of Fluminense supporters sitting in the upper tier began chanting “Sem ter nada” (meaning “having nothing”, a popular chant directed at Corinthians this year, a play on the word centenário (centenary), it refers to Corinthians being without any trophies this year, and without owning their own stadium.)
Roberto Carlos pulling the classic "arse-clencher" pose.
Now, even though this untimely slur smacked of sour grapes, and perhaps a little too much cerveja, what Sanchez said wasn’t untrue. So here’s a (hopefully interesting) history lesson about the bizarre story of Brazilian football in 2000, and the Copa João Havelange…
Before we get to 2000, we need a little background on Brazilian league football up to that date. From the 1970’s all the way up to 2001, the format of the league was constantly changing. These changes included some bizarre rule introductions, constant alteration of the number of teams in the top flight, and one year they even tried to do away with tied games.
This particular story starts in 1996, and our current champions Fluminense finished the season in 23rd position in the league of (at the time) 24 teams. This meant Flu were to be relegated, something that was unheard of in Brazil, a big team being relegated into the second tier. What followed were debates and arguments behind the scenes, resulting in the decision that 1997’s Brasileirão was to contain 26 teams, conveniently allowing Fluminense to avoid relegation and remain in the top tier.
The CBF were pretty happy with themselves, until the end of the 1997 season, where Fluminense managed to finish second from bottom once again. This time, not even the dodgy dealings of the CBF could save Flu, and they were relegated, eventually finding themselves in the Third Division by 1999.
The CBF were presented with yet another problem in 1999. As another measure to try and avoid large sides being relegated, they introduced a relegation system similar to the one used in Argentina (in Argentina clubs are relegated based on their cumulative performances over three years). This didn’t work as well as the CBF would have liked, because soon afterwards another Rio de Janeiro side Botafogo fell into real danger of relegation.
Near the end of the season Botafogo lost a match against São Paulo, in which it was later revealed that the Paulista club had fielded an ineligible player, Sandro Hiroshi. Botafogo contested the result in the Sports Supreme Court of Justice (STJD), and bizarrely they were awarded the points for the game. This brought Botafogo out of the relegation zone, and sent smaller side Gama down to Série B. Naturally outraged at the STJD, Gama took the case to the civil courts, who granted them the right to stay in the top division. Then to further complicate things, with clubs not being allowed to contest issues in the common justice system, FIFA stepped in and banned Gama from all competitive leagues.
Oh Sandro Hiroshi. Who knows what would have happened had he not lied on his birth certificate.
Ok so are you still with me? The CBF now had a major headache to contend with, FIFA had banned Gama from being included in any national league they organized, but due to civil court ruling, Gama had to be included in the top division by law. What followed was arguably the largest virada de mesa in Brazilian football history, and this is what Sanchez was referring to in his speech on Monday.
The heads of the most influential clubs in Brazil, a group known as the Clube dos 13, got together and created their own one-off national league; they called it the Copa João Havelange, named after the Brazilian former FIFA president. The Clube dos 13 took all 116 league clubs (including Gama), and split them into three ‘modules’. Essentially this gave them the freedom to put whoever they liked into the top division. So into the highest module, the ‘Blue Module’, went the teams of the previous Série A campaign (including Gama), and funnily enough, Série C’s Fluminense.
The Copa João Havelange was played out in haphazard fashion, with uneven fixtures, ending with a final between Vasco de Gama and São Caetano. Vasco eventually won that tie 4-2 on aggregate after a controversial two legs featuring violence and crowd trouble, but that’s another story. As the year 2000 ended, the CBF announced that they would revert to the original Campeonato Brasileiro format (if there ever was an original), and that all teams who contested the Blue Module would form the 2001 Série A, ‘to avoid legal disputes’. How convenient.
Nowadays it seems that the days of radical change in the Brazilian leagues are over, the CBF have established a stable and popular format, gaining viewers from all around the world. This obviously meant that when Corinthians were relegated to Série B for 2008, they had to make their way back the ‘honest’ way, winning the second tier at a canter to return to Série A for 2009. Or rather in the words of Sr. Sanchez, they had to do it pela porta da frente.
I hope you found this interesting, and if you are looking for some further reading in regards to the history of Brazil’s constantly changing championships, check out Marco Aurelio Klein’s Futebol Brasileiro, it’s also full of loads of invaluable stats and reference from Brazilian football history.
Monday, 1 November 2010
Brasileirão 2010 - Quem vai ganhar?
As the dust settled at the end of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, television, newspapers and radio in Brasil was subjected to much debate over the failures of Dunga's seleção. However there was hardly any time to dwell on it, as South America's premier domestic league, the Brasileirão, continued almost instantly.
Brasil's confidence was quickly restored as Internacional from Porto Alegre won the 2010 Copa Libertadores, the South American equivalent of the Champions League. O Colorado took the trophy after a thrilling 5-3 aggregate win over Mexican side Chivas Guadalajara in the final.
Elsewhere, Santos succeeded in winning the 2010 Copa do Brasil, Brasil's top cup competition. Santos beat Vitória in the final, sealing a place for the Peixe in the 2011 edition of the Copa Libertadores.
So back to the Brasileirão. The exciting action continued as usual, with Rio de Janeiro side Fluminense forming a good lead at the top of the table, no-one looking capable of taking them off the top spot. But as those who follow the Brasileirão will know, the team in first position through August and October isn't always guaranteed to be there after the last game in December. In fact, history shows that being on top for the majority of the season often turns out to be a bit of a curse when it comes to the title run-in.
There have been some important personnel changes between the end of the World Cup and the present day, Santos' captain Robinho returned to Europe after his loan spell, and Cruzeiro's talisman Kleber returned to Palmeiras, o time do seu coração. There were returns to Brazilian football for top-class midfielders Deco and Tinga, moving to Fluminense and Internacional respectively. Also, arguably the biggest piece of news concerning transfers, Santos' wonderkid striker Neymar turned down a big money move to Chelsea, opting instead to stay with Santos for a little while longer.
So now here we are, with six rounds and just more than a month remaining in this year's Brasileirão. As I previously mentioned, Fluminense sit in the top spot with 57 points, Cruzeiro of Minas Gerais are close behind, there is only seven goals between the two sides. Occupying third spot are São Paulo giants Corinthians, who are only three points behind the other two. So the question is, who's going to win? Or as they say in Brasil, quem vai ganhar?
First of all let's take a look at the current leaders Fluminense. The Rio de Janeiro club are looking for only their second Brasileirão trophy, their first coming all the way back in 1984. Fluzão have been the most consistent side in this year's league, grinding out important wins where their rivals have slipped up. Most of this seems to be down to the leadership of their head coach Muricy Ramalho. Ramalho is no stranger to success, he won the Brasileirão for three consecutive years with São Paulo, and he is looking to get his fourth winner's medal this season.
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| Muricy is hoping for his 4th Brasileirão title with leaders Fluminense |
Muricy has built a pretty strong side with Flu this year, with Argentinian Dario Conca orchestrating their midfield and providing support for proven strikers Fred, Rodriguinho and Washington. Another weapon in their arsenal is that of left-back Mariano, a classic lateral who has recently been called up to Mano Menezes' national squad.
Perhaps Fluminense are the favourites for the championship, but a tough run-in featuring away trips to Internacional, São Paulo and Palmeiras could give them real problems.
Next up, Cruzeiro. By the time the World Cup ended, I don't think many would have predicted a Raposa to be in such a high position. They lost their talismanic striker Kléber to Palmeiras, also their manager Adilson Batista, who took over briefly at Corinthians when Mano Menezes took the post at the national team. By the looks of things this was a team who would need a rebuilding phase, however the Minas Gerais club pulled off a sound piece of business when they signed Argentinian midfielder Walter Montillo.
Montillo was placed firmly onto the radar of Brasil's top clubs when he scored this goal against Flamengo in the Copa Libertadores. Cruzeiro won the race to sign him from Chilean side Universidade de Chile and he went straight into the first team, filling the gap that Kléber had vacated. At 26 years old, Montillo may not play a big part in Argentinian football in the future, but he will surely continue to star in the Brasileirão, and could be a great accquisition for countless European sides in the future.
Cruzeiro have arguably the hardest run-in of all the sides challenging for the trophy, they still have to face São Paulo, Corinthians, Vasco, Palmeiras and Flamengo, and they also have a potentially fatal away trip to play Vitória. However I am noticing some excellent form in this Cruzeiro side, and if they manage to bring good performances to these key games, they are my tip for the trophy.
Finally, the third side still with a realistic chance of winning the title, Corinthians. As usual, Timão have shown consistent and resolute performances throughout the season, which has seen them hovering around 2nd and 3rd place for most of the year.
Despite having a squad boasting such footballing legends as Roberto Carlos and Ronaldo, Corinthians' success has been largely down to their two energetic midfielders Jucilei and Elias. Their work-rate is truly astounding, and it hasn't gone unnoticed either, as both have been called up by Mano Menezes for the current Brasil squad. Ronaldo Fenômeno has been struggling with injuries this year, so Timão's goals have been coming from Bruno Cesar. The young man has been on impeccable form this season.
Corinthians have undoubtedly got the easiest of run-in fixtures, but the clássico against São Paulo FC in a week's time should be a really stern test. Despite not having as many tough games as their rivals, I can't see Corinthians taking the title this year. In recent weeks they have slipped up in important games and they can't afford more points dropped.
So there we have it, we are set up for a truly monumental run-in to the 2010 Brasileirão, and I haven't even mentioned Botafogo, Santos and Internacional, who are all in with a calculated 1% chance of winning this year's title. We are guaranteed some more twists and turns and some more excellent matches, and who knows, perhaps 6th place Internacional will manage to stage the greatest comeback in history and take the title? In the Brasileirão, anything goes.