Fábio Santos, Roberto Carlos' replacement, struck two goals for Corinthians (Getty Images)

Corinthians surprised many by beating Santos 3-1 in the match of the weekend in the São Paulo State Championship. Corinthians were inspired. It can’t possibly have been because of the silly marketing and gimmicky tributes to Ronaldo before the game so I’ll put it down to good coaching. Whatever the reason, Corinthians dominated from start to finish. Neymar was anonymous. Elano poor too, except for his great equalizer. Some guy called Fábio Santos scored two goals for Corinthians and Liedson made sure of the points when he scored a breakaway third and chipped the goalkeeper. Who is this guy Fábio Santos that I’ve never heard of and where has he been hiding?

Brazilian international Jucilei has left Corinthians for that weird Russian team that signed Roberto Carlos. The fee is reported to be EUR 11 million.

São Paulo, with young Lucas in inspired form, romped to a 4-0 win against Bragantino in the Campeonato Paulista. Rogério Ceni (the goalkeeper) missed a penalty and the chance to take his goal tally to 99. Lucas scored one, sub and fellow u20 international Willian scored another. Atlético Madrid bound Miranda and Fernandinho also scored. Ok, they beat some crap team 4-0. So what?

Valdí­via made his comeback for Palmeiras but they can only manage a 0-0 draw with Mogi Mirim (Rivaldo’s unloved team).

Pele has come out and said he’s worried about Brazil’s preparations for the World Cup. He’s afraid that the stadiums and other things won’t be ready in time. Let’s hope he’s wrong.

Coritiba beat Atlético Paranaense 4-2 in the city-of-Curitiba derby. Must have been a good game…