Luxemburgo: “Who farted?”

Who did it? (Vipcomm)

Bad times for Flamengo. After reaching the summit of the table, they have now gone six games without winning. And on Sunday they lost 3-1 at home to lowly Bahia (Ronaldinho missed that one as was in London with the seleção). But it was what happened before that match that seems to have spoiled the mood at Flamengo. Continue reading

Derby day: Vasco coach hospitalized and in critical condition

Lets hope Ricardo Gomes makes a full recovery (Fotocom)

Once in a while football gets put into perspective. Sunday afternoon unfortunately was one of those times when Vasco coach Ricardo Gomes was rushed to hospital after suffering a stroke during the second half of the derby match between Flamengo and Vasco. Continue reading

Santos lose three in a row with full strength team

Santos players and coaching staff look on as things go from bad to worse against Vasco (Getty Images)

How ironic this beautiful game can be. After overcoming all the odds to win the Copa Libertadores and São Paulo State Championship, Santos have all but thrown their Serie A title hopes out the window with three losses in the space of a week. Continue reading

Santos 4 5 Flamengo: Ronaldinho hat-trick

Ronaldinho magic (Wander Roberto/VIPCOMM)

The best game of the season so far and some commentators are even saying it was one of the best ever games in the Brazilian National Championship. Stars of the future, past and present, heroes, villains, dislocated shoulders, missed penalties, brilliant goals from free kicks, brilliant dribbles, clinical finishing, brilliant passing, poor defending and goalkeeping. This game had it all (except for a red card I suppose)! Continue reading

Brazilian transfer window: all the major deals

Denilson signs for São Paulo (Luis Barreto/VIPCOMM)

The transfer window for Brazilian clubs to sign foreign based players closed on Thursday night. The window has been dominated by the Carlos Tevez saga and rightly so. But some big names have arrived almost unnoticed. Here they are: Continue reading

Corinthians bid for Tevez: where did all that money come from?

But how can they afford my wages? (Getty Images)

Corinthians’ bid for Carlos Tevez was truly sensational. A few years ago it was unthinkable that any Brazilian club could pay such a large transfer fee (between £40 and £50 million depending on who you believe) for any player. That’s not to mention his wages which are reported to be above £200,000 per week at Manchester City. The question is where did all this money come from? Continue reading

Serie A wrap: Corinthians thrash league leaders São Paulo

Liedson is the man for Corinthians (Getty Images)

Corinthians thrashed the league leaders São Paulo 5-0 on Sunday afternoon thanks to three goals from Portugal international striker Liedson. Corinthians have become something of a bogey team for São Paulo and so it proved again on Sunday afternoon. Continue reading

Ceará dump Flamengo out of Brazilian Cup

Photo during the first leg in Rio

A kick in the teeth? (Alexandre Loureiro/VIPCOMM)

Ceará, the team from the state of… you guessed it… Ceará, beat Flamengo in the Brazilian Cup to reach the semi-final of the competition. They drew 2-2 on the night but progress thanks their 2-1 win in Rio last week. Pretty big upset this considering the difference in the size and cost of the two teams. They will play Coritiba in the semi-final, after they also caused an upset by beat Palmeiras 6-2 on aggregate. They won the first leg 6-0 last week. Continue reading

Derby day decided by penalties

Thiago Neves scores the winner for Flamengo (Maurí­cio Val/VIPCOMM)

After three months of mind numbing State Championships, nearly all of the 24 odd Brazilian State Championships kicked into life yesterday as their reached their finale with a number of historic derby matches deciding trophies and finalists. All of the three main derby matches played on Sunday (Palmeiras x Corinthians, Internacional x Grêmio and Flamengo x Vasco) were decided on penalties while a day earlier Santos beat São Paulo 2-0 away from home to reach the São Paulo State final. Continue reading