The 'biggest fan base in the world' fails to make a difference in the Maracanã

Most of the 83,000 fans in the Maracanã went home hugely disappointed after Flamengo were held 0-0 by Goiás on Sunday evening. With São Paulo losing 3-2 at Botafogo earlier in the day, the way was open for Flamengo to go top for the first time this season. Despite having nothing to play for, Goiás and in particular, their keeper, Harlei, put up a surprisingly plucky performance and barred the Rubro Negro’s path to the top. Flamengo now hope that the Serra Dourada side show similar backbone against São Paulo next Sunday in Goiânia.

With just two games remaining, São Paulo have a one point advantage over Flamengo and are three clear of Internacional and Palmeiras.

The current champions can make it four Brasileiros in a row next weekend if they beat Goiás away. But to do that; Flamengo will have to lose against Corinthians, Internacional fail to beat Sport and Palmeiras not to win against Atlético Mineiro.

Inter also have a chance to take the leadership if São Paulo lose at Goiás and Flamengo fail to win against Corinthians.

The situation at the bottom is just as complicated. With Náutico, Santo André, Fluminense and Botafogo all winning at the weekend, Coritiba and Atlético Paranaense are at risk of the drop once again. Only Sport Recife have been relegated so far. And the way things are going, we may not know which other three clubs will join them until the final round on December 6^th. Vasco, Guarani, Ceará and Atlético Goianiense have already booked their places in Série A for 2010.

See the highlights from all Sunday’s games here

See the Campeonato Brasileiro round 36 table and the rest of the results here

Kaká

For their final fixture of the year, Brazil take on Oman in Muscat this Tuesday.

Coached by French man Claude Le Roy, Oman are ranked 79^th in the world. Brazil are expected to win comfortably but Dunga added a note of caution: “They’re a strong team and have experienced athletes who play abroad. This won’t be an easy game”.

The South Americans will play just one more friendly before the WC finals next year. Because of this, Dunga is expected to field a strong side.
Oman (possible): Al Habsi, Mohammed Rabeea, Ayil, Shaiba, Suhail, Haded, Bashe, Hasan Rabeea, Al Asmi, Al Hosni, Ahmed Mona.

Coach: Claude Le Roy

Brazil (probable): Julio César, Maicon, Lúcio, Thiago Silva, Michel Bastos, Gilberto Silva, Felipe Melo, Elano, Kaká, Nilmar, Luis Fabiano.

Coach: Dunga

Venue: Qaboos Sports Complex Stadium, Muscat, Oman

Date: 17/11/2009

Kick off: 12:30 Brasília       14:30 London

More points for Fluminense but has their run come to late?

Wins for São Paulo and Flamengo left them in 1^st and 2^nd place respectively with just three games to go in the Campeonato Brasiliero.

53,000 turned up at the estádio Morumbi as São Paulo took on Vitória on Saturday.

The home side got the breakthrough when Washington’s shot fell nicely for Jorge Vagner who struck from close range. São Paulo made sure of the points early in the second period after Hernanes picked out Hugo who headed home.

The estádio dos Aflictos was packed as Flamengo travelled north to face relegation-threatened Náutico in Recife. Fla went in front when Petkovic scored after pouncing on a loose ball in the area. Late in the first-half, Adriano put away what could be his easiest goal of the season to make him top scorer of the league with 19 goals. The result left Fla just two points behind São Paulo and kept their dream of taking their first title since 1992 well and truly alive.

Palmeiras slipped to 3^rd after being held 2-2 at home by Sport midweek. The result, though, sent the Recife side into Série B.

Internacional moved to 4^th after seeing off Santos 3-1 in the Beira-Rio. Danilo, Marquinhos and D’Alessandro were all on target. Neymar grabbed Santos’ consolation.

Atlético Mineiro travelled to Coritiba hoping to take points from the strugglers. But the Belo Horizonte team came away empty-handed after Romulo and Marcelinho Paraiba scored for Coritiba. Eder Luís’ goal for Galo wasn’t enough.  

Cruzeiro are now 6^th after drawing 1-1 with Grêmio at home.

Avaí climbed to within three points of the top four following their 3-1 win versus Corinthians.

At the bottom, Barueri trounced Botafogo 3-0 in Greater São Paulo. This was fantastic news for Fluminense who beat Atlético Parananense 2-1 in a packed Maracanã. The result left Flu in the relegation zone but just two points behind their Rio neighbours.

Santo André fell further behind after losing 3-1 at Goiás.

See the Campeonato Brasiliero table and the rest of the round 35 results here

Kaká battles it out

A second-half goal by Nilmar was the difference in a forgettable match between Brazil and England in Qatar on Saturday.

The Villarreal man struck in the first minute of the second period after heading in a lovely floated ball from ex Manchester City player, Elano.

Less than ten minutes later, Brazil were awarded a penalty when Ben Foster clattered into Nilmar. The keeper should have been sent off but stayed on to see Luís Fabiano sky his shot.

England were also lucky not to concede when Lúcio struck the post with Foster well beaten.

Brazil remained in control throughout the rest of the second period as an England side missing a number of regular first-teamers rarely threatened Júlio César.

Michel Bastos, Carlos Eduardo and ‘Hulk’ all made debuts but only Bastos would have given Dunga something to think about.

Brazil are next in action against Oman in Muscat on November 17th.

Match highlights here

Brazil: Julio César, Maicon, Lúcio, Thiago Silva, Michel Bastos, Gilberto Silva, Felipe Melo, Elano (Daniel Alves), Kaká (Julio Baptista), Nilmar (Carlos Eduardo), Luis Fabiano (Hulk).

Coach: Dunga

England: Foster, Brown, Upson, Lescott, Bridge, Milner (Young), Jenas, Wright Phillips (Crouch), Barry (Huddlestone), Rooney, Bent (Defoe).

Coach: Fábio Capello

Goal: Nilmar 46 minutes

Venue: Khalifa International stadium, Doha, Qatar

Date: 14/11/2009.

Officials: Adbulrahman Abdou, Waleed Al Mannai, Mohammed Dharman (all Qatar).

The meeting of one great footballing mind and Dunga

See Brazil’s squad in full here

For a look at Brazil’s latest stars in the making, check out Brazil: The Factory 2009 here

Brazil take on England in Doho, Qatar, for the first of three international friendlies before the World Cup finals in South Africa next year.

Dunga’s men see the England game as a real test against one of their main contenders in the competition in 2010.

Brazil and England have met 22 times with the South Americans well on top with 10 wins and only 3 losses.

The green and yellows have had a good season with convincing victories over Italy (twice), Argentina and Uruguay – though they struggled against Bolivia (1-2 loss) and Venezuela (0-0). Despite their good record, Dunga was forced to defend his tactics and style in a press conference held on Friday. The coach responded in a typically abrasive manner: “Brazil had one of the top scorers, the best attack, the best defence in the WC qualifiers and have won everything this year” [referring to the Confederations Cup].

For Saturday’s match, both teams are hit by injuries. Brazil are without Luisão, Ramires and Fábio Aurélio. Robinho, Naldo and Felipe Melo picked up knocks but may feature on the bench. England have no David Beckham, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, and Emile Heskey. Captain, John Terry, is a doubt.

Brazil (probable): Julio César, Maicon, Thiago Silva, Lúcio, Michel Bastos, Gilberto Silva, Felipe Melo, Daniel Alves (Elano), Kaká, Nilmar, Luis Fabiano.

Coach: Dunga

England (possible): Green, Brown, Upson, Lescott, Bridge, Carrick, Milner, Wright-Phillips, Barry, Rooney, Bent.

Coach: Fábio Capello

Venue: Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar

Date: 14/11/2009.

Kick off: 15:00 Brasília       17:00 London

Cris gets a header in

Following injuries to Luisão and Fábio Aurélio, Brazil coach Dunga has called up defender Cris from Lyon for the matches against England on Saturday and Oman three days later.

The 32-year-old has appeared 22 times for his country scoring just once. Cris’ last game for Brazil was in in the 1-0 vs Russia in March 2006.

Fábio Aurélio

On Thursday, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) announced that Liverpool’s Fábio Aurélio has a problem with his left calf muscle  and would not face England in Qatar on November 14^th and Oman three days later. The last time the leftback was called up for Brazil was by Carlos Alberto Parreira for the Confederations Cup in 2003. But the player was also dropped on that occasion due to injury.

See Brazil’s full squad here

Milan's Thiago Silva

AC Milan centreback, Thiago Silva, has been brought in to replace Benfica’s Luisão, who has just had surgery for appendicitis.

The 25-year-old’s last appearance for Brazil was in February this year when he came on as a sub in the friendly against Italy in the Emirate Stadium.

Brazil play England on November 14th and Oman three days later. The South Americans will have just one more international friendly before the World Cup finals in South Africa next year.

Fred on target for Fluminense against Palmeiras

With just four games remaining in the championship, holders São Paulo went top for the first time this season following their 1-1 draw away to Grêmio on Wednesday and Palmeiras’ 1-0 defeat at Fluminense on Sunday.

Almost 67,000 turned up at the Maracanã hoping for a miracle as strugglers Fluminense took on Palmeiras. Palmeiras needed a point to return to the top – Flu have been in the relegation zone since round ten. In a tight first period, the Greens thought they had gone in front when Obina headed home. But surprisingly referee Carlos Eugenio Simon ruled against the frontman. Fred stuck early in the second-half for the homeside to secure three vital points and Palmeiras were knocked off the top of table for the first time since round 15. 

Over 64,000 packed the Mineirão as Atlético Mineiro took on Flamengo in Belo Horizonte. A win for Celso Roth’s men and a loss for Palmeiras would have seen Galo move to first place for the first time since round 14. With only nine minutes on the clock, Flamengo went ahead direct from a corner swung in by Petkovic. The Rio outfit then doubled their lead when Maldonado dummied the Atlético defence before hitting a low drive past Carini. Atlético got back in the game in the second period when the experienced Ricardinho latched on to a loose ball in the area. But Fla secured the points when Adriano beat the defence and his header hit Benitiz before going in.

With the win, Flamengo leap-frogged over Atlético to move into third place – just two points behind the new leaders São Paulo.

On Saturday, Cruzeiro came from two goals down away at Sport Recife to win 3-2.

Thiago Ribeiro, Leonardo Silva and Guerron were all on target as Cruzeiro moved to 5^th.   

Internacional slipped further behind the pack after being held 1-1 away at Barueri.

At the wrong end of the table, Corinthians beat Santo André thanks to an excellent strike from Ronaldo and a goal from Dentinho.

Botafogo pulled of an important 2-0 win against Coritiba in the estádio Engenhão to move five clear of Fluminense who stayed in the drop zone.

Náutico also went down 3-1 at Santos as Neymar scored twice after coming of the bench.

See the Campeonato Brasileiro round 34 table and the rest of the results here

Wellington Júnior

While Botafogo’s professional side continue to run the risk of relegation to Série B this year, the Rio outfit’s junior teams continue to produce potential stars.

A number of Botafogo’s youngsters are attracting interest from European teams and may bring in some much-needed revenue for the cash-strapped club.

Centreback, Gérson, has gone on trial at Everton. The 17-year-old turns 18 in January next year but already has a contract with Botafogo until June 2012. The sale of the defender could bring in around RS$2.6 million (just under £900,000) – a fee Botafogo would readily accept in the current circumstances.

20-year-old midfielder, Wellington Júnior, could also be a target. Even though the player was not a regular starter with Brazil’s Under 20s in Egypt this month, the midfielder (who sometimes operates as a rightback) has attracted a great deal of attention. Wellington Júnior is contracted to Botafogo until the end of December 2012 and has made 12 appearances for the club scoring once.

Another prospect is 17-year-old goalkeeper Luis Guilherme who is currently with Brazil’s Under 17s in Nigeria. The shot-stopper was apparently close to joining Arsenal earlier this year but decided to continue his career back home in Rio.

The interest in these young players once again demonstrates the growing scout networks that European clubs – especially Premiership sides – have established in Brazil. The Botafogo youngsters are virtual unknowns in their own country and probably very few Estrela Solitária (lone star) fans are even aware of their existence. If the Rio side do manage to offload any of these players, it would be a great boost for their financial situation in the short-term. But a drop to the Série B – for a second this century – might just be the beginning of a slippery slope. Santa Cruz dropped all the way from the first to the fourth division in successive years. Paysandu, Criciúma and Vitória went from Série A to C (though the latter bounced straight back up again). A club such as Botafogo, who are constantly struggling to make ends meet, run the risk of following suit. Better for them to hang on to their best players and stay in the top flight than risk falling into the abyss of the lower divisions, which they may not return from.

Interested in Brazil’s emerging stars? check out our video feature:  Brazil: the talent factory 2009