Author Archives: Brian

About Brian

Punter

Derby day in Brazil

Posted on by
1

Good chance the in-form Leandro Damião will be thumping his chest again come Sunday (VIPCOMM)

With no less than eight fiercely contested local derby matches to be played in the Serie A this weekend, I can hardly contain my excitement. I am like a kid in a candy shop. It is a truly mouth-watering fixture list. Sumptuous Brazilian club football, tasty tackles, a banquet of goals with the added spice of local pride at stake! I am running out of superlatives and strange culinary metaphors…. Continue reading →

Brazilian stars of the future win under 20 World Cup

Posted on by
Reply

Many of Brazil's young players have shot to fame (Getty Images)

Even without their two star names – Neymar and Lucas – Brazil won the under 20 World Cup in Colombia. They beat Portugal 3-2 after extra time in a lively final in which midfielder Oscar was the hero, scoring all three of Brazil’s goals. It’s the fifth time that Brazil have won the trophy. Continue reading →

Ronaldinho gets Brazil recall for Ghana friendly

Posted on by
5

Ronaldinho's good form for Flamengo has earned him a seleção recall (VIPCOMM)

Ronaldinho has been recalled to the Brazilian national team for the friendly match against Ghana in London on September 5. It is his second call up under coach Mano Menezes and the first since Brazil’s 1-0 loss against Argentina nine months ago in Qatar. Continue reading →

Brazil battered by Germany: my reflections

Posted on by
25

The seleção are in a mess (Mowa Press)

The great Brazilian national football team are looking anything but at the moment. After being dumped out of the Copa America by Paraguay, the team were well beaten by Germany in an international friendly tonight. Continue reading →

Santos lose three in a row with full strength team

Posted on by
Reply

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

Posted on by
5

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

Posted on by
1

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 →

Palmeiras 0 0 Flamengo: Kléber saga comes to an end

Posted on by
2

Kléber won't be signing for Flamengo this year

I went down to the Palmeiras vs. Flamengo game on Wednesday night. It had all the ingredients for a great match: fourth against third, a crowd of around 35,000 people (very high by Brazilian standards), two of Brazil’s best coaches going head to head (Luis Felipe Scolari or Big Phil at Palmeiras and Vanderley Luxemburgo at Flamengo) and former world player of the year Ronaldinho on show. Continue reading →