Neymar celebrates his goal for Santos against Once Caldas (Getty Images)
Santos drew with Once Caldas in a chilly São Paulo to reach the last four of the Copa Libertadores. Neymar, once again, was the star of the show; he scored the goal in the 1-1 draw (which classified Santos 2-1 on aggregate) and was a constant outlet for Santos down the left hand side of the field. Continue reading
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
Santos beat Colo Colo 3-2 at home in their must win game last night. There chances of qualifying for the next phase are far from certain though. Last night they had Neymar, Elano and Ze Eduardo sent off and they will all miss the next game away to Cerro Porteí±o.
Fluminense are all but out of the competition after losing to Nacional from Uruguay 2-0.
Internacional lost 1-0 against Jaguares in Mexico but still lead their group with one game to go.
In the Brazilian Cup, São Paulo beat Santa Cruz 2-0 to go through to the next round. Atlético Mineiro were the only big club to surprisingly lose.
Will write more soon.
Adriano Michael Jackson (Getty Images)
Adriano Michael Jackson -named so because of moonwalk goal celebrations – scored four goals versus Comercial from Piauí last night in the Brazilian Cup. Palmeiras comfortably progressed after winning the match 5-1 and 7-2 on aggregate. Definitely, the most interesting thing about this game however is the interesting technique adopted by Comercial’s masseur. Forget the injured player, this guy wants to get on TV and this sort of opportunity doesn’t come along too often. Check it out. Brilliant!
In other Brazilian Cup results, Botafogo from Rio rode their luck to get past River Plate from Sergipe (That’s like a team from Hackney Marshes being called Manchester United) on penalties. Atlético Mineiro destroyed Iape from the Amazon jungle 8-1. First division team Atlético-GO beat Brusque from Santa Catarina on away goals to progress and a team called ABC are also in the next round. Very creative name that.
Things are picking up for Vasco under new coach Ricardo Gomes (Maurício Val / FOTOCOM.NET)
The standout result of the Brazilian Cup this week was Vasco’s 6-1 away win over Comercial-MS (the MS means that this team is from the state of Mato Grosso do Sul). The idea that there are no more easy games in football anymore is not entirely true when you come up against a team from Mato Grosso do Sul (Santos beat Naviraiense, a team from the same state, 10-0 in the Brazilian Cup last year). However, credit must still go to Vasco. Continue reading