Brazilian League - the most competitive in the World?

The Brazilian League (or 'Brasileirão') can easily put forward the case to be the most competitive league in the World!

The Proof? Just look at the top 1 and 2 clubs for every one of the 35 years since it started.....there isn't two of the same!

35 seasons and never the same final 2 in Brazil. Try finding that in England...Spain..Italy or Argentina...

The first club on the left indicates the champion with the 2nd placed team on the right.
e.g. in 1971 Atletico-MG were the champions with Sao Paulo in 2nd place.

1971: Atletico MG x Sao Paulo
1972: Palmeiras x Botafogo
1973: Palmeiras x Sao Paulo
1974: Vasco x Cruzeiro
1975: Inter x Cruzeiro
1976: Inter x Corinthians
1977: Sao Paulo x Atletico-MG
1978: Guarani x Palmeiras
1979: Inter x Vasco
1980: Flamengo x Atletico-MG
1981: Gremio x Sao Paulo
1982: Flamengo x Gremio
1983: Flamengo x Santos
1984: Fluminense x Vasco
1985: Coritiba x Bangu
1986: Sao Paulo x Guarani
1987: Flamengo x Inter
1988: Bahia x Inter
1989: Vasco x Sao paulo
1990: Corinthians x Sao Paulo
1991: Sao Paulo x Bragantino
1992: Flamengo x Botafogo
1993: Palmeiras x Vitoria
1994: Palmeiras x Corinthians
1995: Botafogo x Santos
1996: Gremio x Portuguesa
1997: Vasco x Palmeiras
1998: Corinthians x Cruzeiro
1999: Corinthians x Atletico - MG
2000: Vasco x Sao Caetano
2001: Atletico PR x Sao caetano
2002: Santos x Corinthians
2003: Cruzeiro and Santos
2004: Santos and Atletico PR
2005: Inter and Corinthians
2006: Sao Paulo and Inter

Try finding that elsewhere!

In terms of who won the most titles, in order:

5 titles:
Flamengo
Note: the 1987 title is disputed by the Brazilian Federation and according to them, Sport Recife won it (the clubs broke away on that year). Therefore there is an argument for Flamengo having won 4 titles.

4 titles:
Palmeiras
Vasco da Gama
Internacional
Sao Paulo

3 titles:
Corinthians

2 titles:
Grêmio
Santos

1 title:
Atletico-MG
Guarani
Fluminense
Coritiba
Bahia
Botafogo
Atletico-PR
Cruzeiro

New Young Brazilian players to watch out!!

Brazil is always producing new young talent to replace the constant stream of players moving abroad....I just wanted to highlight a few of the players to watch out over the next few years. Some may be more obvious choices then others - if you have any suggestions, let me know:

• Lulinha - midfielder - plays for Corinthians of Sao Paulo in Brazil (mainly for the Under-17 side) and only 16 years old. His contract is valid until 2009 and has already represented Brazil at the lower levels. Barcelona is apparently keeping an eye on him;
• Alexandre Pato - forward - plays for the Internacional of Porto Alegre's first team and at the age of 17 marked his debut in the Brazilian league last year with a tremendous performance against Palmeiras (4x1 win - he had 3 assists and 1 goal). He has played for Brazil youth teams, recently winning the South American Youth Championship in 2007 where he was the team's top scorer with 5 goals. Pato has a contract until 2009 with a 18 million euros buy-out clause.
• Carlinhos - full-back - 20 year old who plays for Santos' first team in Brazil. He has already been called up to the main Brazilian National team.
• Diego Cavalieri - goalkeeper - 24 year old who plays for Palmeiras of Sao Paulo and took over the #1 position due to an injury to legendary veteran goalkeeper Marcos. Diego made the position his own with a number of outstanding performances and took 2nd place in PLACAR magazine's 'Bola de Prata' for the best goalkeeper of the Brazilian league in 2006 - losing out to Rogerio Ceni of champions Sao Paulo. His contract runs until 2008.

• Marcelo - full-back - Real Madrid signed the 18 year old Brazilian for 6 million Euros from Fluminense of Rio de Janeiro. Marcelo scored on his debut for Brazil against Wales in 2006 and is seen as the sucessor to Roberto Carlos in the national team.
• Ilsinho - full-back - 21 year old player from Sao Paulo of Brazil who was signed from rivals Palmeiras in 2006 and won PLACAR magazine's 'Bola de Prata' for the best right full-back of the Brazilian League in 2006. Ilsinho has already attracted the interest of AC Milan and follows on the famous footsteps of Cafu and Cicinho at Sao Paulo.
• Lucas - midfielder - Gremio of Porto Alegre's star player, 20 year old Lucas made his debut in 2005 and helped the club to win the serie B to win promotion back to the Brazilian elite. In 2006, Lucas surpassed himself by winning PLACAR magazine's 'Bola de Ouro' for the best player of the Brazilian League in 2006 - the youngest ever winner! He also managed to captain the Brazilian Under-20 youth team to victory at the South American Youth Championship recently, scoring 4 goals in the process. Lucas is the nephew of the famous Brazilian former player, Leivinha.
• Denilson - midfielder - 18 year old who moved from Sao Paulo's reserve team to Arsenal in 2006 for £3.4 million pounds. He has already made his full debut for the Arsenal first team and has been called up to the Brazil main side, although still waiting for his first full cap.
  
• Romulo - forward - despite interest from Deportivo La Coruna in Spain, the 24 year old forward signed this season for Cruzeiro in Brazil from Gremio of Porto Alegre. He had a great season for Gremio last season and scored 2 goals in his debut for Cruzeiro.
  
• Renan - goalkeeper - 21 year old who plays for Internacional of Porto Alegre and currently 2nd keeper for the 1st team. Renan has an incredible 62 Under-20 caps for Brazil and broke a club record in the 2006 Brazilian League when he went for 795 minutes without conceding a goal (the record was previously held by Taffarel).
• Carlos Eduardo - forward - silky 18 year old who plays for Gremio of Porto Alegre and has broken into the 1st team in 2007 with a series of outstanding performances for the club. His contract runs until 2009 and apparently Fiorentina and Roma have already had him watched.

So, can anyone suggest any other 'up-and-coming' Brazilian young players??

Time Mania - the Brazilian clubs' Lottery

"Time Mania" is the new Brazilian lottery being created in order to save Brazilian clubs from their huge debts.

How do you play?



1) All you have to do is to select 6 out of a total of 60 clubs (from 1st, 2nd and some from 3rd division) instead of choosing 6 out of 60 numbers as per the other Brazilian lottery
2) This will be available in multiple selling points all over Brazil
3) The revenue sourced from the lottery will be used primarily to cover the huge tax bills owed by the clubs to the Inland Revenue. Once the tax debt is paid in full, clubs will then benefit from the lottery as another source of revenue. 22% of the total amount raised by each ticket will go towards the clubs' debts.
However, this may take longer for certain clubs more than others - for example, Flamengo owes R$100 million/ £24million so it may take a while....

4) The government was attempting to force clubs to become fully listed companies before sanctioning the law to create Time Mania, however they have now backed down after strong lobbying by the clubs.

Latest on the creation of Time Mania:

* it is unlikely that the new lottery will be approved and ready to be sold to customers in time for the start of the 2007 Brazilian National League on 12th May;
* According to the Sports Minister, Orlando Silva Júnior, there are still some changes being discussed to the original document proposed - which indicate delays....
* Not to mention that Carnival is currently on in Brazil.....so watch this space.....

Brazilian League for Beginner's - 2006 Table

For everyone who is interested in Brazilian football, or more specifically to Brazilian club football, find below the final table after 38 matches in the Serie A of the Brazilian League.

Champions (in yellow): Sao Paulo
Libertadores Cup (in green): Internacional, Gremio, Santos, Parana & Flamengo (Brazilian Cup winners)
Soth American Cup (in blue): Vasco, Figueirense, Goias, Corinthians, Cruzeiro, Botafogo, Atletico Paranaense
Relegated to Serie B (in red): Ponte Preta, Fortaleza, Sao Caetano, Santa Cruz
Promoted to Serie A: Atletico Mineiro, Sport Recife, Nautico, America-RN

PG = points won J= games played V= wins E= draws D= lost games GP= goals in favour GC= goals against SG = goal difference

Colocação	Time	PG	J	V	E	D	GP	GC	SG	%
1º	São Paulo	78	38	22	12	4	66	32	34	68%
2º	Internacional	69	38	20	9	9	52	36	16	61%
3º	Grêmio	67	38	20	7	11	64	45	19	59%
4º	Santos	64	38	18	10	10	58	36	22	56%
5º	Paraná	60	38	18	6	14	56	49	7	53%
6º	Vasco	59	38	15	14	9	57	50	7	52%
7º	Figueirense	57	38	15	12	11	52	44	8	50%
8º	Goiás	55	38	15	10	13	63	49	14	48%
9º	Corinthians	53	38	15	8	15	41	46	-5	46%
	Cruzeiro	53	38	14	11	13	52	45	7	46%
11º	Flamengo	52	38	15	7	16	44	48	-4	46%
12º	Botafogo	51	38	13	12	13	52	50	2	45%
13º	Atlético-PR	48	38	13	9	16	61	62	-1	42%
14º	Juventude	47	38	13	8	17	44	54	-10	41%
15º	Fluminense	45	38	11	12	15	48	58	-10	39%
16º	Palmeiras	44	38	12	8	18	58	70	-12	39%
17º	Ponte Preta	39	38	10	9	19	45	65	-20	34%
18º	Fortaleza	38	38	8	14	16	39	62	-23	33%
19º	São Caetano	36	38	9	9	20	37	53	-16	32%
20º	Santa Cruz	28	38	7	7	24	41	76	-35	25%

Marketing & Merchandising by Brazilian clubs - an opportunity missed by some?

In today's global stage, some Brazilian clubs seem to miss an opportunity when it comes to marketing & merchandising their clubs.

I went and visited a small sample of the top clubs in Brazil via their official websites:
Sao Paulo, Gremio, Fluminense, Cruzeiro, Atletico Mineiro, Internacional, Vasco da Gama, Botafogo, Palmeiras, Atletico Paranaense, Coritiba, Santos & Flamengo.

I wanted to check:

1) Was the Main website clearly available in English (or another language)?

2) Did the Virtual shop website clearly allowed for orders to be taken from customers based abroad?

Out of the 13 clubs checked, only 2(!!) actually had their websites available in english: Inter of Porto Alegre (english & spanish - probably taking advantage of the fact that they have just won the World Club Championship) and Atletico Paranaense (english & german - due to the number of people in the region of Parana with German heritage). However, Cruzeiro did have some of its website information in english detailing an exchange ('intercambio') opportunity with the club.

The lack of websites available in english was a huge surprise to me - I contacted a few of these clubs to check whether there were any plans to update their websites - which in the majority were very interactive and great from the Brazilian fan's perspective. Gremio of Porto Alegre replied to state that they were planning to update their website and provide an english version.

Looking at the Virtual Shops, eight out of the 13 stores allowed for orders to be taken and sent abroad - a list of which have the links is attached below. However, none of them seemed to clearly offer the virtual shop webpage in English or any other language at present.

Sao Paulo http://www.saopaulomania.com.br/ allows orders abroad
Gremio of Porto Alegre http://www.gremio.net/shop/ no orders outside Brazil
Flamengo http://www2.ciashop.com.br/flaboutique allows orders abroad
Fluminense http://www.lojadoflu.com.br allows orders abroad
Cruzeiro http://www.lojacruzeiromania.com.br/ no orders outside Brazil
Atletico Mineiro http://www.lojadogalo.com.br/ no orders outside Brazil
Inter of Porto Alegre http://www.lojadointer.com.br/ allows orders abroad
Vasco da Gama http://www.ciashop.com.br/vascoboutique allows orders abroad
Botafogo http://www.fogaoshop.com.br allows orders abroad
Palmeiras http://www.pontoverde.com.br allows orders abroad
Atletico Paranaense http://arenastore.webstorm.com.br no orders outside Brazil
Coritiba http://www.gloriosoverdao.com.br allows orders abroad
Santos http://www.santosmania.com.br no orders outside Brazil

Obviously, there is an opportunity for Brazilian clubs to 'sell' themselves to a wider audience here and the 1st basic steps include the offering in english of their websites (including history of the club, virtual shop, etc) and the opportunity to maximise their financial return by taking advantage of any future national or international success on the field - such as it seems Inter of Porto Alegre is doing after their recent triumph.

Given the lack of money at clubs and the huge debts most of them are saddled with, how can they afford not to sell themselves to a wider audience??

Why there are no great players in Brazil for too long....

Unfortunately, the Brazilian economic reality is such that the best players never stay in the country for too long. The most glaring demonstration of this are the salaries of players.

If we take figures from Revista Placar published in November 2006, and use todays's exchange rate, i.e. 1 British Pound = 1.95 US Dollars = 4.12 Brazilian Reais
then the best paid Brazilian players in 2006 were (in monthly salary figures and weekly figures in brackets):

1. Ze Roberto (Santos, ex- Bayern Munich) £121,360 (c. £28k/ week)
1. 
   
2. Petkovic (Fluminense) & Rogerio Ceni (Sao Paulo) £72,815-£84,950 (c. £17-£20k/week)
3. Amoroso, Roger (Corinthians), Fabio Costa, Kleber, Maldonado (all Santos) £43,670-£53,400 (c. £1ok-£12k/ week)
4. Carlos Alberto (Corinthians, ex-Porto), Juninho Paulista (Palmeiras, ex-Celtic & Middlesborough), Magrao (Corinthians), Marcos (Palmeiras), Savio (Flamengo) £36,400-£43,690 (£9k-£10k/week)
5. Cesar Ramirez (Flamengo), Elber (Cruzeiro), Fernandao (Inter Porto Alegre), Pedrinho, Roger (Fluminense), Renato (Flamengo) £24,270-£29,120 (£6k-£7k/ week)
6. Clemer (Inter Porto Alegre), Danilo, Mineiro (Sao Paulo), Gabriel (Cruzeiro) £19,410-£21,840 (£4.5k-£5k/week)

Top players in Europe such as Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) or David Beckham (Real Madrid) are said to be paid over £100,000/ week - a staggering amount, especially as it probably excludes their image rights share and other sponsorship deals!
Some of the top players in the English Second or even Third Division earn up to £150-£200k a year (£3-£4k/ week). This is high compared to the average salary in Great Britain (£25,800 according to the The United Kingdom's Statistics Annual Survey on Earnings http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/ashe1006.pdf) - that is £500 per week.
So the Chelsea footballer Michael Ballack earns in 1 week fives (5x!!) more than the average person in Britain earns in 1 year. His salary is a staggering £129k per week.

Clearly, there is a divide between Brazil and Europe in economic terms, when even players in the English Second or Third Division earn as much as some of the top players in Brazil. The only question is: for how long can Brazil continue to produce players of good enough quality to maintain its public interested in the local league?

Lucas x Pato

The city of Porto Alegre have two football teams, both about to embark on the Libertadores Cup this week with their respective young prodigies: Lucas from Gremio of Porto Alegre ...

... and Alexandre 'Pato' from Internacional of Porto Alegre.


2006 was a superb year for both of these players - Lucas came into the Gremio team in 2005 from the youth system and helped the team to win promotion and the serie B title. Soon afterwards he became a vital cog in the Gremio team which reached 3rd place in the Serie A and was selected as the 'Bola de Ouro' (Golden Ball) player by Revista Placar - the best and most consistent player in the Brazilian league. Lucas picked up a full Brazilian cap and finished off the year by winning the South American Under-20 as the captain of the team (being voted as the best player of the tournament) and gaining qualification to the Olympics in China.

Alexandre 'Pato' is (or was?) a Gremio supporter from a young age who never got a chance to show his skills at Gremio's Olimpico stadium at the age of 11 and instead opted for a chance at Inter. He has come into the Inter main side in 2006 with a tremendous debut versus Palmeiras. He has already been recognised as a major talent of huge potential - Inter's first priority was to get Pato to sign a new contract before taking him off to Japan, where Inter won the World Club Championship versus Barcelona. Pato also showed his talents off for the Brazil U-20's side alongside Lucas, scoring a number of goals along the way.

Both of these players have already had bids rejected by their respective clubs, but the question remains - Lucas x Pato, who will be the winner in 2007??