billsportsmaps.com

May 29, 2015

Brazil, 2015 Brasileiro location map: w/ 2014 attendance, 2015 teams-by-state, all-time titles-by-state & titles by club./ With editorial: Brazil basically deserved to be humiliated by Germany (7-1), because Brazilian football is a goon-show run by corrupt clowns.

Filed under: Brazil — admin @ 8:49 pm

brazil_brasileiro-2015_map_campeonato-serie-a_2014-attendance_2015-teams-by-state_brasileiro-titles-list_post_h_.gif
2015 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A location map



Links…
-Teams…2015 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A.
-Tabela…http://globoesporte.globo.com/futebol/brasileirao-serie-a/.
-Scores, fixtures, table… http://www.flashscores.co.uk/football/brazil/serie-a/.
-Blog on Brazilian football, which is run by one of the contributors to billsportsmaps.com, James Nalton…http://thebotafogostar.com/.

    Brazil – 2015 Série A location map: with 2014 attendance, 2015 teams-by-state, all-time titles-by-state & titles by club

By Bill Turianski on 29 May 2015; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.com.
On the map page
The left-hand side of the map page features a simple location-map of the 2015 version of the confusingly-named Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (it is easier to just refer to the competition as the Brasileiro).

In the center of the map page is a two-part chart which shows representation in the 2015 Brasileiro by state, with a list below that which shows the all-time list of Brasileiro titles by state. (Note: there are 28 States in Brazil, plus a Federal District [Brasilia]. 8 of those states have representation in the 2015 Brasileiro, with Sao Paulo state, as usual, having the most teams in it – 5 teams, and, with, surprisingly, the small-but-relatively-wealthy southern state of Santa Catarina having the second-most teams in it – 4 teams. [Rio de Janeiro state only has 3 teams in the 2015 Brasileiro, because Botofogo was relegated in 2014]).

At the right-hand side of the map page is a chart which shows 24 clubs (the 20 from last season and the 4 promoted up from Série B for the 2015 season), and it features 4 bits of information…
1). How the clubs finished in 2014 and if they are playing in the Copa Libertadores or the Copa Sudamericana for 2015.
2). The 24 clubs’ 2014 average attendances (from domestic league matches/ paid-tickets+free-tickets counted [aka publico]).
3). Brasileiro titles (incl. previous Brazilian national titles, from 1959-1970/1971-2014), with year of last title noted.
4). Copa Libertadores titles, with year of last title noted.

Poor attendance plagues Brazilian pro football
Brazilian first division attendance – league-wide – has increased by slightly more than 3,500 per game in two years. 2012 was the modern-day low-point of crowd-size in Brazilian pro football, when the Brazilian first division averaged a paltry 12,970 per game (paid attendance; publico attendance was 13 per game higher at 12,983; seen here at sidebar there). In 2013, the league-average increased (by 15.2 percent) to 14,951 per game. Last season [2014], aided by the continued introduction of several new or renovated stadiums (some of which were built or were renovated for the 2014 FIFA World Cup), attendance increased again (by 10.7 percent) to 16,555 per game.

There is little doubt that the quality-level of Brazilian top flight football has eroded over the past decade. The fact that more fans are now in attendance – a 27.6 percent increase in 2 years – is a good sign. But the stadiums that host Brazilian first division matches are very dangerous places, and large sections of the sporting-fan-public have made the conscious decision to stay away from the stadiums, stay home, watch football on TV, and be safe. According to Brazilian media giant Globo, 23 people died in 2012 at Brasileiro games; and in 2013, 30 died {see this article, Why Brazil’s footballers play to half-empty stadiums (guardiam.com/football by Jonathan Watts on 25 Feb. 2014)}.
-See this, Soccer’s Deadliest Fans: The Troubled World of Brazil’s ‘Organizadas’ (rollingstone.com by James Young on 28 May 2014).
-See this, article 5 facts about Brazil’s soccer hooligans (by Daniel Milan at Matador network from 9 June 2014);
that last article, linked to above, points out 5 salient points about fan violence in Brazilian pro football…
1. Problems typically unfold outside the stadiums.
2. Different sets of hooligans can team up.
3. Players aren’t immune.
4. It’s a super homophobic scene.
5. They really like Carnaval.

Brazilian pro football is a colossal mess, with all the best Brazilian players leaving as soon as they can, for the moneyed clubs in Europe, or for anywhere else, for that matter {see this, Brazilian clubs in crisis as wages unpaid and debts rocket (insideworldfootball.com by Ricardo Seaton on 23 November 2014)}. The clubs there in Brazil often literally have nothing…they usually don’t own their stadiums, and they usually don’t even own the full transfer-rights to most of their best players (thanks to the insidious rise of third-party-ownership). As to TPO (third party ownership), measures look to be implemented which will impose more restrictions on the practice. As James Young points out in the article linked to at the end of this paragraph, “In the short term, a ban on third-party ownership is likely to create serious cash-flow issues for financially strapped Brazilian clubs, which frequently rely on the sale of percentages of their promising young players to third parties just to pay the bills. In the longer term, however, the move may be a positive step since it forces clubs to stir from their collective torpor and encourages much-needed reform of the underperforming domestic game, which is plagued by financial woes, low attendance and an archaic fixture calendar.”…{excerpt from
Brazilian football faces battle to emerge from third-party ownership (espnfc.us by James Young on 8 Oct. 2014)}.

Brazil has won the most FIFA World Cup titles of any nation (5 WC titles), but there are 14 other pro leagues in the football world that currently [2014] outdraw Brazil’s first division
Brazil’s first division is only the 13th-highest drawing in the world, and fourteenth highest if you count all leagues (see next sentence). Using 2013-14 figures, here are the countries in the world whose top flight in football (aka soccer aka association football) outdraws Brazil’s top flight (note: the second division in Germany, 2-Bundesliga, also outdraws Brazil’s top flight).
1). Germany
2). England (incl. Wales)
3). Spain
4). India [Indian Super League]
5). Italy
6). Mexico
7). Argentina
8). France
9). Netherlands
10). USA/Canada
11). China
12). Germany, 2nd division (2-Bundesliga)
13). Japan
14). Brazil
{Source – List of attendance figures at domestic professional sports leagues (en.wikipedia.org).}

Empty stadiums in Brazil…
Very few people in Brazil really actually go to 1st division matches – I mean, the first divisions in China and in USA/Canada both outdraw Brazil’s first division. And those two leagues (MLS & China’s 1st division) both pretty much suck. The fact that the talent-poor/ rigged-by-its-single-entity-ownership-system/ closed-shop-Union-busting-cartel known as Major League Soccer outdraws Brazil’s first division should tell you all you really need to know about the sad state of professional Brazilian football. (In 2014 MLS drew 19.1 K per game, 2.6 K more than Brazil’s Série A.) The fact that the spectacularly talent-poor and ersatz Chinese Super League outdraws Brazil’s first division is just more salt on the wound. (In 2013-14, the Chinese Super League drew 18.9 K per game, 2.4 K more than Brazil’s Série A.)
{Sources of 2014 league-wide attendance data,
O público do Brasileirão-2014 (globoesporte.globo.com/futebol)
Major League Soccer/attendance/Season averages (en.wikipedia.org)
2014 Chinese Super League (en.wikipedia.org)}

    Brazil deserved to be humiliated by Germany (7-1), because Brazilian football is a goon-show run by corrupt clowns

Last June [2014], the Brazil national team embarrassed themselves in front of the whole world, on their own home turf. They lost by the score of 7-1 to Germany. It was a so-very-public humiliation, and it was well deserved, and it was a long time coming. In the aftermath of that brilliant German demolition, the following comment, made on an article on the 7-1 mauling that is linked to further below, sums it all up quite nicely…

“…Delighted for Brazil. They got exactly what they deserved. From the first game against Croatia when it was delicately poised at 1-1, a Brazilian theatrical dive results in a penalty. Neymar scores. Brazil win 3-1. They then carried on kicking and gouging their way to the finish line hoping it would be enough because Neymar will provide. Scolari’s a thug tactician. The Colombian game was meant to be a blugeoning warm up excercise for this game. David Luiz was sent out on the pitch every game with the specific instructions to elbow and tackle from behind after the ball’s gone etc. Yes he scored a great free kick against Colombia, but lucky as hell. He’s missed about 100 of those for Chelsea. Tonight he elbowed a player deliberately at 0-0. And they were all at it. Hulk is one of the most selfish stuck up players there is. A team of mercenary thugs playing as a loosely held together rag tag bunch, missing it’s two lynchpins Silva and Neymar. Rough-housing, cheating, bullying and in the end ruthless, efficient pragmatism and no little skill sensationally obliterated them. This is a watershed moment in terms of a match result…” (comment by Russell at {rte.ie/sport/soccer/worldcup/germany-hammer-hosts-brazil-to-advance}).

Losing 7-to-1 to Germany…that is your new legacy, Brazil. The beautiful game has passed you by, Brazil. David Luiz, aka Capitulator-in-chief-to-the-German-onslaught…that is your new symbol, Brazil. David Luiz, now of petro-dollar club PSG. David Luiz, who is flashy and ridiculous to look at, and who is a dirty hack and goon of a player and who is way too expensive…and who is also fundamentally incompetent. {See this, Meet soccer’s most expensive loser (nypost.com by Cameron Tomarchio on 8 July 2014).}

David Luiz pretty much sums up your whole act, Brazil national team. Flashy, expensive, and incompetent goons playing for a directionless giant republic, with no plan and no clue whatsoever. As Tony Jimenez points out in the article linked to below…”This is a player [Luiz] that Gary Neville…described as performing as though he was a player being controlled by a 10-year-old kid on a Playstation.”…”If it wasn’t for his gimmick hairstyle, I highly doubt that he [Luiz] would be turning out in the upper echelons of European football, much less leading out his country at a World Cup finals – and that he is able to strut about so arrogantly, blaming everyone else for his mistakes, and pocketing a small fortune, is more fool us.”…{excerpts from Why Calamitous David Luiz Represents Football’s Conman Economy (huffingtonpost.co.uk by Tony Jimenez on 20 July 2014).}

The Brazilian football team’s only plan is to play like goons (Brazil had the most fouls of any team in the 2014 WC), then cry when another team responds to their goonish behavior with the same. After Colombia mauled Neymar in response to the goon-show that was Brazil-2014, some saw the sweet payback coming (see this, Brazil’s goonish tactics won’t work against Germany at World Cup (latimes.com by Kevin Baxter on 7 July 2014)}.

The Brazilian football authorities have SOLD THE SELECTION OF THE NATIONAL TEAM TO SPONSORS!…
And selections for the Brazil national team are not even based on choosing the best players. No, Brazil chooses the most marketable players. You think I am making this up? Well check out this: Leaked contract reveals how national federation auctioned the Brazilian National Team. from that link, “…
[Criteria for selecting Brazil national team squad members]…
-The list of players called must match criteria established by commercial partners. Any change on the squad must have the consent of the companies involved.
-When a player is replaced, the one to get in his place must have the same marketing value.
-The contract is held between CBF (the brazillian national football federation) and a private company called Internacional Sports Events, a company with zero employees and no headquarters, located in the Cayman Islands.
-The ten years contract gives ISE exclusive rights to manage the team’s games and ownership of all transmission rights.
-The contract states that the top players, considered part of the main team, must start every single match, with no space for newcomers whatsoever, until they have a proper “marketing value”.
-The responsible for this contract is Ricardo Teixeira, former president of CBF and son-in-law of Joao Havelange. Teixeira and Havelange received more than 40 million dollars worth of bribes from marketing agency ISL, which collapsed into bankruptcy in 2001.

The sport we love is very sick, my friends.”…{end of excerpt at http://us.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/368jm0/leaked_contract_reveals_how_national_federation/ [posted by conffra]}.

A similar story has recently been reported by the Brazilian newspaper Estadão, here, Report: Marketing Firm Owns Rights To Select Brazil National Team Squad (screamer.deadspin.com article from 18 May 2015 by Billy Haisley).

You have no answers, Brazil, and you still have a bunch of corrupt old-white-folks running your show and standing in the way and blocking progress and stuffing their pockets while the beautiful game and the nation of Brazil itself withers on the vine. Brazil has now sold the selection of its national team squad to outside interests. In other words, Brazilian football has sold its soul to the devil. Brazilian football is run by corrupt clowns.

And the geniuses who run the Brazil national team found a pretty lame “solution” to that 7-1 humiliation. Their “solution” was to re-hire the goon they had as coach before (Dunga). Seven-to-One, and the solution is to re-hire the last-goon-in-charge.

And the Brazilian pro league is hamstrung by its actual calendar (a May to December season), because Brazil lets all those corrupt old-white-guys keep their sweet gigs, which are useless, as the corrupt old-white-guys run the pointless state leagues, which act in a parasitic way on the game, sucking the lifeblood out of Brazilian pro football, while playing pointless and fundamentally stupid state championships in February and March and April. Come the August transfer window, squads in Brazil are often thrown into disarray. {See this, Historical Brazil state championships a drag on rest on of league season (espnfc.us by James Young on 24 March 2015).}

The useless empty stadiums Brazil built for the 2014 World Cup…
Reporting from Natal, Brazil, from 18 May 2014, by Paulo Prada, Brazilians left wanting by flawed World Cup investments (reuters.com).
For the World Cup they hosted, Brazil spent a mint (~$11 billion) – building useless 2014 WC venues, in places they never should have built 2014 WC venues. Venues that will now always remain empty, such as the one smack in the middle of the Amazon in Manaus, which doesn’t even have a third-division club. It now sits empty and under-utilized.

Then there is the stadium Brazil built for the 2014 World Cup in a city of just 550,000 [Cuiabá], whose highest-placed club is in the third division. It now sits empty and under-utilized.

Then there is the stadium Brazil built for the 2014 World Cup in Natal, which has never had a first division club and whose highest-drawing clubs can’t even draw 4 K (homeless people were recently found living in the dressing rooms there). It now sits empty and under-utilized.

They (the-old-white-folks-in-charge) spent and lined their pockets on instantly-useless White Elephants, while millions and millions of Brazilians still live in favela shacks and have no way to get to work – because they spent all the public-transportation money on stupid stadiums that no one will use now. They spent the whole wad on instantly-useless stadiums where there are no teams to fill the stadiums now, instead of spending those billions of dollars on absolutely-needed public improvement projects (see second link below for the 4 biggest White Elephants Brazil built for the 2014 WC, three of which I just mentioned above).

-See this, World Cup leaves Brazil with bus depots and empty stadiums (bbc.com/sport/football by Bruce Douglass on 29 March 2015).
-See this, The Four Biggest Stadium Boondoggles Of Brazil’s World Cup (thinkprogress.org by Travis Waldron on 14 July 2014).

brazil-is-run-by-clowns_a_.gif
Photo credit above – Jefferson Bernardes at latimes.com

Then there’s the Petrobras scandal, which is a kickback conspiracy involving building those useless stadiums and government big-shots and the largest corporation in the whole country. In relation to the Petrobras scandal, the treasurer of the administration of the Brazilian president was recently arrested.
-{See this, In Brazil, arrest brings Petrobras scandal closer to President Rousseff (LA Times.com, by Vincent Blevins on 15 April 2015)}.
-{See this, Brazil Builder Collapse Jeopardizes World Cup Stadiums (bloomberg.com by by Tariq Panja on 31 March 2015).}
-{See this, Brazil’s Slumping Economy and Bribery Scandal Eat Away at Dilma Rousseff’s Popularity (nytimes.com by Simon Romero on 25 March 2015).}

But Brazil has a solution to one of those problems…it looks like the authorities have figured out how to make that White Elephant in Manaus pay off…”there has been talk that the government might convert it into a jail, and given the issues around Brazil’s law enforcement, perhaps that’s not a legacy a sporting event should aspire to leave behind.”…{quote from The Four Biggest Stadium Boondoggles Of Brazil’s World Cup (thinkprogress.org by Travis Waldron on 14 July 2014)}.

What a joke.
___
Thanks to all at the following links…
-Brasileiro league average attendance and team-by-team 2014 attendances (Serie A and Serie B) can be found at the links below….
Thanks to Globo Esporte/futebol for Brazilian first division attendance figures (público), http://globoesporte.globo.com/futebol/brasileirao-serie-a/publico-brasileirao.html; and second division attendance figures, http://globoesporte.globo.com/futebol/brasileirao-serie-b/publico-serieb.html.

Thanks to NordNordWest at File:Brazil location map.svg, for blank map of Brazil.
Thanks to the contributors at 2015 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (en.wikipedia.org).

January 8, 2014

2014 FIFA World Cup teams: Brazil (CONMEBOL), prominent players in 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifying (theoretical best XI for Brazil, with 8 other player-options listed).

Filed under: Brazil — admin @ 9:41 pm




Brazil national team. CONMEBOL (South America). Nickname: A Seleção (the Selection). Home jersey: yellow with green trim; blue pants.
-Brazil is in Group A (with Cameroon, Croatia, and Mexico), ‘2014 FIFA World Cup Group A‘ (en.wikipedia.org).
2014 FIFA World Cup qualifcation: 20th qualification out of 20 tries (Brazil automatically qualified for 2014 as host nation; nevertheless Brazil is the only country in the world to have played in every of the 20 FIFA World Cups) [the FIFA World Cup has been played every four years since 1934, with 1942 and 1946 not played due to World War II].
Previous World Cup appearance: 2010, Quarterfinals / 3-1-1.
Highest World Cup finish:
1958, Champions / 5-1-0.
1962: Champions / 5-1-0.
1970, Champions / 6-0-0.
1994, Champions / 5-2-0.
2002, Champions / 7-0-0.

Population of Brazil: 201.0 million. Capital: Brasilia, pop. 4.0 million. Largest city: São Paulo, pop. 19.8 million. {metro areas/2013 estimates}. ‘List of largest cities in Brazil‘ (en.wikipedia.org).
There are 12 host-cities for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The ten largest cities in Brazil all have been chosen as host-cities. Those cities, in order of population size are: São Paulo, São Paulo State. Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro State. Salvador, Bahia State. Brasília, Distrito Federal. Fortaleza, Ceará State. Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State. Manaus, Amazonas State. Curitiba, Paraná State. Recife, Pernambuco State; Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul State. The final two host-cities are much smaller. They are the 20th-largest city in Brazil, Natal, in Rio Grande do Norte State in the hot and arid Northeast Region; and the 34th-largest city in Brazil, Cuiabá, in the south-west of the country in Mato Grosso State in the Pantanal region (a tropical wetlands). All 12 venue-locations are shown on the map below. Also, see2014 FIFA World Cup/Venues‘ (en.wikipedia.org).
-Brazil coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari. Luiz Felipe Scolari. Scolari was coach of Brazil when they last won the World Cup, in 2002. Other titles to his name are with both Cruzeiro and Palmeiras in the Brasileiro. Scolari’s second stint as coach of Brazil began on 28 November 2012.

From BBC.co.uk/football, from 18 March 2014, by Tim Vickery, ‘World Cup 2014: Why a fully-fit Fred holds the key for Brazil‘ (bbc.com/sport/football).
From Goal.com, from 9 May 2014, ‘Brazil reveal World Cup squad as Kaka, Robinho and Lucas Moura miss out‘ (goal.com).

    Below: Theoretical Best XI for Brazil (with 8 other player-options further below) updated to reflect final roster selection by Scolari -

brazil_2014-fifa-world-cup_squad_best-xi_alternate-options_f-scolari_may11-2014_d_.gif
Photo and Image credits above -
Map of Brazil on globe, by Addicted04 at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil.
Map of Brazil with provinces by NordNordWest at ‘File:Brazil location map.svg‘ (en.wikipedia.org).
Brazil home jersey badge, photo from kitsluxe.com.
Brazil home jersey, photo from shop.bigsoccer.com.
Coach,
Luiz Felipe Scolari, photo from sportsmole.co.uk.
Goalkeeper,
Júlio César (QPR), photo unattributed at thesixyardbox.com/exclusive-interview-julio-cesar.
Defenders,
Dani Alves (FC Barcelona), photo by David Ramos/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.
Thiago Silva (PSG), photo unattributed at footplus.tn
David Luiz (), photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.
Marcelo (Real Madrid), photo Pedro Armestre/AFP via lvironpigs.wordpress.com.
Midfielders,
Oscar (Chelsea), photo from football.ua via en.wikipedia.org.
Paulinho (Tottenham), photo from AFP via globoesporte.globo.com.
Luiz Gustavo (VfL Wolfsburg), photo from imago via bundesliga.com.
Forwards,
Hulk (Zenit), photo by Epsilon/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.
Fred (Fluminenese), photo by Daniel Zappe/Fotocom.net via folhape.com.br/blogdeprimeira.
Neymar (FC Barcelona), photo by David Ramos/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.
Other options for squad -
Willian LW/AM/RW (Chelsea), photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.
Jô FW (Atlético Mineiro), photo unattributed at bandsports.band.uol.com.br.
Dante CB (Bayern Munich), photo unattributed at forum.ea.com/uk.
Maxwell LB/LM/CM (PSG), photo unattributed at sofoot.com.
Maicon RW/RM (Roma). photo unattributed at repubblica.it/sport/calcio/serie-a/roma.
Hernanes (Inter), photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.
Bernard (Shakhtar Donetsk), photo by Divulgação via globoesporte.globo.com.
___
Thanks to the contributors at ‘2014 FIFA World Cup qualification‘ (en.wikipedia.org).
Thanks to the contributors at ‘Brazil national football team‘ (en.wikipedia.org).
Thanks to http://www.transfermarkt.com/en/, for player-position details.

May 17, 2013

Brazil: 2013 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A location map, with 2012 average attendances / Plus photos and short profiles of top scorers/assists leaders from the first through fourth place finishers in the 2012 Brasileirão (Fluminense {champions}, Atlético Mineiro, Grêmio, São Paulo FC).

Filed under: Brazil — admin @ 9:21 pm

brazil_campeonato_serie-a_2013_location-map_w-2012-attendance-data_post_d.gif
Brazil: 2013 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A location map, with 2012 average attendance


Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (commonly referred to as the Brasileirão) is the top flight of football in Brazil. The 2013 season begins on 25 May.
Brazilian Série A [Brasileirão] – fixtures, results, table (soccerway.com).

List of Brazilian football champions‘ (en.wikipedia.org).

Further below are illustrations featuring goals and assists leaders from the top 4 teams in 2012 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. I am showing the top 4 because in Brazil, first place through 4th place qualify for the Copa Libertadores the following year. Also included are some photos of Grêmio’s new stadium in Porto Alegre, which opened in December 2012, and which has a seated capacity of around 60,000. And it is not a municipal stadium – Arena do Grêmio is owned by Grêmio. And unlike the vast majority of first-division (municipal) stadiums in Brazil, it doesn’t have a running track. Another good sign of stadia improvements in Brazil is the nice redevelopment at Estádio Independência, which is the 25,000-capacity municipal stadium that second-place finishers Atlético Mineiro share with another Belo Horizonte, Minais Gerais state-based club, the second division side América MG. Like Grêmio’s new stadium, the essentially brand-new Estádio Independência also dispenses with the superfluous running track and features nice steep-angled stands situated very close to the pitch {see this, ‘Estádio Independência‘ (stadiumguide.com/independencia)}. [Note - you can see a photo of one of the new stands at Estádio Independência further down in this post in the Atlético Mineiro section.]

The soul-less, poor-sight-line-plagued municipal-stadium-with-useless-running-track has been a bane on Brazilian football for decades, and it is, along with the threat of in-stadium violence and the threat of pre- and post-match violence, one of the contributing factors to the poor attendance in Brazilian football. There are several other factors depressing overall first division attendance in Brazil. The rebuilding of stadiums slated to host matches in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil has disrupted some clubs like Internacional (of Porto Alegre). And a couple big clubs – Fluminense and Flamengo – are currently forced to play elsewhere in Rio de Janeiro (at Engenhão in a 3-way-stadium-share with Botofogo) while their regular venue, Maracaná, is being refurbished for the 2014 World Cup. There are also factors like poor start times such as at 10 pm to accommodate televised broadcasts. There is also a certain amount of resentment among Brazilians in seeing virtually all their best players that are in the prime of their careers opting to play their pro football in Europe. The fact of the matter is that many millions of Brazilians follow first division fútbol in Brazil. They just don’t go to the matches, and only watch the Brasileirão on television.

Brazil is a nation with such a rich history of sporting accomplishment – Brazil has won 5 FIFA World Cup titles, the most of any nation. Brazil is a nation with a gigantic population (193 million {2012 estimate}). And Brazil is a nation with many large cities {see the following link, which shows 13 Brazilian cities with more than 2 million people in their metro-areas, and 22 cities with more than 1 million people in their metro-areas, ‘List of largest cities in BrazilLargest metropolitan areas‘ {en.wikipedia.org).

Yet despite all that, Brazil is a nation whose biggest football league is so poorly supported that over half the clubs – 14 clubs in fact last season – can’t even draw above 13,000 per game. And the per-game cumulative league average has plummeted in the last few seasons. The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A averaged 12,983 per game in 2012. That is really low.

By way of comparison, see the following chart [data of which originally appeared in the May, 2013 issue of World Soccer (page 25)], which shows that throughout the entire world, Brazil had only the 13th-highest league average attendance in 2011-12 {http://billsportsmaps.com/?p=22541
[note: the 21-per-game disparity in Brazil's league average is due to the fact that, in this post here, attendance is measured by paid tickets - numbers via http://globoesporte.globo.com/futebol/noticia/2012/12/corinthians-tem-melhor-media-de-publico-de-todas-divisoes-em-2012.html; while in the post I just linked to above, attendances were measured by total spectators (that is, spectators who paid for tickets plus media and spectators who got in for free}.

Currently, there are a number of national leagues that one would not consider to be able to out-draw the Brazilian top flight, but are doing just that. Specifically, the first division leagues in Mexico (Liga MX), in China (the Chinese Super League), in the United States/Canada (MLS), and in Japan (J.League) all outdraw the Brazilian top flight these days.

The following article mentions the attendance decline in Brazil. From independent.co.uk, from 25 October 2012, by James Young, 'Prices soaring and attendances plummeting: The great soap opera of Brazilian football'.

...

    Top 4 finishers in the 2012 Brasilerão (Fluminese {champions}, Atlético Mineiro, Grêmio, São Paulo FC).
    From Rio de Janeiro -
    Fluminense, 2012 champions of Brazil.

Below, top 3 scoring threats for Fluminense in 2012, Fred, Thiago Neves, and Wellington Nem - all of whom return to Fluminense for 2013.
The Minais Gerais state-born Frederico Chaves Guedes, aka Fred, has previously played for two Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais-based clubs - for second-division-club América MG (from 2002-04) and then for one of Belo Horizonte's big-two clubs, Cruzeiro (from 2004-05, where he scored 24 goals in 43 league appearances), and then for 4 seasons in France with Lyon (2005–09), where in 2006, '07, and '08 he contributed to the last 3 of Lyon's 7-straight titles. Fred scored 34 goals in 88 league appearances for Lyon. Fred requested to leave the club in December 2008. In early 2009, after refusing to return from Brazil, Fred was released from Lyon, and he signed a 5-year contract with Rio de Janeiro's Fluminense. Fred scored 12 goals in 20 league appearances in 2009 for Flu; then in an injury-hampered 2010, he made just 14 league appearances with 5 goals as Fluminense won the 2010 Brasileiro title led by midfield wizard Dario Conca (who now, strangely, plays in China). In 2011 Fred was healthy again and netted a stupefying 20 goals in 22 league appearances. In 2012, Fred was almost as prolific - he scored 20 goals in 28 league appearances as Fluminense cruised to their second title in 3 years. Fluminense began pulling away from the pack near the seasons' close late in October 2012, but then Flu stumbled to the finish line, losing 2 of their last 3 matches, ending up finishing 5 points ahead of second-place-finishers Atlético Mineiro.

The Curitiba, Paraná state-born attacking midfielder Thiago Neves has previously played in Brazil (getting his start with hometown/second-division-club Paraná, from 2005-07), then in Japan (with Vegalta Sendai in 2006), then briefly in Germany (6 games for Hamburger SV in 2008-09), and then in Saudi Arabia (with Riyadh's Al-Hilal FC for 2 seasons from 2009-11). It was with Al-Hilal that Neves returned home to Brazil via 2 different loan spells, first with Fluminense in 2009, then 2 years later in 2011 with Flamengo, where he scored a respectable 12 goals in 33 league appearances. In January 2012, for 16 million Brazilian reals ($7.9 million US dollars), Thiago Neves was transferred from Al-Hilal to Fluminense. Last season, with 5 goals and 6 assists in 29 league appearances for Flu, Neves made a solid contribution to Fluminense's 2012 Brasileirão title.

Wellington Nem (born Wellington Silva Sanches Aguiar in Rio de Janeiro) is a 21-year-old hometown product who plays as an attacking midfielder/winger for Fluminense. In 2011 he was loaned out to the Florianópolis, Santa Catarina state-based yo-yo club Figueirense, scoring 9 goals in 28 league games as a 19-year-old. Last season his 6 goals and 3 assists in 26 league games for Fluminense contributed to the club's successful title run. It remains to be seen whether Flu will seek to sell off Wellington Nem (like they did with Dario Conca 2 years ago).

On 8 May 2013, Fluminense clinched advancement to the final 8 in the 2013 Copa Libertadores by beating Ecuador's Emelec 4-1 aggregate. Fluminense are now well-positioned to win their first Copa Libertadores title this summer. 5 years ago, Fluminense made it to the 2008 Copa Libertadores Finals, but were upended in a shock result by LDU Quito. Now they aim to go all the way.
On 22 May, in Rio de Janeiro, Fluminense will face Olimpia of Paraguay in the first leg of the 2013 Copa Libertadores Quarterfinals.

fluminenese_wins-4th-title_fred_thiago-neves_wellington-nem_h.gif
Photo credits above -
aljazeera.com/sport.
Ricardo Cassiano via lancenet.com.br.
Vanderlei Almed/AFP via fifa.com.

...

From Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais state - Atlético Mineiro (aka Atlético MG), 2nd place in the 2012 Brasileirão.
Below, top 3 scoring threats for Atlético Mineiro in 2012, Ronaldinho, Bernard, and Jô - all of whom return for 2013.

Ronaldinho, the 33-year old Porto Alegre-born free kick specialist and playmaker, got his pro start with Grêmio from 1998-2001, before a 5 million Euros transfer to Paris Saint-Germain, where he played from 2001 to 2003. In 2003, a 32.5 million Euros transfer saw him move to FC Barcelona, where he basically became one of the planet’s best footballers circa 2003 to 2006 (winning the Ballon d’Or in 2003-04 and in 2005-06). Ronaldinho scored 70 goals in 145 league matches for the Catalan giants, but by 2008, a hard partying lifestyle and the onset of an on-field complacency saw him fall out of favor with the Barça management, and he was sent to Milan, where he remained from 2008 to 2011. Then Ronaldinho (wisely) decided to return home to Brazil as a 31-year-old, and signed with Flamengo, playing 2 seasons for the Rio de Jameiro giants in 2011 and '12, scoring 15 goals in 33 league matches. But in May, 2012, Ronaldinho sued Flamengo claiming lack of payment for four months and cancelled his contract with the club. Less than a week later he made a surprise signing with Belo Horizonte-based Atlético Mineiro (rather than signing with a Rio de Janeiro-based club or São Paulo-based club). Ronaldinho energized the Atlético MG squad, and led the club to a very credible second-place finish in 2012.

Atlético Mineiro led the league in scoring in the 2012 Brasileirão with 64 goals. Ronaldinho scored 9 and made 11 assists in 32 league appearances. Besides Ronaldinho, there were two other players who had stand-out offensive numbers for Atlético Mineiro in 2012. One was another ex-European star, (who made his name in Russia with CSKA Moscow from 2004-06 [with 30 goals in league 52 games there] before stints at Everton and Manchester City, among other places). Jo scored 10 goals and made 4 assists. Another was young hometown product Bernard, a 20-year-old playmaker with huge potential, who scored 11 goals and made 11 assists in 32 league appearances.

In early 2013, Atlético MG were bolstered by the addition of striker Diego Tardelli (who is back for his second spell with the club; Diego Tardelli’s Wikipedia page here). Now in early May 2013, the squad has clinched advancement to the final 8 in the 2013 Copa Libertadores. So Atlético Mineiro, at the #1 seed in the tournament now, have a solid shot at winning their first Copa Libertadores title. The main thing that Atlético Mineiro have going for them is that the squad, centered around Ronaldinho and full of players who can find the net with ease, is playing in a relaxed manner, and seem to be enjoying themselves immensely. They have scored 22 goals in 8 games in the tournament so far, with Jô scoring 6 (tournament leader), Diego Tardelli scoring 5, and Ronaldinho scoring 4 goals.

Here is a recent article on the subject by Jonathan Wilson from 16 April 2013, from Guardian.co.uk, ‘The Copa Libertadores and differing stories for Ronaldinho and Riquelme – As Juan Román Riquelme frowns his way across the continent, the contrast with Ronaldinho’s grin has never been greater‘ (guardian.co.uk/football).

On 22 May, in Tijuana, Mexico, Atlético Mineiro will face Mexican upstarts Tijuana (aka Xolos) in the first leg of the 2013 Copa Libertadores Quarterfinals.

atletico-mineiro_2012-2nd-place-finishers_ronaldinho_bernard_jo_new-estadio-independencia_e.gif
Photo credits above -
Bruno Cantini/Flickr do Atlético-MG via esporte.uol.com.br .
Bruno Cantini/Flickr do Atlético-MG via goal.com.
Unattributed at pes2014ps2.blogspot.com
Screenshot of http://espnfc.com/video/espnfc/video?id=1440687&cc=5901.

From Porto Alegre, Rio Grane do Sul state – Grêmio, 3rd place in the 2012 Brasileirão.
Below, top 2 scoring threats for Grêmio in 2012, Elano Blumer and Marcelo Martins Moreno.

Elano has previously played for Santos (twice), Shakhtar Donetsk, Manchester City, and Galatasaray. The 31-year-old Elano returns in 2013 for his second season at Grêmio (after a two-year stint at Santos which included his contributing to Santos’ 2011 Copa Libertadores title).

Marcelo Moreno, after signing a 5-year contract with Grêmio in 2012, starts 2013 on loan at Flamengo. A 25-year-old Bolivian international with 11 goals in 36 games for Boloivia, Marcelo Martins Moreno has previously played for Vitória, Cruzeiro, Shakhtar Donetsk, Werder Bremen (loan), and Wigan Athletic (loan).

On 16 May, in Bogotá, Colombia, Grêmio were eliminated from the 2013 Copa Libertadores Round of 16 when they lost 0-1 to Santa Fe (2-2 aggregate/with away goals rule) to Santa Fe.
gremio_2012-3rd-place-finishers_elano_marcelo-moreno_k.gif
Photo credits above -
coracaogremista.com.br.
gazetaesportiva.net.

Arena do Grêmio, the new home of Grêmio. In Porto Alegre, Rio Grand do Sul.
grêmio_new-stadium_porto-alegre_c.gif
Photo and Image credits above -
gremio.net.
Exterior photo (night-time) of Arena do Grêmio from skyscrapercity.com uploaded by batedordemartelo.
Aerial photo of Arena do Grêmio from wp.clicrbs.com.br .
Interior photo of Arena do Grêmio from arenadogremio.blogspot.com.

Sào Paulo FC, 4th place in the 2012 Brasileirão.
Below, top 2 scoring threats for São Paulo in 2012, Luis Fabiano and Jádson, both of whom return for 2013.

Luís Fabiano got his start in 1999 at tiny, current first-division/Greater São Paulo-based-club Ponte Preta. Luís Fabiano followed that with a disappointing year-and-a-half at Rennes in Brittany, France. Luís Fabiano then made his mark at his next stint, 4 seasons with São Paulo, in 2001-04. There, he scored an astounding 61 goals in 87 league matches for the São Paulo. Then it was on to another frustrating spell at a European club, this time with Porto in northern Portugal in 2004-05. But Fabiano finally found a place on the European continent where his speed and scoring ability could mesh with the set-up already there – and that of course was at Sevilla in the south of Spain, where he spent 6 seasons, scoring 72 goals in 149 league matches. Fabiano headed in the winning goal in the 2006 UEFA Cup Final versus Middlesbrough. The next season, 2006-07, Luís Fabiano scored 24 goals for Sevilla, and was finally recalled to the Brazilian national team squad after 3 years of being left off the ‘seleção’. Sevilla won the UEFA Cup again that season (in 2007 over Espanyol). After 4 more seasons at Sevilla, in March 2011, Luís Fabiano decided to return to Brazil and to play again for São Paulo FC. São Paulo paid €7.6 million for Fabiano, who signed a four-year deal.

The 29-year-old Jádson had previously played for Atlético Paranaense, and for Shakhtar Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. With Shakhtar, Jádson scored the winning goal in extra time in a 2–1 victory to win the 2009 UEFA Cup Final versus Werder Bremen in Istanbul. Jádson was named Man of the match. The attacking midfielder scored 41 goals in 173 league matches with Shakhtar Donetsk. After seven years in Ukraine, Jádson returned to his native Brazil in 2012, helping São Paulo snatch the last available Copa Libertadores spot with their 4th place finish in the 2012 Brasileiro.

In early May, 2013, São Paulo FC were eliminated by Atlético Mineiro in the 2013 Copa Libertadores Round of 16.
sao-paulo-fc_luis-fabiano_jadson_f.gif
Photo and Image credits above -
ucho.info.
sousaopaulofc.com.br.

___
Thanks to globoesporte.globo.com/ – attendance figures from http://globoesporte.globo.com/futebol/noticia/2012/12/corinthians-tem-melhor-media-de-publico-de-todas-divisoes-em-2012.html.

Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org and pt.wikipedia.org, ‘Campeonato Brasileiro Série A‘.

Thanks to ESPN for stats, such as espnfc.com/team/squad/_/id/3445/season/2012/seasonType/21/league/bra.1/fluminense-fc?cc=5901.

May 16, 2012

Brazil: 2012 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A location map, with 2011 average attendances, and titles list / Plus a small chart of the reigning champions, SC Corinthians – crests and kits through the years (1910 to 2012) / Plus 2011 Corinthians scoring and assists leaders.

Filed under: Brazil — admin @ 8:04 pm

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2012 Brasileiro map and titles list


The 2012 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A is the 42nd season of Brazil’s Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. Reigning champions are São Paulo-based SC Corinthians Paulista. 2012 will be the ninth season that the 20-team Campeonato Brasileiro Série A is using the standard round-robin format of home-and-away-matches-versus-all-other-clubs (for a 38-game season), as well as a basic relegation format (with the bottom 4 finishers going down to Série B, while the top 4 finishers from Série B win promotion). The season starts on Saturday 19 May.

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A – Fixtures, Results, Table (soccerway.com).

But while the format of top flight Brazilian football has come in line with most of the professional football leagues throughout Europe and the rest of South America, their calendar has not. Starting their season in May really puts Brazilian clubs at a disadvantage. The reason Brazil’s national football league starts in mid-May is the continued existence of the outmoded state championships – an anachronism that is of a time when infrastructure and transportation in Brazil could not accommodate a nation-wide first division league, so the state championships were necessary, and served a role in Brazilian football. ‘Brazilian football state championships‘ (en.wikipedia.org). But since the early 1970s, there has been a national league, so state championships should have become redundant. Yet the poorly-attended and now pretty much pointless state championships persist. Why? Because of entrenched power interests in all of the 26 state football associations. If these now-irrelevant cup-format state championships were phased out, those old white guys in positions of power in every state football association in Brazil would lose their power, prestige and cushy jobs – they would lose their gravy train. And so, like parasites, the guys in power in the football associations in all the states in Brazil conspire to maintain the state championships. And so the state championships continue to take up a significant and pivotal portion of the calendar year (from January to mid-May), which thus sucks time and energy and media attention away from the important thing that all the millions of pro football fans in Brazil care about – the Brasileiro – and keeps Brazil out of the loop, literally. Due to the Brazilian league starting in May, as opposed to August, clubs’ transfer policies, budgets, and roster decisions are thrown out of whack. And Brazilian clubs still alive in the Copa Libertadores each year are also hampered by the domestic season’s opening in May, because they are forced to start the new season while concentrating on their Quarterfinals and Semifinals matches in the Copa Libertadores.

There are 4 Brazilian clubs still alive in the 2012 Copa Libertadores – Fluminense (who square off against Boca Juniors), Corinthians and Vasco da Gama (who face each other), and Cup-holders Santos (who play Vélez Sársfield).
2012 Copa Libertadores/ Quarterfinals‘ (en.wikipedia.org).

Brazilian Pro Football titles chart

The map page has a different layout from previous maps I’ve done for Brazilian football. On this one, the emphasis is on the titles won by clubs.

At the far left of the map page there is a location-map of the 20 clubs in 2012 Brazilian first division. The center and right-hand side of the map page is taken up by a chart which lists the national, state, Copa do Brasil, and Copa Libertadores titles of 24 clubs. The clubs are listed by 2011 average attendance (from home league matches in either Série A or Série B).

Also listed in the chart, near the center, are consecutive seasons in the Brazilian top flight by club. [Note: there are 5 clubs in Brazil that have spent all 42 seasons in the Brazilian first division - Cruzeiro, Flamengo, Internacional, Santos, and São Paulo.].

The 4 newly-promoted clubs for 2012 are listed at the bottom of the chart. Those 4 newly-promoted clubs are – Náutico, Ponte Preta, Portuguesa, and Sport Recife.

The first note I should make is that the chart has 24 clubs in it because it also includes the 4 clubs relegated out of Série A after last season – América (Minas Gerais), Atlético Paranaense, Avaí, and Ceará. You can tell which clubs are the relegated clubs by their lack of bold-face text in the far left column [2011], and by their lack of inclusion in the green column at the far right [2012].

National titles listed are – Campeonato Brasileiro Série A titles (from 1971 to 2011), plus Taça Brasil titles (1959-68), plus Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa titles (1967–70) [see 3 paragraphs down].

On the chart, national titles are listed in the dark blue column at the center-right-hand side of the chart. Along the entire lower section of the map page are the crests of all clubs with national titles in Brazil, going from left to right in descending order.

I have included, among national titles won, the titles won from the generally accepted precursor to the modern Brazilian national championship competition, which was called the Taça Brasil. The Taça Brasil was founded in 1959 to enable Brazil to provide contenders for the newly-created Copa Libertadores, which had it’s inaugural season in 1960. Here is the Wikipedia page of Taça Brasil. The successor to the Taça Brasil was the Torneo Roberto Gomes Pedrosa (1967–70), which had originally been the Torneo Rio-São Paulo, for clubs only from Rio de Janeiro state and São Paulo state. In 1967, the tournament was opened to include clubs from Minas Gerais, Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul states, and later also from Pernambuco and Bahia states. In 1969 and 1970, the winner and the runners-up in the Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa went to the Copa Liberadores. Palmeiras won it in 1969, and Fluminense won it in 1970. In 1971, the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A was established, and the inaugural season was won by Clube Atlético Mineiro, a Belo Horizonte-based club that has never won the title again. Palmeiras won the Brazilian title in the second and third seasons of the Brasileiro (in 1972 and 1973). Vasco da Gama won the title in 1974, and SC Internacional won the Brasileiro in 1975 and 1976. To round out the first decade in Brazil’s national league, São Paulo won the title for the first time n 1977, current-second-division club Guaraní won the title in 1978, SC International were champions again in 1979, and Flamengo won it for the first time in 1980. As far as the all-time titles leader in Brazil goes, it depends on how you define the title. If you count Taça Brasil titles and Torneo Roberto Gomes Pedrosa titles (1959-1970) along with Campeonato Brasileiro Série A titles (1971-present), both Santos and Palmeiras have won the most Brazilian titles, with 8 titles (Santos won it last in 2004, and Palmeiras won it last in 1994). If you only count Campeonato Brasileiro Série A titles (from 1971 to present), Flamengo and São Paulo are tied with the most titles, with 6 titles each (Flamengo won it last in 2009, and São Paulo won it last in 2008).

List of Brazilian football championships‘ (en.wikipedia.org).

    SC Corinthias – 2011 Brazilian champions

sc-corinthians_2011champions_e.gif
Photo credits above -
Liédson, (Rodrigo Coca/ Fotoarena) at veja.abril.com.br.
Danilo, meutimao.com.br.
Willian, globoesporte.globo.com.
Alex [Paranà], Fernando Dantas/Gazeta Press via gazetaesportiva.net.
Tite, Rodrigo Coca/Fotoarena via veja.abril.com.br; Tite smiling, terra.com.br/esportes/infograficos/santos-x-corinthians .
Banner for Socrates, Reuters via dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2069960/Socrates-dead-Corinthians-win-Brazilian-title-fans-paty-tribute

From Pitch Invasion.com, from April 9 2010, by Jeremy Rueter, ‘WHAT’S IN A NAME? – SPORT CLUB CORINTHIANS PAULISTA‘.

Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, established 1910, São Paulo, Brazil.

SC Corinthians Paulista were named after the London, England-based Corinthian Football Club, which existed from 1882 to 1939, then had a merger to form Corinthian-Casuals FC (1939 to present). The resolutely amateur Corinthian FC toured Brazil in 1910, and a group of laborers in São Paulo were then inspired to form a football club. As opposed to most other established football clubs then in Brazil, SC Corinthians were to be open to all, not just the elite class of Brazilian society. Corinthians won their first São Paulo State title (Campeonato Paulista title) in their fifth season, in 1914 (see photo on chart below). Corinthians have won the most Campeonato Paulista titles, with 26 (last in 2009). Corinthians have won 5 Brazilian titles, their first in 1990, and their fifth in 2011. Their most prominent nickname is Timão (which translates as the Ship’s wheel). SC Corinthians are São Paulo’s most-supported club and have vast support throughout Brazil – Corinthians are generally regarded as the second-biggest club in Brazil, second only in support to the Rio de Janeiro giants Flamengo {see this poll from 2004 {‘Flamengo and Corinthians [lead the] survey of leading supporters in the country‘ (esporte.uol.com.br)}, and see this poll from 2008 {Ranking of the fans (globoesporte.globo.com)}. In 2011, Corinthians had the highest average attendance in Brazil (from home league matches), at 29,951 per game. They play at the São Paulo municipal stadium Pacaembu (aka Municipal Prefecture Stadium Paulo Machado de Carvalho), which has a 37,000 capacity. Corinthians share the stadium with local rival Palmeiras. Sometimes, when large turn-outs are expected, Corinthians play at local rival FC São Paolo’s Estádio do Morumbi (capacity, 67,000). New Corinthians Stadium, a new municipal stadium to be built for FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil, is planned to become the new home of Corinthians after 2014. {See this article from the Corinthians’ official site, with photos of the construction of the New Corinthians Stadium}. In recent years, some supporters of Brazil’s Corinthians make the journey to London, England to visit and support the still-amateur Corinthian-Casuals FC at their ground. Corinthian-Casuals FC are an 8th Level club in the Isthmian League Division One South. Corinthian-Casuals finished in 13th place in 2011-12, averaging 115 per game at their 2,700-capacity St. George’s Field in Tolworth, south-west London.

Click on image below for a small chart of Corinthians crests and kits through the years (1910 to 2012).

sc-corinthians_crests_kits_1910-2011_segment_d.gif
Image credits above –
Illustrations of old Corinthians kits (1910, 1920, 1955-51) by Lucas gc at en.wikipedia.org, ‘File:Evolução Uniforme Corinthians.png’.
Photo of 1914 SC Corinthians team from pt.wikipedia.org page on ‘Sport Club Corinthians Paulista‘.
Illustrations of old Corinthians kits (1951-54, ) by Bcav22 at pt.wikipedia.org, ‘Anexo:Evolução dos uniformes do Sport Club Corinthians Paulista‘.
Some of th old crests from seeklogo.com/tag.html?q=football.
2010/2011 Corinthians jerseys from football-shirts.co.uk/fans/corinthians-home-away-shirts-2011.
2010-11 kits from ‘Uniforms of Sport Club Corinthians Paulista‘ (pt.wikipedia.org).
2012 kits from ‘Sport Club Corinthians Paulista‘ (en.wikipedia.org).
2012 kit badge from soccerjerseysprostore.com/home-20112012-corinthians.
Photo of 2012 Corinthians 3rd jersey from football-marketing.com.

Here is an article about Corinthians’ crests and kits through the years, from globoesporte.globo.com, from August 2010, by Carlos Augusto Ferrari and Diego Ribeiro, ‘Do bege ao roxo, Timão conserva história com seu manto alvinegro [translated, 'Beige to purple, Timon keeps history with your mantle alvinegro']‘

Thanks to these sites for attendance figures, Worldfootball.net (Série A figures), Soccerway.com (Série B figures).
Thanks to Demis.nl/Web Map Server, for the base map of South America.

May 18, 2011

Brazil: 2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A.

Filed under: Brazil — admin @ 10:54 pm

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Brasilerão 2011


The 2011 Brasileiro season starts on the weekend of Saturday 21 May and Sunday 22 May, 2011. Brazil – 2011 Serie A, fixtures, results, table (Soccerway.com).

Reigning champions are Rio de Janeiro’s Fluminense, who went from relegation-threatened to title winners in the space of just 12 months. The player most instrumental in Fluminense winning the championship was diminutive Argentinian midfielder Dario Conca, who netted 9 times in league matches, and had a league-leading 18 assists. From Pitaco do Gringo’s Brazilian football site, from December 6, 2010, by Jon Cotteril, ‘Fluminense crowned Brasileiro champions 2010‘.

dario-conca_fluminense_.gif
Photo from oglobo.globo.com.

Clubs promoted from Série B to Série A for 2011 are: Coritiba [from Curitiba], Figueirense [from Florianópolis], Bahia [from Salvador], and América [from Belo Horizonte].

The only Brazilian club still alive in the 2011 Copa Libertadores is Santos (who qualified as winners of the 2010 Copa do Brasil). Four Brazilian clubs bowed out of the Copa Libertadores on the same evening (of 4th May) {see this article by Tim Vickery at his blog at bbc.co.uk, ‘Copa exits may prompt Brazil tactics re-think‘.} Santos won their 1st Leg in the 2011 Copa Libertadores Quarterfinals 1-0 away to Once Caldas of Colombia. In the 2nd Leg, Santos advanced to the Semifinals with a 1-1 draw, late on Wednesday the 18th, in Santos São Paulo state. Neymar scored Santos’ goal. In the Semifinals, Santos will play the winner of the Jaguares de Chiapas v. Cerro Porteño tie {2011 Copa Libertadores Knockoput Stages Bracket (en.wikipedia.org}.

From In Bed With Maradonna site, by Jack Lang, ‘The IBWM Guide to the 2011 Campeonato Brasileiro‘.

Below…The three top-drawing clubs in 2010 Brasileiro – Corinthians, Ceará, and Fluminense…
Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, est. 1910. 4 Campeonato Série A titles (2005). Highest attendance in Brazil in 2010: 27,542 per game…
sc-corinthians_e.gif
Photo credits – Maatheeoos at Loucporticorinthians.com. Skyscrapercity.com/thread, here, via JucaMartins.com.

Ceará Sport Club [Fortaleza], est. 1914. 2nd highest attendance in Brazil in 2010: 23,514 per game…
ceara-sc_e.gif
Photo credits – Claudiocruzlima.blogspot.com. dariofontanelle at panoramio.com [via Soccerway.com].

Fluminense Football Club [Rio de Janeiro], est. 1902. 2 Campeonato Série A titles (2010). 3rd highest attendance in Brazil in 2010: 21,646 per game…
fluminense-fc_fans-at-engenhao_.gif
Photo credits – Sidneyrezende.com. Futbolita.com/Fluminense.

On the far right of the map are average attendance figures from last season. Corinthians led the 2010 Campeonato Série A in attendance, with 27,542 per game. Second best was the just-promoted northeast club Ceará, from Fortaleza, Ceará state, who drew 23,514 per game, an impressive figure for a club that has no major trophies. That 20,000+ figure for Ceará was not a just-promoted-fluke, because the club drew 21,200 per game in 2009, in the second division. The third-highest-drawing team for 2010 were champions Fluminense, who, along with Flamengo, were forced to play most of their home matches across the city of Rio de Janeiro, at Botofogo’s Engenhão (Botofogo rents from this municipal stadium from the city), because of the massive renovation and upgrade project currently being undertaken at Maracanã, in order for that giant venue to be suitable for hosting 2014 FIFA Wotld Cup matches. Speaking of Flamengo, they had a massive attendance drop because of the aforementioned difficulties for their fan base in getting cross-town to Engenhão, plus they were terrible last season, and were actually in threat of relegation for a while (they finished in 14th place). Flamengo’s gates dropped about -20,000 per game, from 40,036 per game in 2009, to just 19,965 per game in 2010. Another club that had been at or near the top of the attendance rankings in the last couple of seasons, Atlético Mineiro [Belo Horizonte], also saw their gates drop off significantly – down around -25,000 per game (from 38,761 per game in 2009, to 13,515 per game in 2010), and they also did poorly, finishing in 13th place after a 7th place finish in 2009.

Corinthians, boasting the highest attendance, had a good regular season, finishing third. But thanks to Internacional’s 2010 Copa Libertadores championship (and thus Inter’s automatic qualification for the 2011 Copa Libetadores Second Stage), Corinthians were pushed down to the 2011 Copa Libertadores First Stage (which is essentially a preliminary round before the group stage). And there, Corinthians flamed out, failing to score a single goal versus unheralded Deportes Tolima of Colombia. As this is Cruzeiro’s Centenary year, it was a pretty bad turn of events, and the predictable response from certain fan elements resulted in vandalism at the club’s training ground. Also, it was Ronaldo’s swan song, as he has now retired.

Speaking of Brazilian greats who have returned from Europe back home to Brazil to finish out their careers, Ronadinho has joined Flamengo. The 31-year old Porto Alegre-born free kick specialist and playmaker got his pro start with Grêmio from 1998-2001, before a 5 million Euros transfer to Paris Saint-Germain, where he played from 2001 to 2003. In 2003, a 32.5 million Euros transfer saw him move to FC Barcelona, where he basically became one of the planet’s best footballers circa 2003 to 2006 (winning the Ballon d’Or in 2003-04 and in 2005-06). Ronaldinho scored 70 goals in 145 league matches for Barça, but by 2008, a hard partying lifestyle and the onset of an on-field complacency saw him fall out of favor with the Barça management, and he was sent to AC Milan, where he remained from 2008 to 2011. Fans of Flamengo hope Ronaldinho still has enough left in him to propel the most-supported club in Brazil back to the top of the attendance ranks, and back to the top of the table.

Another Brazilian great in the twilight of his career will be returning to Brazil in August – Juninho (Pernambucano), aged 36, the free kick wizard who helped guide Lyon to 7 straight Ligue 1 titles in France (from 2001-02 to 2007-08). Juninho has left the Qatari club Al Garafa to return to the Rio de Janeiro club where he first made his name…Vasco da Gama. From SI.com, by Tim Vickery, from 4 May 2011, ‘Vasco da Gama legend Juninho returns to Brazil for nominal wages‘.

It has really become trend for a certain category of Brazilian footballer to return to play again in Brazil, and that is the player who, while a veteran, is not by any means in the swan-song stage of his career – more in the 29-to-33-years-old range. Examples of this can be seen with the 30-year old Luis Fabiano (who has left Sevilla in Spain for São Paulo FC), the 33-year old Deco (who left Chelsea for Fluminense last August), and the 29-year old Elano (who left Galatasaray in Turkey for Santos FC). The strong economy of Brazil in recent years is part of the reason for this type of influx. Just being back within the welcoming embrace of the Brazilian culture is another reason. And playing in the Copa Libertadores is another (and in late March Deco scored the winning goal for Fluminense, in a crucial Copa Libertadores match versus Club América). Here is an article from the Caught Offside site, by Tom Webber, from 24 March, 2011, ‘Why Are So Many Brazilian Players Moving Back To Brazil‘.

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Thanks to Demis.nl, for the base map of Brazil, Demis Web Map Sever.
Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, ‘2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A‘.
Thanks to BolanoArea,com, for attendance figures, here.
Thanks to Soccerway.com, for Brazilian Série B (2nd division) attendances, here.
Thanks to Jack Lang, for his great preview of the 2011 Brasieiro. Here is one of Jack’s two blogs, Snap. Kaká and Pop!.
Thanks to Jon Cotteril, at Pitaco do Gringo site, for info, and for featuring my 2010 Brasileiro map on his site last year – http://pitacodogringo.wordpress.com/ .

June 17, 2010

2010 FIFA World Cup: Brazil, 23-man roster.

Filed under: Brazil,FIFA World Cup, 2010 — admin @ 3:43 pm

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Brazil 2010 World Cup squad.


The map shows the birthplaces of the 23-man Brazil team competing in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. At the lower left of the map page are photos of likely starters and key subs (18 player photos). Because of the Brazilian custom of giving players nicknames (which often bear little or no resemblance to their given names), I have listed the player’s full given name on the far left, with the common currency nickname in darker letters.

Brazil is a federation comprised of 26 States and one Federal District. Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world, both in geographical terms and by population. Brazil’s population is around 193 million {see this, ‘List of countries by population’ (en.wikipedia.org)}. Here is a list of largest cities in Brazil, {‘List of largset cities in Brazil‘}.

Seven States, and the Federal District, produced players in Brazil’s 2010 World Cup squad…
7 players were born in São Paulo State.
6 players were born in Rio de Janeiro State.
2 players were born in Minas Gerais State.
2 players were born in Brasilia, in the Federal District.
2 players were born in Minas Gerais State.
2 players were born in Paraná State.
1 player was born in Bahia State.
1 player was born in Pernambuco State.

20 of the 23 players in the squad play professionally in Europe (which, in football terms, includes Turkey). The other 3 play in Brazil…FW Robinho, who is actually still owned by an English club, Manchester City, but is on loan back to his original club, Santos FC (who are from the port city of Santos, which is about 54 km. (33 mi.) south of São Paulo); MF Kléberson, who plays for the most-supported Brazilian club, reigning champions Flamengo, of Rio de Janeiro; and DF Gilberto, who plays for Cruzeiro of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais.

Here is the breakdown of the 20 foreign-based players on the Brazil team…
8 players play in Italy, in Serie A.
4 players play in Spain, in La Liga.
2 players play in Germany, in Budesliga-1.
2 players play in Portugal, in Liga Sagres.
1 player plays in England, in the Premier League.
1 player plays in France, in Ligue Un.
1 player plays in Turkey, in Süper Lig.
1 player plays in Greece, in Super League.
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Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, Brazil national football team.
Thanks to UK Soccer Shop.co.uk, for the photos of the Brazil jerseys.

May 7, 2010

Brazil, Campeonato Série A: 2010 season, with average attendances from 2009.

Filed under: Brazil — admin @ 4:52 am

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At the upper right on the map page is a list of 2009 atendances of all the clubs in Brazil’s 2010 Campeonato Série A season.
Reigning champions are Flamengo, the giant club from Rio de Janeiro, who had last won the title in 1992. The final match of the season at the Maracana drew 80,000, to see a 2-1 win over Gremio. São Paulo had an uncharacteristic stumble in the run-up, losing away to both Goiás and Botofogo in the weeks leading up to the finish. That massive gate pushed Flamengo to the top of the average attendance list once more.
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Of the four promoted clubs from Série B, only one has both a large following and significant titles, and that is Rio’s Vasco da Gama, who have regularly drawn in the mid to high 20,000s. Vasco have won 4 Campeonato Série A titles (last in 2000), and the club won the 1998 Copa Libertadores title. Vasco da Gama bounce straight back to the Brazilian top flight after one season in the second tier.

The other promoted club with silverware is Guarani, from Campinas, São Paulo state, which is 83 kilometers (49 miles) north of the city of São Paulo. Guarani are named after the indigenous tribes that came from what is now Paraguay and southern Brazil. Guarani won the Brazilian title in 1978. They averaged around 6,800 last year in the second tier, and historically have averaged around 8,500 per game when in the first division [for attendance figures, see this... {historical attendances in Brazil}.]

The other two promoted clubs have won no national titles, and in fact have both never qualified for the Copa Libertadores…Atlético Goianiense, from Goiânia; and Ceará, from the impoverished north, in the city of Fortaleza, which is the fifth-largest city in Brazil, with a population of around 2.5 million {2009 figure}. Ceará drew very well in their promotion campaign, averaging around 21,000 per game. Atlético Goianiense drew just 4,700 per game last year, and are the second-biggest club in a city that does not tend to show support for it’s football clubs, with the relatively in-form Goiás (8th place in 2008, 9th place in 2009) only drawing about 10,200 per game over the last two seasons. Goiânia is the 13-largest city in Brazil, with a population of around 2.2 million {2008}, so the combined average gate of the two biggest clubs, about 16,000, is pretty low.
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All 5 Brazilian clubs who qualified for the 2010 Copa Libertadores remained alive in the competition through to the Round of 16.
In the Round of 16, Cruzeiro, Flamengo, Internacional, and São Paulo have advanced to the Quarterfinals.
Fixtures and results, here… Copa Libertadores fixtures and results (ESPN Soccernet).
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Thanks to Albion Road (Football Clubs guide), for info help Football Club guide, Brazil.

Thanks to Babylon- translation @ a click, translation.babylon.com.

Thanks to Bolana Area.com, for attendance figures 2009 Campeonato Série A attendance figures [under 'Média De Público'], and 2009 Campeonato Série B attendance figures [under 'Média De Público Por Clube'].

Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org Campeonato Brasileiro Série A.

Thanks to Jon Cotteril, at TV Globo and at his blog, for pointing me in the direction of Brazilian Serie A and B attendance figures. Also thanks to Jon for linking up to this map on his recent post, Pitaco Gringo’s guide to the 2010 Campeonato Brasileiro.
“Pitaco do Gringo” (Gringo’s Opinion).

TV Globo, TV Globe Esportes.

November 13, 2009

Brazil, Campeonato Série A: attendance map for 2009 season, up to 12th November (17-18 home matches per club).

Filed under: Brazil — admin @ 7:16 am

brazil_campeonato-serie-a_attendance_november2009_post.gif


From Pitaco do Gringo’s Brazilian football blog,  ‘São Paulo are the new leaders in the Brasileiro’,  from 8 November,  by Jon Cotteril {click here}. 

Campeonato Série A table {click here (SoccerStats.com)}. 

Although Palmeiras regained the lead Wednesday night,  with a come-from-behind 2-2 draw with Sport Club do Recife,  São Paulo FC look well positioned to grab their fourth consecutive Brazilian title.  There are 4 four rounds to go,  and all of São Paulo’s matches are against clubs lower than 9th place.  Current form table leaders Flamengo (6-1-1 in last 8 matches) are in hot pursuit,  though.  The Rio de Janeiro giants have been propelled by former FC Internazionale striker Adriano,  who is joint leader of goals scored (tied at 18 goals with Martins Diego of Atlético Mineiro).  Flamengo are only 2 points off the pace.  Surprise-of-the-season Atlético Mineiro are three points off the pace,  and really packing in the crowds in Belo Horizonte’s Mineirão,  drawing a league-high 40,000 per game at the municipal stadium they share with local rivals Cruzeiro..  Factor in surging Cruzeiro,  who are 5 points back (6-1-1 in last 8 matches),  and SC Internacional,  who are 6 points back,  and you have a great race for the 4 remaining Copa Libertadores spots.  [Passage to the preeminent South American tournament goes to the Copa do Brasil winner (Corinthians,  this season),  and the top 4 places in the Campeonato Série A. ]

The RambleBlog at The Football Ramble.com: ‘Campeonato Brasileiro heading for exciting finale’ {click here}.

Southamericanfootball.co.uk/ Brazil page {click here}.

brazil_cumulative-avg-attendances1971-2008_and2009-to-12nov09_.gif

Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org {click here}.   Thanks to the CBF site,  for attendance figures {click here,  and go to ‘Estatísticas da competicão’ [7th line in column on right],  then see ‘Bloco 2-Público por clubes mandantes’}.

Thanks to Alexander Magno Barreto Berwanger,  for sending me the 1971-2008 accumulated average attendances in Brazil {click here}.

July 7, 2009

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: Map and Chart, with Cities represented; and attendances for July 2009 (from average attendance figures from 4 to 5 home games played per team).

Filed under: Brazil — admin @ 4:16 pm

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As part of my ongoing effort to get a better handle on the domestic futebol scene in Brazil,  I have made this map and chart,  which looks at the make-up of the current Brazillian Campeonato Série A,  on a city-by-city basis,  with current attendance figures. 

On the map and chart,  I have shown each club’s current average attendance in graphic form,  on the far right,  via proportionally sized crests.  Below that is the list of average attendances.  On the left is a breakdown of each city that has a club in the top flight in 2009…the cities are listed from north to south.  I have put a photo which is of the city’s skyline or otherwise representative of the city.   Within each cities’ section,  I have listed the club or clubs that hail from the city,  with a thumbnail profile of each club (ie,  date of origin,  major titles,  and current average gate,  plus 2008 average gates). 

In the middle of the map,  at the bottom,  is a list of the cities with 2009 Campeonato Série A representation,  with their populations.  The numbers to the left of each city on the list are their population-size rank.  The populations are for the Municipio ,  or administrative district,  of the city,  not the metropolitan area.   In case you’re curious about the largest cities in Brazil that lack a top flight club in 2009…the 4th largest city in Brazil is the capital,  Brasilia;  the 5th largest city is Fortaleza (which is north-west of Recife);  the 8th largest city is Manaus,  which is deep in the interior,  on the Amazon River (which is visible on the map,  up in the north of Brazil).   To see their locations, see this map (cia.gov site).   Here is the list from Wikipedia that I used  {click here  (List of Largest cities in Brazil)}. 

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On 30th June,  São Paulo’s Corinthians defeated Porto Alegre’s Internacional in the final of the Copa do Brasil.  Corinthians are in the process of restoring their place at the top of the Brazilian futebol scene, by A). returning to the top flight for 2009;  B). signing former two-time European Footballer of the Year Ronaldo,  and thus grabbing lots of media attention;  C). winning the Paulista state championship earlier this year,  and now D). gaining a much-coveted qualification for the 2010 Copa Libertadores,  by winning Brazil’s national cup.  The only thing is,  for Corinthians’ league matches,  the crowds have not shown up…the club can’t even draw 12,000 spectators these days for their Campeonato Série A games. 

This fact flies in the face of the assertion that Corinthians are the second-most supported club in Brazil (Rio de Janeiro’s Flamengo are considered the best-supported club in Brazil,  and drew league-leading 40,694 per game last season).    [I covered the topic of the best-supported clubs in Brazil in my first post about the Campeonato Série A,  here.]    But there is another factor at work:  Corinthians cup run has drawn fans to those matches at the expense of domestic matches.  For the first leg of the Copa do Brasil final,  Corinthians drew 37,438 (which is almost 26,000 more than their league matches have drawn).  Last season in Série B,  Corinthians drew 23,786 per game in their promotion campaign.  Maybe Corinthians raised ticket prices upon gaining promotion (I tried to find out about that,  but I had no luck).

Meanwhile,  the highest average crowds right now can be found at the surprise of the season,  Atlético Mineiro,  who are from Belo Horizonte,  where they tend to be overshadowed by two-time Copa Libertadores champions Cruzeiro.  Atlético Mineiro drew 16,312 per last year,  but this year they were drawing almost 12,000 more per game.  Then Sunday,  the club drew 48,651 to the Mineirão,  the municipal stadium they share with Cruzeiro.  They were only able to get a 1-1 result to basement-dwelling Botofogo,  though,  and lost their first place position to Internacional,  who beat Náutico 0-2,  on 2 goals by Manchester United target Nilmar.  Internacional seem poised to win the title this season.

The explanation for why Atlético Miniero’s local rivals Cruzeiro have seen a 43% dip in their turnstile count is that many fans have opted to attend Cruzeiro’s Copa Libertadores matches rather than their domestic matches so far this season.  And the poor economy has no doubt contributed to this.  Cruzeiro drew 56,898 and 52,906 for Copa Libertadores matches in May and June,  but a recent league match versus Florianopolis minnows Avaí only drew 3,435 pagantes ,  or paying customers (more on this later).  

The same factor is at work with respect to Porto Alegre’s Grêmio,  whose gate figures this season are around 13,000 lower than their last season’s average gate of 31,725.  Grêmio drew 36,725 and 40,452 for their home Copa Libertadores matches in June and July .  Grêmio’s attendances were second highest in the league in 2008;  Cruzeiro’s turnstile count last season was 24,235,  the 3rd highest. 

On 2nd July,  Cruzeiro eliminated Grêmio from the Copa Libertadores,  and will face Argentina’s Estudiantes de La Plata in the two-legged final,  which is to be played on 8th July in La Plata, Argentina,  and 15th July in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

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Two last points on the attendance figures.  First off,  they are not as accurate as western European football attendance figures.  It is widely believed that many clubs under-report the figures for tax reasons.  Also,  there are divergent sets of figures,  because some outlets report only paying customers,  and some report all attendees,  including those who got in free,  plus the media.  The figures I am using are from the Confederação Brasileira de Futebol site {click here,  and go to the 7th selection listed on the far right: ‘Estatísticas Da Competição’,  then see ‘Bloco 2′).  These figures fall into the second category (total paying and non-paying attendees).  The figures that I originally was using came from the WorldFootball.net site (it’s on my blogroll),  and show only paying attendees. 

The second thing is that in general,  the figures will change as the average attendances of Cruzeiro and Grêmio (and probably Corinthians) rebound;  and will likely increase with respect to the whole league,  as crucial derbies and their corresponding swells in attendances get added to the tallies.  So I will update this map later in the season.  One thing I noticed is that last season,  all the clubs that were relegated were at the bottom of the attendance list (with the exception of Goías).  And this season,  a similar trend can be seen in the fact that the 6th-lowest drawing club is Botofogo,  who are at the bottom of the standings,  while the other lowest-drawing clubs are 2 of the 4 just-promoted clubs (plus the over-achieving Goías,  and Santos,  who are at mid-table).  The club that is contradicting this whole trend is the painfully low-supported newcomers Barueri (to hear how you pronounce the club’s name, click here). This club was established only 20 years ago,  and is from the outskirts of São Paulo.   Barueri can barely draw 3,000 per game,  yet they sit fourth in the table,  with convincing 4-2 wins over both Belo Horizonte clubs this season.  The thing is,  Barueri drew 9,024 in Série B last season…again,  I suspect the club hiked ticket prices. 

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For updates on the Campeonato Serie A,  I have added a nice site to my blogroll…it’s under ‘Brazil: Gringo’s Opinion’ {click here},  and it is the blog of Jon Cotterill,  who is a football commentator for TV Globo in São Paulo.  I also have linked up his 2009 Campeonato Série A preview,  and I have also added a link to his TV network’s site,  which has good highlights of the Brazilian top flight.  But you can see highlights right from his posts.  My new routine this summer is to check out the results and highlights Monday nights.  It’s a good way to stave off European football withdrawal. 

Thanks to the contributors to the pages at Wikipedia {click here (set at Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 2009).  And special thanks to Jon Cotterill,  who was nice enough to show me where to find the attendance figures that I used. 

May 4, 2009

Brazil, 2009 Campeonato Serie A: the 20 Clubs.

Filed under: Brazil,Zoom Maps — admin @ 4:50 pm

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Defending champions are Sao Paulo,  who have won the last three Brazilian titles.   On the map,  on the far right,  I have listed the final table for 2008,  including the four relegated clubs,  the four clubs promoted from Série B,  and the 5 clubs which qualified for the 2009 Copa Libertadores.  All 5 of these clubs,  incidently,  have advanced to the Knockout Round (of 16) in the Copa… Sao Paulo FCGremioCruzeiroPalmeiras,  and 2008 Copa do Brazil winner (and 11th place league finisher) Sport Recife.

Of the 4 promoted clubs,  by far the most popular are SC Corinthians.  This massively supported Sao Paulo club will feature former Cruzeiro,  PSV Eindhoven,  FC Barcelona,  Internazionale,  Real Madrid and AC Milan striker Ronaldo.  And on a personal note,  one of my favorite players,  Andres D’Alessandro {Wikipedia profile, here},  returns for another spell at Internacional.  D’Alessandro,  a crafty midfielder,  was very instrumental in helping Portsmouth FC avoid relegation in the spring of 2005,  and I have kept an eye on him since.  And speaking of the oft-overlooked Porto Alegre club SC Internacional,  here is a nice blog on the club that I just discovered,  run by a Welsh futbol fan… http://Internacionaluk.blogspot.com/ .    

The 2009 Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A season begins on Saturday,  May 9th.  Here are the fixtures {click here (Data.7m.cn site);  (ESPN Soccernet, click here)}

Thanks to the contributors to the pages at Wikipedia. {Click here for the page on Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 2009}.

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