Gremio lead the pack in quest for Brazilian title
Luiz Felipe Scolari has just suffered his first defeat as Chelsea manager with the English season still at a relatively early stage.
Back home in Brazil we are in the home straight and Gremio, the club where Scolari made his name, are optimistic of winning the title for the first time since 1996 - when Felipao (yet to be baptised 'Big Phil') was at the helm.
Gremio, from the southern city of Porto Alegre, are top of the table with seven rounds to go. They have a workmanlike young side, boosted by the promotion to the first team earlier this month of 18-year-old Douglas Costa, already the target of transfer speculation involving Real Madrid and Manchester United.
But it is not going to be an easy stroll to the title. Just three points behind are the grimly efficient Sao Paulo, title winners in both the last two years. And a point behind them are a trio of heavyweights, Cruzeiro, Flamengo and Palmeiras.
Five teams, then, are dreaming of the title. But that is not the only thing at stake. The top four will qualify for South America's equivalent of the Champions League, the Copa Libertadores. There isn't room for everyone.
At the other end of the table, Fluminense's win on Saturday finally took them out of the relegation zone. Back in July they lost the final of the Libertadores in a penalty shoot-out. They were so close to becoming champions of their continent but are now having an almighty struggle to avoid the drop to the second division.
Next Sunday they face fellow Rio giants Vasco da Gama, who find themselves in an even darker situation, second from bottom and with the worse defensive record in the competition.
It promises to be a cracking end to the season, where issues at top and bottom will not be resolved until the final ball is kicked on 7 December.
Unlike the major European leagues, the Brazilian Championship is very hard to predict. There is no equivalent to the Premier League's 'big four' - the clubs who, before the season even starts, are expected to monopolize the silverware.
When the current season got underway, Fluminense were seen as likely title challengers, and Gremio were a team in crisis. And look at them now.
This unpredictability reflects both the strength and the weakness of Brazilian football.
On the positive side, this is a huge country with lots of major urban centres which have clubs of great tradition. In the early days the Brazilian game was concentrated in Rio and Sao Paulo. With time, the cities of Porto Alegre and Belo Horizonte became major players. Other places - such as Curitiba, Salvador and Recife - have important and well-established clubs.
With such a distribution of forces, it is no wonder that the Brazilian Championship is so open. But, if there is an excess of challengers, there is also a deficiency of world class talent.
Contemporary Brazilian football operates an export industry, selling around a thousand players a year abroad - including all the best ones. And as indicated by the speculation surrounding Douglas Costa, they are being sold at an ever younger age.
Last week Palmeiras coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo said that there is currently only one genuine top-class player based in Brazil, Sao Paulo midfielder Hernanes. There are a handful of others who might want to claim a place on his list but it hardly matters - none of them will be playing in Brazil for much longer.
Even the big clubs - perhaps 'especially the big clubs' is more accurate - are constantly losing their best players, and it consequently becomes harder for a 'big four' style group of giants to break away from the pack. The balance of forces in Brazil is in part explained by a situation of generalised mediocrity.
The problems are exacerbated by an insane calendar which has Brazil out of sync with the rest of the world.
The national championship runs from mid-May to early December. Its start coincides with the closing stages of the Libertadores, its middle with the opening of the global transfer window.
Fluminense are perfect examples of the stress this causes. They played the early matches with reserve sides, concentrating on the Libertadores, which they lost, thus plunging the club into a hangover made worse by the sale of key players to Europe.
The crazy calendar is not there to help the clubs, but to protect and maintain the power structure of Brazilian football. But that's a subject for another column. In the meantime, at least we have some exciting times in store over the last seven rounds of this year's championship.
Comments on this week's piece in the space below. Other questions on South American football to vickerycolumn@hotmail.com, and I'll pick out a couple next week.
From last week's postbag:
I'm an avid fan of African football and I was wondering if you have any ideas as to why there are so few African footballers in South America? From what I could discover there isn't a single African footballer in the top flight of either Argentina or Brazil. I understand that it would be difficult for South American teams to either tempt or afford players from Europe, but it wouldn't be as difficult to buy African players.
Why do you think there are so few (if any) Africans in South America? Do the clubs just overlook African football or do they have enough faith in their own youth systems that they don't feel the need to bring in foreign talent? Matt D
There's only one I can think of off the top of my head - Nigerian striker Abubakar at Vasco - though he was so bad when he had a recent opportunity off the bench that I'm not sure if he'll be seeing much more action in the club's relegation battle.
There have been a few over the years - I recall Geremi having a spell in Paraguay, Webo in Uruguay, Segoya in Argentina, Johnson in Brazil. But it's rare and they don't usually last long.
There are language problems and distance problems, plus the fact that, like Africa, South America is an exporter. Easier to groom your own to sell than bring an African over and groom him. Internacional in Brazil tried to open up a new way of doing business by bringing some over (I think Abubakar is a fall-out from that deal) - one of them was Obinna, from Nigeria's Olympic team - I believe that one ended in a contractual wrangle as he went off to Italy.
I was wondering if you can shed any light on the young Brazilian Douglas Costa. There seems to have been a sudden buzz about him in Europe and he's been strongly linked with Manchester United and with the success of Anderson and early glimpses of promise shown by Rafeal and Possebon it wouldn't come as a shock if they were watching him. Bazz Cave
There is indeed a lot of fuss about him after just four games.
I remember at the start of the year one of the Spanish sports papers put Santos teenager Tiago Luis on the front cover - the Brazilian Messi, they said. We're still waiting for him to make the big breakthrough. All the hype can make it hard for a youngster, and the classic Sharon Redd question comes into play - 'Can you handle it?'
In the case of Douglas Costa the early evidence is very exciting - whippy, wiry figure, lots of exuberance, lovely left foot, not frightened to shoot or try things, sees the pass to slip the right wing back on the diagonal. No doubt about it - one to watch.
I cover South American football from Brazil. There's a wealth of talent and a rich culture - a fascinating continent to follow football.
Comment number 1.
At 27th Oct 2008, U13299637 wrote:And for UK satellite viewers, if that article got you excited, you can watch the Brazilian league football live for free on the channel, SportXchange. Commentary team is pretty good too!
Q for Tim, why did the 'el Mago' Jorge Valdivia end up at Al Ain in the UAE league. I recall he had a scandal with the national team in Copa America last year (turned up drunk) but surely a Eurpoean club would fancy a player of his talent?
Thanks again.
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Comment number 2.
At 27th Oct 2008, meatandmalbec wrote:Informative piece as always Tim.
One question open to the floor: More about the politics of the Southern Brazilian states rather than purely football - is there much desire within the region to 'breakaway' from the rest of the country - similar to the Northern League in Italy? I remember reading about it in years gone by.
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Comment number 3.
At 27th Oct 2008, Mengo wrote:"One question open to the floor: More about the politics of the Southern Brazilian states rather than purely football - is there much desire within the region to 'breakaway' from the rest of the country - similar to the Northern League in Italy? I remember reading about it in years gone by."
The Southern Brazilian States don't have a movement to separate itselves from the rest- or at least a serious one- since the 1840's. They fought a war for it, lost, haven't tried again since.
Anyway, about the calendary, even the president of the Brazilian FA, Ricardo Teixeira, has manifested himself as open to the idea of changing the calendary to make it fit with the rest of the world, but the TV responsible for broadcast the games has been working against the idea for some reason.
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Comment number 4.
At 27th Oct 2008, BatiBati9 wrote:I would like Germi to win it, they seem like a very good squad and lets see what the cards hold for them. As for Douglas Costa, I heard ManU were going after him with a rate of 20mill and that would mean ciao to Carlitos Tevez because from what I have heard Fergie does not want to cough up 30million for him. But I say Tevez go to Espana or Italia where you will be a starter without a problem.
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Comment number 5.
At 27th Oct 2008, groynk wrote:Why should the brazilian league change their season to match the northern hemisphere? Either way there are two transfer windows, not one.
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Comment number 6.
At 27th Oct 2008, Munners85 wrote:I was wondering why South American clubs seem to demand so much for young talent when it is far from nurtured? All this speculation over Douglas Costa, the Brit tabloids quoting a modest 18 million, yet you state that the boy has only played four games. You look at prevous transfers that include Kun Aguero, Robinho, Marcelo, Gago, Banega, Renato Augusto and Nilmar to name a few, high price at young age. I know English clubs have the tendancy to do this, Theo Walcott and Wayne Rooney being a prime examples, but the European economy is far stronger than that of South America and would have thought that would be reflected.
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Comment number 7.
At 27th Oct 2008, foolrulez wrote:@ U13299637
Valdivia was a great player, with great skills, but he dived too much. Most sports journalists said he wouldn't fit in europe.
@ Munners85
"I was wondering why South American clubs seem to demand so much for young talent when it is far from nurtured?"
Easy, because every year, European clubs try to take more and more younger players. SA clubs doesn't have the money to compete, so they set a high price to preserve the player, or, if someone buy him, to get a large profit.
Sao Paulo FC did this with Denilson (currently on Arsenal). He was a promising, yet young, player by the time Arsenal paid £3.4 million for him. Taking in consideration he had only played 12 games, 8 of them starting in the bench, it wasn't a bargain at the time. Even though he's a fine player now, being on the starting line-up in several games this season, he was a gamble 2 years ago. A gamble that Arsenal could afford, but Sao Paulo couldn't. By selling him, they would profit enough to cover the expenses for 2, 3 more players from their youth team.
And, Tim, what do you think of S.C. Internacional player Alex? He's a top class player, and many are saying he will go to Europe in January. What's your opinion?
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Comment number 8.
At 27th Oct 2008, JohnBarnesfreekick wrote:Tim, upon your recommendation I have been reading 'The ball is round'. It describes the corruption in Brazilian football and how the elite clubs try to maintain their exclusive clique in the top division. The example it gives was about Vasco I think. They had fielded ineligible players and had points deducted which meant they would be relegated, so the league changed the penalty so that Vasco would stay up, and in the end the other club took them to court
Reminded me of West Ham and Sheff Utd really
Does this sort of think happen often? After all I remember Palmeiras and Corinthians being in the second division
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Comment number 9.
At 28th Oct 2008, Tim Vickery wrote:post 5 asked "why should the Brazilian league change their season to match the northen hemisphere?"
Why leave posts on an atricle you haven't read properly! Look at the example of Fluminense and the Libertadores - the Brazilian calendar is out of sync with the South American season.
This has only been the case for the last 5 years. Til then the Brazilian season, like elsewhere on the continent, split the year into 2, Feb- June, August-Dec (in most cases 2 seperate champonships, in Brazil state championships first half of the year, national championship in the second).
2003 comes the change - the state championships are dreadful little things and should be scrapped altogether, but because of their importance to the power strcture they were retained but reduced. So now Brazil has - state championships Jan/Feb - May, national May-December.
This puts the global transfer window right in the middle of the competition (and yes, post 5, I'm aware that there are 2 windows a year - the main one is the mid year one).
Effect on the competition in Brazil - teams are ripped apart. The magazine Placar publishes an excellent guide to the season, with facts and photos of all the players. Come the second half of the competition it has to publish another completely new one because the teams have changed so much. This is clearly absurd - but it's going to continue until the calendar is changed.
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Comment number 10.
At 28th Oct 2008, Mengo wrote:"Why should the brazilian league change their season to match the northern hemisphere? Either way there are two transfer windows, not one."
That way, the clubs wouldn't lose so many players right in the middle of the season, nearly destroying some clubs.
Plus, the
"Does this sort of think happen often? After all I remember Palmeiras and Corinthians being in the second division"
Not anymore, in part because of what happened in 99, the case you mentioned. Something like that now is against the law.
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Comment number 11.
At 28th Oct 2008, radical_measures wrote:Another enlightening piece Tim,
I have a couple of questions:
1) As you mentioned, many very young players are taken from Brazil every year, but for those who don't go so early, do they get a chance later on?
It seems to me that if players are now moving to Europe after the age of 18/19, they are 'old' and may have missed the chance. I was specifically thinking of Kerlon, who did leave at 20, now playing for a club in a less established league.
2) Is relegation for a major team in Brazil taken as seriously as it is in other major leagues? Are the only real downsides missing a season in the Libertadores and facing a lot of ridicule, or would it actually show there is a major problem at the club?
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Comment number 12.
At 3rd Nov 2008, UnpleasantTruth wrote:So, radical_measures, Serie A is a less established league, is it? Only in Britain, could somebody supposedly fooball-minded come out with such utter tosh.
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Comment number 13.
At 3rd Nov 2008, radical_measures wrote:To UnpleasentTruth, I was unaware that the club that Kerlon had transfered to had now been promoted from Serie B, which I feel is a less established league than many of the Tier 1 leagues. But now finding that Chievo have been promoted to Serie A, which is undoubtedly as prestigious as the Premier leaue, all I can do is withdraw that comment and say that my ignorance, not perception of that league, is to blame.
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Comment number 14.
At 20th Nov 2008, luxinbrasil wrote:sorry for such a belated comment but once again an excellent blog Mr Vickery...
As an englishman now living in Brazil such as yourself i can wholeheartedly agree with your views on the brazilian championship. I have only been living here for 4 months and have only just got my head around the league...marrying into a huge Sao Paulino orientated family....luckily some may say!
I have now seen a few games....taking in some serie c matches and lucky enough to be in Floripa last week for Avai's match in Serie B to assure them of promotion with Corinthians et al....a truly magnificent atmoshphere with some endless passion from all supporters....so much so a friend of mine was quite badly burnt by one of many "fogo de artificio's". I also admire the noise raised by mere families sitting in their houses watching the televised friendlies for the country whilst shouting, honking on hooters and cheering loudly when their country scores...who cares that its just a friendly......and ive never heard a boo yet!!...not even at the Flamengo, Palmeiras game (which im assuming you must have attended!!) where Palmeiras went down 5 to 2!!
None of this makes me an expert but the one thing i find hard to take is that for the brazilian jogodor it is individual skill and making a name for themselves that beats team performance and results...it is clearly evident at all levels whether live or on the television that the huge amounts of money available to european team players is what it is all about. This may make for a more open league but the football on the pitch is certainly dampened by this.
I adore this country and there passion behind football.....and i know that there is a lot more important things to fix before some selfish, flaring footballers but will this change....will the leagues be better for it?
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