One Libertadores, two relegation spots

After this weekend's games, only one Libertadores spot remains open for Brazilian teams in 2008. This year's Brazilian Serie A champions, Sao Paulo, had already qualified alongside Fluminense, Brazilian Cup champions. Flamengo also guaranteed its place in the continental competition with a 2-0 win over Atletico Paranaense at the Maracana Stadium in Rio. And Santos came from behind in Curitiba to beat Parana 3-2 and also claim a spot. Now Cruzeiro, Palmeiras and Gremio will fight for the right to play in the prestigious South American competition. Cruzeiro has an easy assignment at home against last place America Natal and can reach 60 points. Gremio can only reach the same 60 points if it beats Corinthians, also at home, but it would still fall behind Cruzeiro in goal differential. Palmeiras is also home for its last game, against Atletico Mineiro, reaching 61 points and qualifying with a win.

At the other end of the table, Parana's loss almost relegated the team to the Serie B. Two points behind Corinthians, the team must win its last game against Vasco on the road and hope that both Corinthians and Goias lose twice. Corinthians plays Vasco at home on Wednesday and Gremio away on Sunday. Goias goes to Belo Horizonte on Wednesday to face Atletico Mineiro and then goes back home to play Internacional in its last game. Juventude - 3-2 losers to Fluminense on the weekend -, and America Natal have already been relegated to the Serie B in 2008.

Quick facts

Sorry about the disappearance over the last couple of months. Lots of changes in my offline life, and not as much time as I'd have liked to keep the blog updated. I might have to change the style of the blog over the next while, with shorter entries and not that much info in regards to upcoming games, but at least I'll try to show up more regularly. Let's see if that works.

What have I missed these last few weeks? Well, for one Sao Paulo ran away with the Brazilian title, successfully defending its championship from a year ago. The battle in the remaining rounds is for the Libertadores spots and against relegation.

The Brazilian National team tied Colombia away in its debut at the qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup, and then went back home and trounced Ecuador at the Maracana Stadium. Another away game saw the team tie Peru in Lima last Sunday, and there's only hope the team can at least improve against Uruguay tonight, in Sao Paulo. The team should have no trouble qualifying for South Africa, but fans would definitely appreciate if the squad coached by Dunga could show more consistency, especially on the road.

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Update: Brazil came back from an early 1-0 deficit to beat Uruguay 2-1, on two goals by forward Luis Fabiano.