Second most popular team in the country is relegated

And so the 2007 Brazilian Serie A championship came to an end on Sunday, with Sao Paulo repeating as champions and winning its fifth ever National title. The team coached by Muricy Ramalho had been crowned four games before the end of the season, and tied once and lost twice in its three last games - including a 2-1 away defeat to Atletico Paranaense on Sunday. The big story of the last round of play was the fight against relegation to the Serie B. Which two teams would join Juventude and America in the Brazilian Second Division in 2008?

Corinthians, the second most popular team in the country, entered the last Sunday of the season one point ahead of Goias, itself one point in front of Parana. But Parana quickly gave up all hope of remaining in the Serie A, losing 3-0 on the road to Vasco, a result that also placed the team from Rio de Janeiro in next year's Copa Sudamericana. So the last spot in the Serie A would belong to either Corinthians or Goias.

Both teams tried to gain an advantage by delaying the start of their games, only entering the field fifteen minutes after the games were scheduled to start. By starting their games later, they hoped to learn about the result in their opponent's match and play accordingly to avoid relegation. But these tactics were of little help, since both teams did the same and nearly cancelled all advantage the other team could have had. In the end, Corinthians started its game two minutes later than Goias. But by conceding a goal in the first minute of play, Corinthians quickly fell behind 1-0 to Gremio in Porto Alegre. Goias soon conceded a goal to Internacional at home in Goiania, keeping the team from Sao Paulo one point ahead in the standings. Before the first half was over, however, Goias would tie the game, only to have Corinthians do the same one minute later. After the end of the first half, everything was like when the day began for the two teams.

In the second half, however, Goias went ahead 2-1 after taking a penalty kick three times - in the first two tries, Inter's goalkeeper Clemer defended the shots by Goias' Paulo Baier, only to see the referee call the shots back claiming Clemer had taken a step forward before the ball was kicked. corinthians fans started to despair after learning of the goal, and the team pressed forward in the final minutes of play trying to get a goal that would keep the team in the Brazilian soccer elite. This goal would never come, however, and the game finished on a 1-1 tie. For the first time ever in its 97 year-old history, the four-time Brazilian National champion and most popular team in the State of Sao Paulo had been relegated to the Brazilian Second Division.

Coritiba, Ipatinga, Portuguesa and Vitoria were promoted from the Serie B.

Corinthians surprises Botafogo in Rio

Botafogo spent 16 round without a loss at home in this year's Brazilian Serie A soccer league. Now the team has lost two in a row at the Maracana Stadium. After last week's 2-0 loss to Sao Paulo, the team lost this Wednesday to Corinthians by 3-2. The game against Corinthians had been postponed due to preparation for the Pan-American Games, which took place in Rio last month.

With the result, Botafogo wasted a great chance to close the gap to the league leaders, since the team had a game in hand and could have finished the first half of the season trailing Sao Paulo by just four points. Now the difference remains at seven. For the visitors, the win leaves the team six points above the top team in the relegation zone, creating some needed insurance for the second half of the season.

Botafogo opened the score early in the game, when Nilton scored an own goal. Arce tied the game shortly after, in the 10th minute. The match was very balanced, with both teams wasting opportunities. But the next goal of the game would only come in the second half, in the 54th minute. Defender Nilton redeemed himself and scored again, this time for his own team, on a good shot from outside the penalty box. Three minutes later, Finazzi scored again for the visitors.

He'd almost score again in the 76th minute, but his shot would hit the crossbar. One minute later, Dodo scored on a penalty kick to give final numbers to the game. Corinthians sat back and resisted bravely for the final minutes, as the locals unsuccessfully pressed on for the tying goal that never arrived.

The Pato show

Internacional fans surely missed Alexandre Pato. The young star, who was away with the Brazilian Under-20 team for most of the past month, returned to Inter's starting eleven in top form this Wednesday, at the Beira-Rio Stadium, in Porto Alegre. With two goals and one assist, Pato helped dismantle Corinthians in the second half of a game Inter won 3-0. The locals won their third straight game to jump to eighth place in the standings, with 17 points. It wasn't that long ago that the team had been dangerously close to the relegation zone, raising concerns among the faithful red. These concerns must now surely rest with the fans of Corinthians, winless in six matches and down to the 16th place in the standings with 14 points, just one position out of the relegation zone.

Before the start of the game, fans paid one minute of silence in respect to the victims of the accident with an airplane that was going from Porto Alegre to Sao Paulo on Tuesday. Nearly 200 people, many from Porto Alegre - and including one former Internacional president -, died on the crash at the Congonhas Airport in Sao Paulo. Despite the mourning, both teams quickly pushed forward after kickoff. The game started on a frantic pace, with teams alternating scoring chances. At the end of 45 minutes, however, the game was still scoreless. The first goal was scored only in the 61st minute, when Pato took a penalty kick suffered by Iarley. He would also score the second goal for the locals, in the 80th minute, with a strong shot from just inside the penalty box. Adriano scored in the last minute after another play by Alexandre Pato, to give Inter the final 3-0 score.

Meanwhile, Sao Paulo keeps wasting opportunities to close on the league leaders, Botafogo. Playing against Fluminense at the Morumbi Stadium, the team once again failed to score, having only nine goals in 12 matches this season. Even worse, it lost the game 1-0 and thus ended a 23-year unbeaten streak against the rival at the Morumbi Stadium. Fluminense seems to have learned from Brazil's success at the Copa America, as coach Renato Gaucho simply positioned his team to not allow any spaces to be taken advantage of by the locals. The strong marking system worked, and Sao Paulo failed to create many chances during the game. The visitors also took advantage of one of the few chances they had themselves, and scored on a penalty kick awarded in the 53rd minute.

And Sao Paulo's life will not get any easier. On the weekend they travel to Belo Horizonte to face a reinvigorated Cruzeiro team, coming off two good wins. After beating second place Goias last Saturday (2-1), the team coached by Dorival Junior came from behind to soundly beat Nautico on Wednesday, 4-1. Nautico opened the score in the second minute, but Cruzeiro tied the game ten minutes later, coming back in the second half to score three more times. It was a good psychological win for the team as well, after losing its two previous road games (to Figueirense and Santos). The win lifted Cruzeiro to third place in the standings, past Sao Paulo, with 19 points. Meanwhile, Nautico continues in last place with seven points, having lost six games and tied four in its last ten matches.

Another team from the Brazilian Northeast is also in trouble deep in the standings, joining Nautico at the bottom of the table. America Natal went to Belo Horizonte and also lost by a 4-1 score, to Cruzeiro's archrivals Atletico Mineiro. Atletico scored the two first goals in 20 minutes, and after America scored one shortly thereafter, the local team was still able to answer with the third goal before the first half was over. Not many chances were created in the second half, and the fourth Atletico goal only came five minutes from the end of regulation. The win was important for the locals, who now have 16 points and are five points clear of Juventude, the last team in the relegation zone.

Juventude didn't do itself any favours on Wednesday, going to Curitiba and losing 4-0 to Atletico Paranaense. Atletico, which had been held scoreless in its last two games, welcomed the return of its top scorer, Alex Mineiro, who had missed these two games. And he was quick to make himself noticed, scoring on a penalty kick in the 7th minute to open the score. The other goals would come only in the second half.

Finally, Sport surprised everyone with a road win over Figueirense in Santa Catarina. In a poor game with few scoring chances and low technical quality, the visitors were lucky to score a goal in the 88th minute, with Carlinhos Bala. Figueirense lost a chance to climb to second in the standings, while Sport reached sixth place.

Three games close out the 12th round on Thursday. Goias hosts Gremio at the Serra Dourada Stadium in Goiania. Santos travels to Sao Paulo to face Palmeiras, while Flamengo and Parana play on neutral grounds in Uberlandia, since Flamengo is unable to host its games in Rio during the ongoing Pan-American Games.

Corinthians managers accused by Public Attorney's office

Several top managers from popular Brazilian club Corinthians were accused by the Brazilian Public Attorney's office this past week, due to the involvement with international investment fund MSI. They were accused of illegal financial operations, including money laundering. According to the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper, the investigation also mentions possible plans by the team and MSI to use financial means to prevent the team from being relegated, if it ever were in risk of doing so. The federal authorities recorded some conversations between the team and the fund managers, but did not give out many details as the investigation is still ongoing. The recordings also show team and MSI officials discussing details about buying and selling players abroad, with illegal transfer of money for these transactions, tax evasion and bribing.

In another note, the team has lost its legal battle in international courts against French side Lyon, and must now pay 8 million euros that had not been paid in the transfer of forward Nilmar.