Sao Paulo increases lead

Defending champions Sao Paulo increased the lead atop the Brazilian Serie A soccer league after a scoreless draw with Atletico Mineiro on the road on Wednesday. The leaders are now nine points clear of second place Cruzeiro, which lost 1-0 to Juventude on the road. Sao Paulo reached 51 points in 24 games, while Cruzeiro has 42 in 23 matches.

In a game with few goal chances created by both sides, the visitors were happy to leave with a point, after goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni defended a penalty kick taken by Coelho in the 90th minute. Before that, Sao Paulo had hit the post and crossbar during the game, but failed to create much else against a well-positioned Atletico.

Third place Vasco fell to Gremio 3-1 in Porto Alegre, being overtaken by Santos in the standings. Santos now has the same 39 points as Vasco, but with one more victory, after beating Internacional 2-1. In other games, Corinthians had a hard time beating America Natal at home, 1-0, while Goias was beaten at home by Atletico Paranaense, 3-2. Finally, Flamengo got out of the relegation zone thanks to a 4-1 victory over Figueirense at the Maracana Stadium.

Three matches complete the 24th round on Thursday. Botafogo hosts Palmeiras, Parana plays Nautico at home and Fluminense goes to Recife to face Sport.

Sao Paulo opens eight points at the top

Sao Paulo beat Palmeiras 1-0 on Wednesday to reach 47 points and open an eight-point lead atop the standings in the Brazilian Serie A soccer league. The defending champions benefitted from second place Cruzeiro's 2-2 away draw with Parana. Third place Botafogo also tied, 1-1 against Flamengo. Palmeiras is still in fourth, but Vasco could jump to a tie for third with Botafogo with 38 points if it beats Nautico on Thursday. Juventude beat Goias 2-0 at home, and Figueirense had a 3-1 win over America Natal. Corinthians lost 5-2 on the road to Atletico Mineiro, while Inter was surprised at home, losing 4-1 to Fluminense. Finally, Sport beat Gremio 2-0 in Recife.

On Thursday, in addition to Vasco and Nautico, Santos hosts Atletico Paranaense.

Perfect weekend for Sao Paulo

Sao Paulo had the perfect weekend on the Brazilian Serie A soccer league. First, the team did its part in beating Atletico Paranaense at home 2-0 on Saturday. Then, of its closest opponents on the league standings, only one won. As a result, the team finished the 19th round seven points clear at the top of the table, reaching the halfway point of the league in great fashion.

Botafogo can close that gap to four if it beats Corinthians on Wednesday, on a game postponed from the seventh round. On Sunday, the team from Rio went to Santa Catarina and jumped ahead of Figueirense at the start of the second half with Dodo, but in the end the locals tied the game in a goal that should have been called off for offside.

Meanwhile, Corinthians scored twice in the last ten minutes to come back from a 1-0 deficit and beat Gremio 2-1 at the Pacaembu Stadium, in Sao Paulo. It was the second win in the last three games for Corinthians, which jumped out of the relegation zone with the result. Gremio deserved to lose, and actually was lucky to finish the first half ahead on the scoreboard.

In other games, Cruzeiro beat America Natal 2-1 in the final minutes of the game to gain third place from Vasco in the standings. The team from Belo Horizonte now has 32 points, one less than Botafogo, while America keeps holding the last spot, unlikely to move from there till the end of the season, in another 19 rounds.

Vasco went to Curitiba and could not get past a scoreless draw with Parana, dropping to fourth in the standings with 31 points. Parana, which had also tied Botafogo 0-0 at home last week, sits in 13th with 24 points.

Palmeiras went to Belo Horizonte and came away with a very undeserved 2-1 win over Atletico Mineiro, which dominated for most of the match but was unable to get this advantage translated into more goals than the opposing team. Palmeiras reached fifth place with 30 points, while Atletico fell to 12th with 25.

Goias also dropped a few positions, to sixth, after going to Porto Alegre and losing to Internacional 1-0, on the first game back for local coach Abel Braga. Inter's win lifted the team to ninth place, with 27 points.

The surprise of the round happened at the Maracana Stadium, where a Fluminense team missing several regulars had no trouble handling Santos, in a 3-0 win that ended a five-game winless streak and a three-game scoreless streak for the locals. Santos, on the other hand, had won three games in a row, but was unable to stop Fluminense on Sunday. The win left Fluminense with 26 points, one behind Santos.

Flamengo defeated Nautico 2-1 on Saturday, getting only its third win in the league this season. And Sport Recife defeated Juventude 3-0 at home, also on Saturday, to reach 27 points.

It's great to be home

No home team lost in the final four games of the 18th round in the Brazilian Serie A soccer league on Thursday. With three wins and one draw, the home teams closed the round with an impressive record of seven wins, two draws and one loss. The only team to win on the road in this round was Sao Paulo, which beat Botafogo 2-0 in Rio de Janeiro to open a five-point lead atop the standings.

On Thursday, Vasco had no trouble beating a disorganized Corinthians side 2-0 at the Sao Januario Stadium, in Rio. The match began with both teams struggling, but Vasco opened the score with Wagner Diniz in the 24th minute. Vasco improved in the second half and scored once again, with Enilton in the 55th minute. The locals still missed a couple of other chances and could have even won by a larger margin. In the end, the result pleased Vasco nevertheless, since the team jumped back to 30 points, good for third in the standings.

Gremio played just enough to beat a very poor America Natal side 3-0 at home, with two goals by Tuta and one by Kelly. After scoring early in the game, the locals sat back and almost got scored in a couple of chances. The team managed to hold on till the second half, when it scored twice more to break a two-game losing streak and reach sixth place in the standings, with 28 points.

Santos jumped to seventh one point behind Gremio with a 2-0 win over Parana at the Vila Belmiro Stadium. The locals had a lot of trouble trying to break through the defensive formation taken by Parana, but in an isolated play reached the goal with Marcos Aurelio, in the 38th minute. From then until the end little was created and nothing changed until injury time of the second half, when Kleber Pereira scored to confirm Santos' third win in a row. Parana is now winless in five games.

Finally, Palmeiras hosted Internacional at the Parque Antarctica Stadium, in Sao Paulo, but was unable to go beyond a 1-1 draw. Valdivia scored early for the locals, in the second minute, but the team was once again unable to secure a win at home. The home team sat back on defense after the goal, and Inter started pushing forward. Palmeiras was able to hold on the pressure until the 85th minute, when Alex scored on a free kick for the visitors. The result left Palmeiras with 27 points, in eighth place. Inter has only 24 points, good for tenth place.

Sao Paulo opens five points at the top of the Brazilian league

The game was obviously not as good as many had anticipated. But to the fans of Sao Paulo, it didn't really matter in the end, after the team managed to beat Botafogo on the road, 2-0, to reach 37 points, five more than Botafogo itself, which continues in second place.

Close to 50,000 people showed up at the Maracana Stadium to watch the game between the two best teams in the league. But the first half was a total disappointment, with almost no real scoring chance created, and with Sao Paulo's full-back Reasco having to leave the field after being kicked by a Botafogo player and breaking his leg - he's out for the remainder of the season.

In the second half, both teams seemed to open up a little bit more, pushing forward and not waiting so much for the opponent to take action. Rogerio Ceni had to make a few good saves to keep the scoreless draw. In the 64th minute, Sao Paulo surprised Botafogo on a corner kick, and Alex Silva headed the ball into the left side of the goal defended by Marcos Leandro. In the 71st minute, Botafogo's Tulio got upset with Sao Paulo's Leandro and kicked him on the face while he was laying down, after being fouled on by the Botafogo player. He was promptly sent off, and from there on Botafogo lost any hope of making a comeback. Leandro himself would score the second goal of the night for the defending champions, connecting a perfect shot from outside of the penalty box three minutes later.

It was the first loss at home for Botafogo in the season, and the end of a 25-game unbeaten streak at the Maracana Stadium. Sao Paulo got its sixth win in nine matches on the road in the Brazilian Serie A, its second straight 2-0 road win over teams that are directly fighting for the title this season - on Sunday the team had beaten Gremio in Porto Alegre. Botafogo still has one game in hand, but the 2-0 loss at home may have a significant psychological impact if the team fails to get a few wins in the upcoming rounds.

In other matches, Nautico got its second win of the season at home, beating Figueirense 4-2 in Recife. The team was winless at home in seven games. Acosta scored twice and had an assist for Nautico. The result took the team to 20 points, out of the relegation zone ahead of Corinthians, which faces Vasco on Thursday.

In Belo Horizonte, Cruzeiro beat Sport 2-0 in a game marred by three red cards - two for Sport. Not many chances were created in the first half, when both teams preferred to stop the play by consistently fouling an opposing player. The locals took advantage of the sending offs in the second half to score twice with Alecsandro and reach 29 points, third in the standings. Sport was held to 24 points, in tenth place.

Fluminense and Juventude played yet another poor match in Caxias do Sul, with defense taking preference over the attacks and very few chances created by both sides. The result left the locals still struggling to come out of the relegation zone, where they remain in 18th place with 16 points. Fluminense is a little better, in 14th place with 23 points.

Goias beat Atletico Mineiro in Goiania, 3-2, to stop the visitors' two-game winning streak on the road. The locals showed why their home record is so good this season, reaching their sixth win in nine matches at home in the Brazilian Serie A. The first goal was scored by Paulo Baier in the first minute of play, after a mistake by Atletico goalkeeper Edson. Baier scored the second at the start of the second half, on a penalty kick. Atletico scored next with Marcos, but Goias made it 3-1 with Cristiano. Atletico still had a second goal with Vanderlei on a penalty kick with eight minutes to go, but was unable to tie the game in the dying minutes of the game. Goias returned to the top four in the standings, now with 29 points.

Finally, Flamengo went to Curitiba and lost 2-0 to Atletico Paranaense. It was the second loss in a row for Flamengo under new coach Joel Santana, with the team conceding five goals and scoring none in those games. The locals scored early with Marcelo, in the third minute, and then again with Edno, in the 60th minute. It was the first win in five games for Atletico, which reached 22 points, good for 15th place in the standings. Flamengo is second last, with 12 points - but the team has played only 14 games.

Four games complete the 18th round of the Brazilian Serie A soccer league on Thursday: America Natal travels to Porto Alegre to face Gremio, Vasco hosts Corinthians, Palmeiras plays at home against Internacional and Parana has a road game at Santos.

Marilia closes gap to leaders in Serie B

Leaders Criciuma lost on the road to Paulista, 3-1, on Tuesday, and saw its advantage at the top of the standings shrink from seven to four points in the Brazilian Serie B soccer league. Roberto Santos scored all three goals for the locals, helping the team reach 19 points to climb out of the relegation zone, to 15th place.

Meanwhile, Marilia defeated Ipatinga at home, 2-1, thanks to a goal in the final minutes. The team from the state of Sao Paulo reached 32 points, four behind Criciuma's 36. Third place Coritiba went to Sao Paulo and lost to Portuguesa, 3-1. Fourth place Brasiliense also lost, on the road to Santa Cruz, 1-0.

In other results, Ponte Preta had a great 3-2 win on the road over Avai. Gremio Barueri went to Fortaleza and lost to Ceara, 2-1. The other team from the city, Fortaleza, went to Sao Caetano and lost 1-0. Gama hosted Santo Andre but could not go beyond a 1-1 draw. CRB had a very entertaining 4-3 win at home over Vitoria. Remo defeated Ituano at home, 2-0, to climb out of last place. Ituano is now in last.

Sao Paulo takes the lead from Botafogo

Sao Paulo defeated Gremio 2-0 on the road on Sunday and took the lead on the 2007 Brazilian Serie A football league. The defending champions were lucky to score in the third minute with Borges, holding on the pressure from the locals for most of the game to reach 34 points in the standings. Diego Tardelli, who had just replaced Borges, scored the second goal in the 87th minute on a counterattack, after a very balanced match in which Sao Paulo's defense worked well enough to give the attack the chance to score on the chances it created.

Meanwhile, Botafogo played better than Parana on the road, but still wasn't able to score in a 0-0 draw in Curitiba. Goalkeeper Flavio made two great saves for the locals, while newcomer Marcos Leandro had no trouble but in a header by Josiel. With the result, Botafogo is now two points behind Sao Paulo, with one game in hand. The teams face each other on Wednesday, at the Maracana in Rio.

In other results, Figueirense susprised Vasco in Rio and settled for a 2-2 draw, ending the locals perfect record at home. Fluminense played for in Rio for the first time in seven matches, in the reopening of the Maracana Stadium, and lost to Palmeiras, 1-0. Internacional went to Belo Horizonte without Alexandre Pato and left the Mineirao Stadium with a 3-2 loss to Cruzeiro. Flamengo was not able to get much going in the debut of new coach Joel Santana, going to Santos and losing to the locals by a 3-0 score. Atletico Mineiro, on the other hand, had a good road game, defeating Juventude 2-1 in Caxias do Sul to end that team's five-game unbeaten streak at home.

Speaking of streaks, Corinthians was able to end a 10-game winless streak with a win over Goias at home, 1-0, on Saturday. Sport Recife came from behind at home to beat Atletico Paranaense 3-2, while America Natal kept its losing ways by hosting Nautico and losing by a terrible 5-1 score.

Sao Paulo survives early scare

Not that many people went to the Morumbi Stadium on this cool Thursday night to watch Sao Paulo host Juventude. But those who went suffered a scare early on, when Luciano scored for Juventude after just two minutes. The visitors, who were already thinking about defending before the game, just sat back and decided to rely on counterattacks to hold on to the win.

Fortunately, though, Sao Paulo slowly started to take advantage of the Juventude positioning. Defender Miranda took advantage of a rebound from a free kick and tied the game in the 31st minute. In the second half, two more goals, by Borges and Hugo, sealed the 3-1 win. Sao Paulo reaches 31 points, tying Botafogo for the league's lead - though the team from Rio has one game in hand. Juventude missed a chance to leave the relegation zone, and now remains in 17th place, with 15 points.

The night was even better for Sao Paulo after receiving confirmation that Gremio had lost to Figueirense in Florianopolis. After a poor match played under heavy rain, the locals found a late game with just five minutes to play to seal the win, leaving Gremio in fifth place, with 25 points. Figueirense jumped to 11th, with 22.

Vasco gets important road win

Vasco reached third place in the standings with an impressive 2-0 road win over Internacional on Wednesday. It was only the second road win of the season for the team from Rio de Janeiro, which had also lost five times and tied once away from home. Inter lost for the second time in seven matches, and fell eight points back from leaders Botafogo. The locals created a few chances and could have opened the score in the first half, but it was Vasco that took advantage of the opportunities that appeared near the end of the opening 45 minutes. Alan Kardec and Amaral scored for the visitors, who only had to sit back and administer the two-goal advantage in the second half to reach 26 points.

Botafogo jumped to 31 points to remain at the top of the table with a 4-2 win over America Natal in Cariacica. The leaders had a scare twice when they scored and saw America come back to tie the game. In the end, however, Botafogo showed why the team is in first place and why America is in last, and controlled the final half to score twice and seal the 4-2 win. Ze Roberto was the name of the match, with two goals.

Santos went to Belo Horizonte and recovered from the two straight losses it had suffered in its last two games, beating Atletico Mineiro 2-1. Kleber set up Marcos Aurelio in the first half and Kleber Pereira in the second to score the goals for the visitors, while Danilinho had Atletico's lone goal. After two wins, Atletico loses the first since coach Zetti was fired, and fans anxiously wait to see how the team will react to the first loss under Emerson Leao.

Corinthians' winless streak reached 10 games, after a 2-2 draw on the road against Atletico Paranaense. The locals scored first in the final minute of the first half, but Corinthians was able to come back in the final 45 minutes with William, who scored twice to give the visitors a short-lived lead. Near the end of the game, Cadu scored an own goal to extend Corinthians personal purgatory.

Goias defeated Parana 2-0 at home, with Paulo Baier scoring once and setting up the other goal. Nautico went back home after defeating Santos on the road and, despite dominating some stretches of the game, was unable to get much going against Fluminense, in a game that ended scoreless.

Palmeiras scored first and looked like it wouldn't have too much problem beating Sport Recife in Sao Paulo. However, the team slowed down and allowed the visitors to score twice for a 2-1 road win. The visitors played with only nine men for the last 17 minutes (the first player had been sent off in the 12th minute, with a second sent of in the 73rd), but Palmeiras was still unable to tie the game. A nice rebound for Sport, which had lost at home to Inter on Sunday, 5-1.

Sao Paulo joins Botafogo atop the standings

Defending champions Sao Paulo defeated America Natal 1-0 on the road this Sunday, and joined Botafogo in the lead of the 2007 Brazilian Serie A football league. The new co-leaders benefitted from Botafogo's loss to Cruzeiro (2-3) at the Mineirao Stadium in Belo Horizonte. With these results, both teams are tied at 28 points, with Botafogo having one game in hand.

In Natal, Sao Paulo didn't play well, just well enough to defeat last place America. The locals, despite playing at home, took a very defensive stand and preferred to rely on counterattacks. With goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni saving his team when needed, Sao Paulo managed to score a goal off a corner kick in the first half, with Richarlysson. America pushed forward in the second half, but was still unable to create many opportunities to tie the game.

In Belo Horizonte, Cruzeiro and Botafogo scored five times in the second half, after a scoreless opening 45 minutes. Guilherme scored twice and Wagner scored for the locals, with Andre Lima and Renato Silva scoring for Botafogo. Despite the loss, the team from Rio still leads thanks to a better goal differential than Sao Paulo. The win lifted Cruzeiro to fifth place, with 23 points.

In other results, Santos was surprised at home by Nautico, losing 2-1. Third place Gremio missed a great chance to be within one point of the leaders, tying Atletico Paranaense 1-1 at home. Vasco did not waste its home field advantage though, and defeated Goias 4-1 to reach fourth place in the standings.

Internacional had one of its best games of the season, going to Recife and humiliating Sport, 5-1. The two most popular teams in the country, Corinthians and Flamengo, played to a 2-2 tie in Sao Paulo, a result that cost Flamengo's coach Ney Franco his job (the team is still in the relegation zone). Juventude and Palmeiras played a match that lacked many emotions in a cold afternoon in Caxias do Sul, and which ended 1-1. Parana's inconsistent play continued, with a 3-1 home loss to Atletico Mineiro, Atletico's second win in a row and first under new coach Emerson Leao. And Fluminense, still unable to play in Rio due to the Pan American Games, went to Brasilia to host Figueirense, in a game that ended tied 1-1.

Gremio jumps to second place

Gremio likes playing at the Aflitos Stadium in Recife. Two years ago, the stadium was the venue for one of the most fantastic matches ever played by the team, which heroically battled on with just eight players to guarantee a win over Nautico that granted the team the promotion to the following year's Serie A. Yesterday, after Nautico had to wait an extra year to join Gremio in the Brazilian football elite, both teams faced each other again for the first time in the same venue of that historical night. The end result was the same, a win by Gremio, even if not in as dramatic fashion. Playing a defensive style, the visitors took advantage of counter-attacks to get the 2-0 win, with Tuta scoring in the first half and Carlos Eduardo in the second. The result puts Gremio in second place, with 24 points. Nautico is tied for last with America with just 10 points in 14 games.

America Natal ended up losing to Flamengo on the road (1-3) to drop one spot to the bottom of the table. Flamengo now has 11 points in 11 maches, with the win over America being only the team's second of the season. At least Flamengo fans were able to celebrate the third goal, scored by Obina, who's still recovering his fitness after being out for a couple of months due to an injury.

Meanwhile, Santos went to Goiania and lost its four-game unbeaten streak, falling to Goias by 1-0 on a goal by Welliton. The locals climbed back to third in the standings, with 23 points, while Santos remains with 18 points, good for 12th in the standings. Atletico Paranaense tied Cruzeiro at home (2-2), with the visitors scoring in injury time of the second half.

This was the same result of the Figueirense against Corinthians game, in Florianopolis. The locals lost several chances to end the game early, always stopping on great saves by goalkeeper Felipe. Corinthians took advantage of the few chances it created and escaped with a very good away draw. Internacional once again took advantage of the play of Alexandre Pato, scoring a 1-0 win at home over Parana to reach 20 points, 9th in the standings.

But the most entertaining match of the evening was reserved to the Parque Antarctica Stadium in Sao Paulo, where visitors Vasco jumped to an early 2-0 lead in the first half, just to see Palmeiras come back to win 3-2. The locals scored twice in the final 10 minutes, despite the fact they had been playing one man short since the 65th minute. The result prevented Vasco from reaching fourth place in the standings, instead providing Palmeiras with the chance to get past Vasco and move into 6th in the standings.

Last minute goal saves Palmeiras

Palmeiras gained a point in a 2-2 tie with Santos on Thursday, scoring the tying goal in the last minute of play to keep alive a five-game unbeaten streak. Santos opened the score with Kleber - returning from a stunt with the Brazilian National Team - in the 11th minute. Nen tied the game for Palmeiras eight minutes later, but Pedrinho put Santos back on the lead with a goal in injury time of the first half. Palmeiras pushed forward in the second half, allowing for dangerous counterattacks by Santos. In the last play of the game, the ball was shot to the penalty box, where Martinez deflected it with a header and hit Rodrigo Souto, who ended up scoring an own goal.

In Uberlandia, Parana won for the first time in five games, beating Flamengo 2-1. Josiel scored twice in two minutes (in the 28th and 30th minutes) to put Parana up ahead, while Leo Medeiros gave Flamengo some hope with a goal in the 36th minute. In the end, however, Parana managed to hold on to the lead to leave Flamengo with eight points in nine matches, still in the relegation zone. Parana reached fifth place in the standings, with 19 points.

Finally, second place Goias played to a scoreless tie against Gremio in Goiania, in a poor match with very few chances created by both sides. Goias now trails Botafogo by four points, but the leaders have one game in hand.

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.

Brazil beats Argentina 3-0

It didn't take long to see that this was a different Brazilian team than the one that had played a mostly lacklustre competition. Brazil started the final against the powerful Argentines taking some chances in attack, and patiently controlling the ball in midfield. Before the game was five minutes old, Julio Baptista received the ball inside the penalty box on the left wing, quickly cutting it towards the centre of the pitch past an opponent, and then perfectly placing it to the left of goalkeeper Abbondazieri.

Argentina couldn't create much, with the Brazilians crowding the midfield and stopping creative Riquelme with fouls whenever he tried to take more than a few steps with the ball. But the white-and-blues slowly tried to move forward, and almost tied the game in the 10th minute, when Riquelme took a great shot from 15 metres to hit the right post of the goal guarded by Doni. The Argentines seemed to patiently wait for their chances, which would definitely arise later in the game.

Or so they thought. Brazil still managed to create a few scoring opportunities of its own, and in one of those chances, defender Ayala deflected a cross from the right wing into his own net, in the 41st minute, to make it 2-0 for the defending champions. Argentina lost its patience, and came back to the second half desperately trying to tie the game.

With Argentina going forward and leaving more spaces back on defence, Brazil waited for the right opportunities to create a few chances in counterattacks. A two-goal lead was not enough to guarantee any kind of relief though, since everyone on the team knew how dangerously a 2-0 lead could turn around late in a game. In the 69th minute, Robinho found Vagner Love, who quickly moved up the field and passed to Daniel Alves on the right side of the penalty box. Alves shot the ball across the box into the lower right corner of Abbodanzieri's goal, and the game was all but over.

As Brazilians celebrated during the last few minutes of the game, Argentina was left to wonder how it lost yet again in a competition final, after dominating most of the tournament with clearly the best football of all competitors. For Brazil, it didn't matter, as a mostly discredited team rose to the occasion and beat their arch-rivals with an unquestionable 3-0 win.

Botafogo loses first match

Still trying to deal with the suspension of goalscorer Dodo due to a doping charge, Botafogo travelled to Santos trying to maintain its lead atop the standings in the Brazilian League. It managed to do that, but not before losing its first game of the season, 3-0 to Santos.

The team started the game playing quite well, and dominated the first half. But without translating that dominance into a lead, Botafogo had to deal with a determined local side coming back to the second half. Marcos Aurelio took advantage of a lapse of attention by the Botafogo defense in the 60th minute, and scored the game's first goal. Four minutes later, Rodrigo Tabata scored on a free kick. Moraes made it 3-0 in the last minute of regulation, a result that did not quite reflect the reality of a very disputed game, but which undoubtedly ended the last unbeaten record in the league.

Luckily for Botafogo, its lead at the top remains of five points, after Goias lost to Cruzeiro 2-1 in Belo Horizonte and Sao Paulo tied Corinthians 1-1 in the Morumbi.

In other results, Internacional managed a heroic comeback to defeat America Natal 2-1, with two goals in the second half. Atletico Mineiro went to Recife and lost to Sport, 2-0. And Palmeiras tied Gremio 1-1 in Porto Alegre.

Parana loses again at home

Three matches opened the 11th round of the 2007 Brazilian League on Thursday. Parana lost its second straight match at home, this time 2-1 to Figueirense, wasting a golden chance to climb back to the top four in the standings. Last week, the team had already lost at home (0-1) to last place America Natal. With the win, the team from Santa Catarina jumped to sixth place with 17 points, seven behind leaders Botafogo.

Vasco also gained some valuable positions on the table, jumping to the same 17 points as Figueirense and Palmeiras, but having a better goal differential to temporarily claim fourth spot. On Thursday the team hosted Atletico Parananense and suffered to win by the minimum 1-0 score. Atletico played without many regulars, but still managed to get a one-goal lead, which was waved off for an offside that did not occur. Leandro Amaral scored the only valid goal of the game for Vasco.

The third match featured Juventude and Nautico in Caxias do Sul. The last placed team from Pernambuco surprised the locals, who were also trying to escape the relegation zone. The 1-1 final result still leaves Nautico in last place - tied with America Natal with 7 points - but Juventude temporarily leaves the bottom four, if only by virtue of a better goal differential. The team is now in 15th place with 11 points, the same number as 17th placed Santos and 16th Internacional.

Six matches will be played on Saturday, but the 11th round will only be completed in mid-August, with the derby between Flamengo and Fluminense, postponed from this weekend due to the PanAmerican Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Botafogo keeps on track

Botafogo increased its lead atop the standings of the Brazilian National League back to five points on Saturday, after beating Atletico Paranaense 2-0. Sao Paulo lost second place due to its inability to score a goal in a 0-0 draw with Flamengo at home. Goias is not complaining, having come back from a 2-0 deficit against Sport Recife at home to win 3-2, moving past the team from Morumbi.

Parana hosted last place America Natal and managed to lose 1-0, leaving the door open to Palmeiras to jump into fourth place - thanks to a 1-0 last minute win away at Nautico, now dead last in the standings with 6 points. Inter defeated Figueirense 2-1 to keep one point ahead of Juventude, which beat Vasco 2-0 but is still in 17th place with 10 points. Gremio completed a perfect outing for the teams from Rio Grande do Sul, getting a good 1-0 away win over Atletico Mineiro to get into 5th place.

The other team from Belo Horizonte also lost, with Cruzeiro going to Santos and losing 4-1, taking the hosts to 11 points and still out of the relegation zone, if only by just a point. Finally, Corinthians and Fluminense tied 1-1 in Sao Paulo.

Vasco humbles Santos

Santos confirmed its erractic play of late, going to Rio de Janeiro and losing embarrassingly to Vasco in Sao Januario, by a 4-0 score. The result left the Sao Paulo State champions dangerously close to the relegation zone, while Vasco sits just outside the Libertadores qualifying zone.

Meanwhile, Sport survived a tying goal and late pressure by Corinthians in Recife, scoring a second time to win the game 2-1. Flamengo and Atletico Mineiro, on the other hand, had a poor match that ended in unusual fashion, with Atletico going ahead 1-0 in the 88th minute only to have the visitors score to tie the game four minutes later.

At the end of the ninth round, the top of the table still features Botafogo, Sao Paulo, Goias and Parana. Nautico, America Natal, Flamengo and Juventude are at the bottom of the standings.