Archive for August, 2009

More craziness is coming out of Brasil. Botafogo fired their headman Franco yesterday. Botafogo is on a two-match slide. Botafogo is near the bottom of the table. They are in 15^th place with seventeen points.

Franco has been the chief honcho for one year. He led Botafogo to the finals of Campeonato do Rio.  Botafogo won the 2009 Guanabara Cup.

For what’s its worth Botafogo has been on a slide since July 5^th.  Botafogo has three wins, two losses, and four ties. Not great but  this is bad considering Sao Paulo is red hot as well as Flamengo and Cruzeiro.

Botafogo has tough stretch ahead of them beginning this Saturday with Palmeiras followed by Santo Andre, Corinthians, Cruzeiro, and Gremio.

This is hard haul. Palmeiras sits atop of the table. Gremio is in ninth place. Corinthians is in eleventh place. Corinthians is off a little bit but they are very dangerous club. Yes, I know they played like crap against Flamengo but Corinthians will improve. Cruzeiro is back full in form after spending the first part of the season concentrating on the Copa Libertadores. Santo Andre could be the only so called breather.

Sao Paulo is slowly regaining their championship form. They are on a five match-winning streak. I cannot call Gomes the clown anymore. He is proving this may have been the right choice after all. We will see.

Sao Paulo is five points behind league leader Palmeiras. Sao Paulo is shooting for a four peat.

I can’t wait to see when these two clubs collide on August 30^th at Morumbi.

Chew on this one for a moment. Muricy was the headman at Sao Paulo. He led them to a three-peat. He was fired and now Muricy is the head honcho at Palmeiras. I can’t wait to see this match. We can all watch the fireworks explode.

There is nothing new on the Argentinos futebol front. The season is still on indefinite hold.  Yet, the idiots in charge of Boca, River Plate, and the other top clubs are spending money they don’t have like drunken sailors. 

Maradona gets it right again. “ It worries me because not having football starting in this country is something dramatic,” Maradona said.

www.palau.org

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Flamengo picked up a badly needed win on Sunday afternoon. Adriano’s deft strike in the 62^nd minute was the only score of the match. Flamengo defeated Corinthians 1-0.

This was a horribly played match.

Both sides played like high school clubs. The pace of the match was slow. For first 45 minutes of the match, Flamengo was content to attack Corinthians up the middle. This tactic had little success. When Flamengo worked the ball up flank, this created more scoring opportunities. Yet, when scoring opportunities were presented to Adriano, Petkovic, Leo Moura, and Emerson they couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with a howitzer.

Flamengo’s offensive crew had no idea they were offsides. Flamengo was called for six offsides. This is stupid. When the refs flag went up for offsides Adriano and company looked at him as if to say. “Who? Me?”  Yes you dummy.   

Flamengo had three times more scoring opportunities than Corinthians.

Adriano was the chief culprit. He had at least six golden scoring chances. He missed badly on all of them. Adriano was one for seven. In baseball terms, this is horrible. His batting average is .142. Adriano would have been sent down to the minors for such a powerful hitting display.

Adriano’s sole score saved Flamengo’s inept offense performance.

Only Corinthians was worse. Corinthians forgot how to play offense. They had maybe three shots on goal.

If Flamengo continues to play futebol this way, this will be a long season for us Flamenguistas.

I will take the three points.

Fluminense and Vitoria tied at two all.

Sao Paulo blasted Goias 3-1. Sao Paulo has won four matches in a row. 

Gremio-Barueri defeated Gremio 1-0.

Coritiba was blasted by Cruzeiro 3-1.

Palmeiras sits a top the table with 35 points. Goias is in second place with 32 points. Atletico-MG is in third place with 31 points.

Sao Paulo is in the fourth spot with 30 points.

Flamengo is in eighth place with 27 points.

Sport is dead last with 13 points. Fluminense is 19^th with 15 points. Coritiba is in 18^th place with 16 and Nautico is 17^th with 18 points.

www.palau.org

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Craziness and insanity abound in the Campeonato do Brasil on Saturday afternoon. Santos jumped out to an early 2-0 lead over Avai. The unthinkable happened. Avai scored two late second half goals to escape with two all tie with Santos. Santos thought they had this baby in the bag. Boy were they sure stunned by this result.

Through the first sixty minutes Santos unrelenting pressure had Avai on the run. Santos first marker came at nine-minute mark. Madson received a perfect pass from Paulo Henrique. Madson walk in goal made 1-0 after nine minutes. Avai keeper Eduardo Martini never had a chance.

Santos kept up the relentless pressure on Avai defense.

The second Santos score came right after the start of the second half. Six minutes into the second half Kleber ripped a winner to make 2-0 in favor of Santos.

Santos kept up the pressure then the match turned on a dime.

Avai weathered the storm.

Williams was the recipient of great pass from Muriqui. Williams fired the ball past Santos keeper Felipe. It was now 2-1 Santos after 65 minutes.

The equalizer came in the 77^th minute. Avai had a free kick from 35 yards out. The ball was angled left of the box. Marquinhos free kick was fired into the box. It was pinball machine time. The ball rattled around the box for a long moment before Emerson knocked it home to make two all.

This is the way this baby ended up. This is heartbreak city for Santos. Santos should have had the win. Instead, they escaped with a tie.

Avai has not lost a match since July 5^th.

Nautico defeated Santo Andre 2-1.

Atletico-PR defeated Botafogo 1-0.

www.palau.org

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I was the first one to tip you off about a month ago that the top five Argentine clubs were having big time financial problems. This might cause the start of the Apertura to be delayed.

It is worse than I thought. This is really disturbing news coming of Argentina.  River Plate, Racing, Independiente, San Lorenzo, and Boca have combined debts totaling 182 million dollars.

What is really insane is that these clubs are signing new players left and right as if the money supply grows on trees.

Argentina’s futebol crazy land has had its worse nightmare come true. The start of the Apertura has been delayed indefinitely.

This is where it gets crazy. The mad drunk spending futebol clubs were offered by TV rights holders a 10.4 million loan to help defray some of the debit but the clubs turned the offer down.

AFA President Julio Grondona had a counter offer. Let’s charge the cable subscribers 12 pesos more a month. The TV rights holders told the AFA to take a flying leap.

The AFA and the TV rights holders have a contract that expires in 2014. TV rights holders now pay 68 million for broadcasting rights.

Even if they get the increase, it won’t solve the problem. You can’t spend what you don’t have.

These clubs have not paid their taxes, players, and payments to the AFA.

This is nuts. Independiente spent 650 grand on San Lorenzo striker Andres Silvera. Try this one on for size Independiente then turned around and offered two million for Sporting Lisbon midfielder Leandro Romagnoli. 

Racing has spent four million on player signings.

Boca signed Spanish club Celtic Vigo midfielder Ariel Rosada however; the amount of bucks spent was not disclosed. Boca also inked deals with Universidad Catolica midfielder Gary Medel and Federico Insua from Mexico’s America.     

This is craziness.

Maradona has it right. Don’t sign players and not pay them. Then turn around and blame others for your problems.

Enough said.

www.palau.org

http://www2.hillsong.com/tv/home.asp

Fluminense finally found the right combination last night. Fluminense scored five times to destroy Sport 5-1 Fluminense started the night dead last but now, they moved up one spot to 19^th place. They have 15 points in 17 games. Fluminense is in grave danger getting the heave hoe.

Sport owns sole possession of 20^th place in the table. Sport has a grand total of 13 points.

Palmeiras had a chance to put some distance between them and second place Goias. No such luck. Palmeiras tied with Gremio one all.

Palmeiras is still in first place with 35 points. Goias is second with 32 points. Atletico-MG is third with 31 points.

Gremio-Barueri shut out Vitoria 4-0.

It was bad day bedrock for Sport, Vitoria, and Palmeiras.

Palmeiras’s tie still gives a glimmer of hope to my Flamengo club. Flamengo sits in eleventh spot with 24 points. Flamenguistas trail league leader Palmeiras by eleven points.

Up next for Flamengo is Corinthians on Sunday afternoon August 8^th. This is a must win match for Flamengo. Corinthians is currently in eighth spot with 25 points. In their last four matches, Corinthians has lost two and tied two. Ever since Ronaldo went down with a broken hand Corinthians have taken a nosedive.

This epic battle will take place at Maracana. I hope Flamengo doesn’t pull a Philadelphia Eagles trick and get blown out at home. I mean anything is possible with this team. The Eagles and Flamengo are closely related. They both invent new ways to lose.

I guess it is part of the DNA.

www.palau.org

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I have finally figured it out why I am Flamenguista. Flamengo is so much like my Philadelphia Eagles. Both teams have a schizoid nature. You never know which team will show up.

Flamengo and the Eagles will break your heart every time. Both Flamengo and the Eagles always find ways to blow huge safe leads.

 They invent new ways to lose games. They are natural screw-ups. This is just like me. Last night was perfect example of what I am talking about.

Flamengo travels to Goiania to take on third place Goias. What happens? Flamengo stinks the joint out.

They fall behind early on. Flamengo gives up two easy goals in the first half. Amaral started off the goal parade for Goias. Amaral’s wicked strike ripped the twines to make 1-0 after fourteen minutes.

Ten minutes later Leo Lima’s strike made it 2-0 Goias after twenty-four minutes.

Finally, Flamengo found the back of the net. Adriano nailed a PK in the 49th minute to draw Flamengo within one. It is 2-1 Goias.

I have spoken too soon. Petkovic ripped the twines in the 79th minute to tie this baby up at two all. See what I mean.

Flamengo is a total schizoid team. Flamengo plays dumb  in the  first half and great in the second half. They drive you nuts. Or as my wife tells me, it’s by tricycle ride Bobby.

Goias just won this baby on a powerful run into the box by Iarley. Iarley beat Flamengo keeper Bruno in the 90th minute to make it 3-2 Goias.

Flamengo’s defense fell apart in the final moments to give Goias a huge 3-2 victory. This loss really hurts Flamengo. They break your heart. Flamengo will find a way to fritter away a win. Instead of at least one point Flamengo has -zero-Zippo-nada points.

 Sao Paulo’s win streak just hit four.Paulinos clobbered Botafogo 3-1. Santos defeated Coritiba 1-0. Avai slipped by Santo Andre 1-0. Nautico upset Corinthians 1-0. Nautico was in last place in the Campeonato.

Goias now moves into second place with 32 points. Sao Paulo is slowly skipping up the table. Paulinos are in fifth spot with 27 points. Flamengo drops to tenth place with 24 points. Nautico jumps to 18th place with 15 points.

On tap tonight are some huge matches. League leader Palmeiras battles Gremio. Gremio-Barueri has a date with Vitoria and Fluminense takes on Sport.

www.palau.org

http://www2.hillsong.com/tv/home.asp

The Copa Sudamericana got underway last night.  The fun is already beginning but first lets talk about the Campeonato de Brasil.

Gomes the clown looks like he is beginning to turn around Sao Paulo. The Sao Paulinos are on a three-match win streak.  Sao Paulo is now in eighth spot in the table.

Sao Paulo was hovering near the bottom of the table. Bam! Muricy was fired. All hell broke loose. The team went on a mini slide when Gomes the clown was hired.

Since their 2-2 tie with Internacional on July 22^nd, Sao Paulo hasn’t lost a match. They are now creeping up the table. Will the three time defending champs make it a four peat? Stranger things have happened.

Next up for Sao Paulo is Botafogo later tonight. Botafogo is coming off a huge 2-1 win over Gremio-Barueri last Saturday. Botafogo is currently in 13^th spot. This should be a good match.

Sao Paulo has 24 points. They trail league leader Palmeiras by 10 points. This is in the category of a must win situation for Sao Paulo. Sure, this is only the 17^thmatch of the season but ten points is a huge margin to make up considering how well Palmeiras is playing. Muricy the ex- Tricolor Paulista coach has a huge chip on his shoulder. He wants to prove he shouldn’t have been fired by Sao Paulo. If he can pull it off and win the Campeonato, this will give him four titles in a row.  Muricy can tell Sao Paulo to kiss his backside.

The plot thickens as the season heads into the second half. I can’t wait.

Now back to the Copa Sudamericana. Universidad de Chili defeated Colombia’s Deportivo Cali 2-1. The offensive explosion happened in the second half.

In the 48^th minute Sergio Dario Herrera found the back of the net on a perfect strike to give Cali a 1-0 lead after 48 minutes.

Universidad de Chili found the answer in the 60^thminute. Juan Manuel Oliveira out leaped the entire Cali defense. Oliveira used his noggin to knock home a perfectly placed corner kick into the box to tie this baby up at one all.

Six minutes later Oliveira’s perfect run into the box forced Cali keeper Blazquez to make the stop. Blazquez tackled the ball away from Oliveira but the ref called Blazquez for a foul. This resulted in a PK for Oliveira. Oliveira squeezed the ball between the post and the keeper in the 66^thminute to make 2-1 in favor of Universidad de Chili. That’s how this baby ended up.

www.palau.org

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Flamengo decided to take interim tag off of Andrade. He will finish the season as Flamengo’s headman. I sure hope my team performs better than they did last Sunday against bottom feeder Nautico.

A one all tie isn’t going to cut the mustard as far as I am concerned.

Cuca wasn’t getting the job done. I don’t really give a damn what the experts say, the players quit playing for Cuca.

Flamengo has some pure offensive threats. Adriano has scored eight goals while Emerson has knocked home six.  Leo Moura and Josiel have both found the back net twice each. That’s 18 goals of Flamengo’s 24 goals this season.

Where Flamengo is hurting is on defense. The Flamenguistas have given 24 goals. On a pure numbers basis that’s a net of zero. A team cannot win championships with crappy “D.” Hopefully, Flamengo will make a liar out of me.

Flamengo is sorta like me. Flamengo borders on a psychotic schizophrenia personality. Throw in a little bit of suicidal and self-destructive tendencies that’s how my team performs on a match per match basis. 

Flamenguistas in a nutshell can be described this way Sybil with an attitude. From one match to the next you never know which team will show up. One match they play like world-beaters. The next match they stink the joint out. 

We will see if hiring Andrade is the right move. He will have a very hard time soothing all these egos and trying to blend them into a good team on both ends of the pitch.

Right now Flamengo is a dogfight with Sao Paulo, Vitoria, and Gremio. They all have 24 points.

Palmeiras is atop the table with 34 points. A ten-point spread in the table does not give Flamengo a lot of room for error. Flamengo has a must win match with Goias this Wednesday. Goias is in third place with 29 points. Flamengo has a history of playing like #@%$ on the road.  This baby takes place Goiania.

The fun is just beginning.

www.palau.org

http://www2.hillsong.com/tv/home.asp

Once again, the schizophrenic nature of Flamengo raises its ugly head. Flamenguista took on bottom feeder Nautico. Instead of a badly needed, three points Flamengo escaped with one point. All is not well in Flamenguista land. The natives are restless.  The boos from Maracana can be heard all the way in LA.

Flamengo and Nautico tied one all.

Nautico started off the match by attacking Flamengo. Flamengo could not get anything going.  Flamengo seemed content in just sitting back and waiting. On what? God only knows.
Gilmar settled the ball just outside the top of the box. He dribbled a little to his right and fired a shot that beat the keeper Bruno. The ball was squeezed in between the post and Bruno’s out stretched hand. Sure there was some traffic in front of Bruno but he should have easily stopped the shot. Bruno looked like he got a late break on the ball. This was a bad read by the keeper Bruno. 

It was 1-0 Nautico after twenty-three minutes.

Flamengo found the answer late in the match. In the 80^th minute Nautico’s Claudio Luiz turned the ball over inside his own box. Flamengo’s Petkovic fired a shot on goal. Gledson stopped the initial shot however the ball rebounded off the keeper’s hand. Flamengo’s Leo Moura knocked home the easy winner to knot this baby up at one all.

That’s the way it ended one all.

Sao Paulo picked up a badly needed 1-0 win over Vitoria. Dagoberto dribble drive into the box gave him just enough space to get off a rifle shot. This shot found the bull’s eye. Top shelf right in the 73^rd minute for the only marker of the match.

Corinthians and Avai tied zero-zero.

Gremio blasted Cruzeiro 4-1.

Atletico-MG and Coritiba tied two all.

Goias just got by Santo Andre 2-1.

Atletico-PR defeated Fluminense 2-1.

Palmeiras sits a top the Campeonato with 34 points. Atletico –MG is second with 31 points and Goias is third with 29 points.

Internacional drops to fourth place with 27.

Corinthians is fifth with 25.

There is a logjam of four teams with 24 points. Gremio, Vitoria, Sao Paulo, and Flamengo.    

Fluminense falls to dead last with 11 points. Nautico is next to last with 12 points.

Sport and Atletico-PR are the other two teams in danger of getting the heave hoe.

www.palau.org

http://www2.hillsong.com/tv/home.asp

It was another one of those lazy Saturday mornings. My wife and I stayed in bed until about eight. That’s late for us. Usually I’m up before the crack of dawn. This little voice whispered to me,  “Turn on the TV.” I did.

Arsenal was battling Atletico- Madrid on GOL TV.

Both teams were racing up and down the pitch. From my perch, Arsenal had the upper hand. The Gunners were on the attack throughout the match. Arsenal had at least ten good scoring opportunities yet they came away empty until the final eight minutes of the match. Then all offensive hell broke loose. On a great tick-tack-doe, passing attack Arsenal ripped the back of the net in the 86^th minute. Andrey Arshavin one timer off a great feed from Cesc Fabregas gave the Gunners 1-0 lead.

One minute later, the Gunner  “D” took a siesta. Atletico-Madrid Pacheco slipped through and scored an easy walk in goal to tie this baby up at one all.

A tie seemed like the end result but hold on to your horses. Not on this day Arshavin found the back of the net in waning moments of the match to give Arsenal a much needed 2-1 victory over Atletico-Madrid.

Andrey Arshavin hit an impossible shot. He stole the ball on a dumb defensive mistake by the Atletico defense. Arshavin dribbled the ball. He fell and was sliding on his butt towards end line. While sliding, he lifted the ball around the post. The ball somehow went in. This was truly a miracle shot.

For my money, Arsenal should have won this match 5-1. The Gunners left many wasted scoring opportunities on the pitch.

When I see Arsenal playing, I keep thinking about the 1997 movie Fever Pitch staring Colin Firth. His whole life was built around Arsenal futebol. He meets a girl and his life begins to unravel. I loved the scene when Arsenal was about to win their biggest match. He couldn’t watch the winning goal on TV.

I know how he feels. I am the same way when my Eagles play the Dallas Cowboys. I can’t watch the game. I get too crazy. My wife tells me to grow up. I can’t that’s how I am.      

Botafogo has been struggling all season. They are currently in fifteenth place in the Campeonato de Brasil. Gremio-Barueri is sitting in eight spot. Botafogo opened up the scoring in the 37^th minute. Andre Lima knocked home the rebound off a missed header to make 1-0.

A great pass into the box set up this goal. Oliveira’s head flick hit the Gremio keeper Rene dead in the hands. The rebound came out and that was an easy gimmie for Lima. 

Gremio-Barueri found the equalizer in the 45^th minute. Marcio Careca rifled home a clear open shot to tie it up at one all.  Everton had a great dribble drive up the left sideline. He juked left and went right. Everton drove along the left goal line. This forced the Botafogo “D” to committed three players to stop his drive. When that happened Everton flicked a perfect pass to teammate Careca who fired home the open winner.   

This is what happens when a team drives to the goal. Better yet in hoops terms, he takes it to the rack. This is too bad for all you futebol purest who hate this. Tough do-do.   

Andre Lima twisted and turned at the top of the box until he broke free to score the match winner in the 91^st minute to give Botafogo a 2-1 win over Gremio-Barueri.

It sure looked like Gremio-Barueri would have at least one point but Lima drove a stake through that.

This is a big three points for Botafogo.

Palmeiras defeated Sport 1-0.

Palmeiras sits a top the table with 34 points.

www.palau.org

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