Sport takes on Santa Cruz, at Santa, in a game that could decide the first stage's champion. Sport has a five point lead on Santa Cruz with three games remaining (including today's). A Sport win will guarantee the championship for Sport, any other result will leave Santa with an outside chance. Over 40,000 are expected to be at the stadium to watch the game.
Santa Cruz is still learning how to play together, and when the players do know one another they will probably be a good team by Série D standards. They have no business beating Sport, but games like this are always unpredictable.
Sidny will, again, not dress for Sport. Neither will Jonas, who has also been unimpressive in his best moments. Paulo Baier will play on the right side, and Sport will switch to a 3-5-2 to allow him to play more offensively than he would in a 4-4-2. He has played well in midfield, not yet dominating games, but looking better than any Sport midfielder had in years. Now on the right side he may have less influence on the game. Santa Cruz, however, has its own Sidny in the left fullback Juca, so the move to right fullback may be a wise move on Nelsinho's part. Ciro will start on the bench, with Weldon starting in his place.
domingo, 8 de fevereiro de 2009
terça-feira, 3 de fevereiro de 2009
A Word on the Lovers' Classic and the State Championship
The Lovers' Classic was a decent game between two works in progress. Santa Cruz created a few more chances, but the game was even and fairly well played. It was certainly more interesting than Sport's easy win the day before. Náutico is putting together a team that will, when it is finally in place, be vastly superior to last year's edition, and Santa Cruz has a proven goalscorer in Marcelo Ramos -- and he alone should guarantee a better showing for Santa in this year's inaugural Série D than last year's Série C debacle.
Since Sport won the Campeonato Pernambucano* in 2006 the championship has lacked emotion. That year Sport and Santa were evenly matched, but the following two years Sport outclassed the competition (a good case can be made that the opposition simply rolled over for a mediocre Sport, at least in 2007) and won with ease. This year is different.
Sport has all but won the first stage (the Constitutionalist Revolution of 1817 Trophy). If Santa Cruz can beat Sport in Sunday's Clássico das Multidões (Classic of the Multitudes) then Santa will be two points behind Sport and will still need to win the remaining games while hoping that Sport loses to Náutico (O Clássico dos Clássicos -- the Classic of the Classics) in the last game of the first stage. That is an unlikely outcome, but Santa can still hope. The second stage promises to be the most interesting two months since 2006. Náutico and Santa will both have more settled teams while the clearly superior Sport will be focused on the Copa Libertadores. Two weeks before the championship catches fire.
*It has become fashionable for states in the south to refer to their championships with the -ão suffix now that "Brasileirão" has become the name of the Série A (and I always wondered if that mean that the Série B was the "Brasileiro" and the Série C the "Brasileirinho"). The Campeonato Paulista is the Paulistão, the Campeonato Carioca is the Cariocão, and the Campeonato Gaúcho is the Gauchão. So what can we call the Campeonato Pernambucano? The Pernambucanão? Not so good -- anão is Portuguese for dwarf. The Pernambucão? Cão is Portuguese for dog, which makes the Cariocão kind of funny, too. The Pernambucanozão? That's just ridiculous. I think the FPF should advertise the Campeonato Pernambucano with a slogan like "The Campeonato Pernambucano: It's too damn good to nickname."
Since Sport won the Campeonato Pernambucano* in 2006 the championship has lacked emotion. That year Sport and Santa were evenly matched, but the following two years Sport outclassed the competition (a good case can be made that the opposition simply rolled over for a mediocre Sport, at least in 2007) and won with ease. This year is different.
Sport has all but won the first stage (the Constitutionalist Revolution of 1817 Trophy). If Santa Cruz can beat Sport in Sunday's Clássico das Multidões (Classic of the Multitudes) then Santa will be two points behind Sport and will still need to win the remaining games while hoping that Sport loses to Náutico (O Clássico dos Clássicos -- the Classic of the Classics) in the last game of the first stage. That is an unlikely outcome, but Santa can still hope. The second stage promises to be the most interesting two months since 2006. Náutico and Santa will both have more settled teams while the clearly superior Sport will be focused on the Copa Libertadores. Two weeks before the championship catches fire.
*It has become fashionable for states in the south to refer to their championships with the -ão suffix now that "Brasileirão" has become the name of the Série A (and I always wondered if that mean that the Série B was the "Brasileiro" and the Série C the "Brasileirinho"). The Campeonato Paulista is the Paulistão, the Campeonato Carioca is the Cariocão, and the Campeonato Gaúcho is the Gauchão. So what can we call the Campeonato Pernambucano? The Pernambucanão? Not so good -- anão is Portuguese for dwarf. The Pernambucão? Cão is Portuguese for dog, which makes the Cariocão kind of funny, too. The Pernambucanozão? That's just ridiculous. I think the FPF should advertise the Campeonato Pernambucano with a slogan like "The Campeonato Pernambucano: It's too damn good to nickname."
sábado, 31 de janeiro de 2009
Sport Does the Expected, Sidny Does, Too
Sport defeated Petrolina 3-1 (the "1" in that scoreline is embarrassing) this afternoon, and Sidny was easily the worst player in the stadium. Weldon entered at halftime, taking Guto's place, and scored twice. Durval scored a third time before uncharacteristically lackadaisical defending allowed Petrolina to score a consolation goal (and I hope it keeps them warm tonight).
The first half was somewhat interesting, with Petrolina defending and Sport passing the ball well but without much effect. Sidny completed, at most, 10% of his passes, defended poorly, and saw the referee receive applause when he received a yellow card. Once again, Nelsinho took him out at halftime. Igor moved over to right back and the team switched from a 3-5-2 to a 4-4-2 as Fumagalli entered. Igor was, again, vastly superior to Sidny. When César got hurt, Jonas came on and underscored Igor's quality, as Igor moved back to central defense and played as well as ever.
Sport put a lot more pressure on Petrolina in the second half, Fumagalli and Paulo Baier played well together in midfield, and Weldon showed that he really wants a big money move. The result was never in question, so the scoreless first half wasn't frustrating and the goals in the second half weren't cause for elation. Sport did put some nice moves together in the second half, but they didn't result in any goals. It is possible to see Paulo Baier fitting in with his teammates, and if the team had a professional football player to play right full-back then Sport would really be something. Right now, thanks to Sidny and Jonas, Sport isn't quite something (which doesn't mean Sport is nothing, which goes to show the limitations of these binary terms). Even without being something, Sport has all but won the first stage of the state championship, and any result but a Santa Cruz victory in tomorrow's Lovers' Classic will clear the path for Sport. So sleep easy tonight, Sport fans, the Constitutionalist Revolution of 1817 Trophy will almost surely remain in Sport's hands.
The first half was somewhat interesting, with Petrolina defending and Sport passing the ball well but without much effect. Sidny completed, at most, 10% of his passes, defended poorly, and saw the referee receive applause when he received a yellow card. Once again, Nelsinho took him out at halftime. Igor moved over to right back and the team switched from a 3-5-2 to a 4-4-2 as Fumagalli entered. Igor was, again, vastly superior to Sidny. When César got hurt, Jonas came on and underscored Igor's quality, as Igor moved back to central defense and played as well as ever.
Sport put a lot more pressure on Petrolina in the second half, Fumagalli and Paulo Baier played well together in midfield, and Weldon showed that he really wants a big money move. The result was never in question, so the scoreless first half wasn't frustrating and the goals in the second half weren't cause for elation. Sport did put some nice moves together in the second half, but they didn't result in any goals. It is possible to see Paulo Baier fitting in with his teammates, and if the team had a professional football player to play right full-back then Sport would really be something. Right now, thanks to Sidny and Jonas, Sport isn't quite something (which doesn't mean Sport is nothing, which goes to show the limitations of these binary terms). Even without being something, Sport has all but won the first stage of the state championship, and any result but a Santa Cruz victory in tomorrow's Lovers' Classic will clear the path for Sport. So sleep easy tonight, Sport fans, the Constitutionalist Revolution of 1817 Trophy will almost surely remain in Sport's hands.
Sport Will Defeat Petrolina Today
This afternoon Sport will host Petrolina (three points from six games), currently locked in a heated battle for last place with Vitória (two points from six games). The outcome of the game is not in doubt, only the final score could surprise. Petrolina is not the sort of team that you can write much about.
Weldon will be on the bench, where he belongs, for this game. Sport's lineup will be the same as it has been for the last two games, which unfortunately means that Sidny will get to run around wearing the same clothing as the professional football players. Most likely the crowd will spend the first half shouting abuse at him, at halftime he will be replaced by Jonas, and the crowd will spend the second half saying things like "he's bad, but at least he isn't Sidny."
Tomorrow Santa Cruz plays Náutico in the Stadium of the Afflicted (not a translation error), because afflicted is what you are when Náutico is your team. Santa Cruz is still three points behind Sport, Náutico six. Should that game end in anything but a Santa Cruz victory, Sport will have one hand on the Constitutionalist Revolution of 1817 Trophy (also not a translation error).
Weldon will be on the bench, where he belongs, for this game. Sport's lineup will be the same as it has been for the last two games, which unfortunately means that Sidny will get to run around wearing the same clothing as the professional football players. Most likely the crowd will spend the first half shouting abuse at him, at halftime he will be replaced by Jonas, and the crowd will spend the second half saying things like "he's bad, but at least he isn't Sidny."
Tomorrow Santa Cruz plays Náutico in the Stadium of the Afflicted (not a translation error), because afflicted is what you are when Náutico is your team. Santa Cruz is still three points behind Sport, Náutico six. Should that game end in anything but a Santa Cruz victory, Sport will have one hand on the Constitutionalist Revolution of 1817 Trophy (also not a translation error).
quinta-feira, 29 de janeiro de 2009
Sport Signed a Fullback
Yay!
He plays on the left, where he will be Dutra's backup. What?!
Bruno Teles has left Grêmio for a year-long loan with Sport. This is important, as Sport had nobody at all (not even a promising youngster, apparently) to play if Dutra (who is almost as old as the Campeonato Brasileiro) were to get hurt. So this is good news.
The problem with this good news is that it still doesn't solve the huge problem known as Sidny.
He plays on the left, where he will be Dutra's backup. What?!
Bruno Teles has left Grêmio for a year-long loan with Sport. This is important, as Sport had nobody at all (not even a promising youngster, apparently) to play if Dutra (who is almost as old as the Campeonato Brasileiro) were to get hurt. So this is good news.
The problem with this good news is that it still doesn't solve the huge problem known as Sidny.
quarta-feira, 28 de janeiro de 2009
Mustache-less Ypiranga Is No Match For The Mighty Sport
Ypiranga misses Ademir Müller's mustache, and whatever it was that Jorge Guerra (a marginally talented left-fullback who spent time on loan with Sport and Santa Cruz, and at Sport gained a bizarre cult hero status) gave them. Their goalie is named Jedai (if the Portuguese phonetic spelling throws you off, think about Ioda) and that is pretty funny, but funny doesn't win ballgames.
Ciro scored two, and so did Guto, Assis scored for Ypiranga, and I didn't see any of the goals because only Santa Cruz-Cabense was televised.
Santa Cruz and Cabense are two good bad teams (if that makes any sense) and they played a spirited game. Santa Cruz may yet play well this year, but they aren't playing well right now. The players don't seem to know where their teammates are, and they are made up of Sport castoffs (Gustavo, Sandro, and Bilica). Cabense looked like a team of bad players drilled to perfection. They couldn't finish their moves, but they passed the ball around well and the players made good runs to open spaces for the attack. According to wikipedia (which is never wrong) Cabense's manager is one Rogério Zimmerman. Whatever his name is, he did a good job tonight. One further note -- Cabense used to be known as Distilaria Esporte Clube (translate that one on your own), a name infinitely superior to Associação Desportiva Cabense.
Santa Cruz didn't have a sponsor on the front of their jerseys, except for goalie André Zuba, which made me wonder if he had given up on his team and negotiated his own sponsorship deal in which all of the money (other than his manager's 10%, of course) went to him. It was only during the post-match interviews that I noticed (How much attention do you expect me to pay to a game between teams like Santa and Cabense?) that Santa's field players did in fact have "Grupo Saúde" on the backs of their shirts, spread unobtrusively across their shoulders. When I was little my parents had separate health insurance policies, and I was covered by both, so sometimes I went to one doctor and sometimes I went to another. One of the insurance companies was "Group Health" (at least that's what my parents called it), "Grupo Sáude" in Portuguese, but I was a little kid and I called it "Grue Pelth" and was embarrassingly old before I realized what the company's real name was. But that is neither here nor there.
Náutico gave up a late goal to the one and only Nêgo Pai to tie Sete de Setembro 1-1 in Garanhuns and fall six points behind Sport. Náutico is putting together a decent team this year, but the pieces are falling into place too late to challenge for the first stage of the Campeonato Pernambucano.
Someone scored against Sport for the first time this year, but that's okay. It was going to happen eventually, and it's better that it wasn't Náutico or Santa that did it, because their supporters would have been insufferable going on an on about it. It would have been funny, though, if the first goal scored against Sport had come during, say, a 3-1 victory over Náutico. Náutico fans would have talked about it for a week as if their team had won.
Sunday Sport plays at home against Petrolina (currently battling Vitória for last place), so I'll be able to see the game and write a more credible match report.
Ciro scored two, and so did Guto, Assis scored for Ypiranga, and I didn't see any of the goals because only Santa Cruz-Cabense was televised.
Santa Cruz and Cabense are two good bad teams (if that makes any sense) and they played a spirited game. Santa Cruz may yet play well this year, but they aren't playing well right now. The players don't seem to know where their teammates are, and they are made up of Sport castoffs (Gustavo, Sandro, and Bilica). Cabense looked like a team of bad players drilled to perfection. They couldn't finish their moves, but they passed the ball around well and the players made good runs to open spaces for the attack. According to wikipedia (which is never wrong) Cabense's manager is one Rogério Zimmerman. Whatever his name is, he did a good job tonight. One further note -- Cabense used to be known as Distilaria Esporte Clube (translate that one on your own), a name infinitely superior to Associação Desportiva Cabense.
Santa Cruz didn't have a sponsor on the front of their jerseys, except for goalie André Zuba, which made me wonder if he had given up on his team and negotiated his own sponsorship deal in which all of the money (other than his manager's 10%, of course) went to him. It was only during the post-match interviews that I noticed (How much attention do you expect me to pay to a game between teams like Santa and Cabense?) that Santa's field players did in fact have "Grupo Saúde" on the backs of their shirts, spread unobtrusively across their shoulders. When I was little my parents had separate health insurance policies, and I was covered by both, so sometimes I went to one doctor and sometimes I went to another. One of the insurance companies was "Group Health" (at least that's what my parents called it), "Grupo Sáude" in Portuguese, but I was a little kid and I called it "Grue Pelth" and was embarrassingly old before I realized what the company's real name was. But that is neither here nor there.
Náutico gave up a late goal to the one and only Nêgo Pai to tie Sete de Setembro 1-1 in Garanhuns and fall six points behind Sport. Náutico is putting together a decent team this year, but the pieces are falling into place too late to challenge for the first stage of the Campeonato Pernambucano.
Someone scored against Sport for the first time this year, but that's okay. It was going to happen eventually, and it's better that it wasn't Náutico or Santa that did it, because their supporters would have been insufferable going on an on about it. It would have been funny, though, if the first goal scored against Sport had come during, say, a 3-1 victory over Náutico. Náutico fans would have talked about it for a week as if their team had won.
Sunday Sport plays at home against Petrolina (currently battling Vitória for last place), so I'll be able to see the game and write a more credible match report.
Sport Takes on Ypiranga
I wish I could write a smart, funny preview of this game, but I can't. Sport will field the same team as Sunday. Sport will probably achieve the same result. Sidny will still suck. That's about all there is to say.
Ypiranga looked like a team with potential a year or two ago. The team from Santa Cruz do Capibaribe gave the big teams a lot of trouble, but couldn't turn that into any measure of success in the Série C. Last year Ypiranga didn't even qualify for the Série C. They had a manager with a nice mustache, Ademir Müller, but he's gone.
The game won't be on TV, and that's probably for the best.
Ypiranga looked like a team with potential a year or two ago. The team from Santa Cruz do Capibaribe gave the big teams a lot of trouble, but couldn't turn that into any measure of success in the Série C. Last year Ypiranga didn't even qualify for the Série C. They had a manager with a nice mustache, Ademir Müller, but he's gone.
The game won't be on TV, and that's probably for the best.
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