Sport Ends the Season With a Win

It was ugly. In fact, it looked a lot like two amateur teams playing to see who would buy the beer after the game. Sport won 4-3 (see the goals here), but maybe Sport's second (and it was a messy goal) and fourth goals, and Coritiba's third, were the kind of goals you expect to see in a first division game. The others just showed that none of the players took the game seriously.

In particular, Sport's third goal was one of the worst of the season. It was so ugly, so improbable, such a complete failure on the part of Coritiba's goalie, that it didn't even feel right to celebrate. Sport suffered more from a few bad players than from a bad group, but Coritiba didn't look at all like the team that played so well all year.

Cléber was an important part of the Santa Cruz team that finished second in the Série B in 2005, but he isn't the same goalie today. He doesn't play with confidence, and while it's difficult to blame him for Coritiba's goals, I can't honestly say that he had a good game. He looks slow and somehow soft.

Marcelo Goiano looked like the player I expected him to be against Atlético Mineiro. He had a couple of nice moments in the first half, but overall looked slow and not at all committed to the cause. On the right side, Sidny looked like a man who does not want to play for Sport in 2009. He was directly responsible for Coritiba's first two goals. He did pass the ball to Wilson for Sport's third, but that was such an embarrassingly bad goal that he gets no credit for it -- if Coritiba's goalie had been interested in the game then it wouldn't have been a goal. At least he managed to get the ball to his own team on throw-ins, something he couldn't do against Atlético Mineiro, but that's a small comfort. Goodbye, Sidny.

César and Durval were okay. Durval erred on Coritiba's first goal, but scored the best goal of the game to put Sport ahead for good. Andrade was another player who showed more interest in leaving than in playing. He was terrible. He wasn't responsible for any goals, but he made too many mistakes, and if he stays with Sport it will certainly be as a backup. Junior Maranhão was fine, as always. Not spectacular, but competent. A part of the supporters will never accept him, because he once played for Santa Cruz, but he has been a good player for Sport for a year and a half now. He'll be a fine player to have on the bench for the Libertadores.

Moacir was played out of position today, as a more offensive midfielder instead of his normal segundo volante position. He made the pass to Wilson for Sport's first goal, although it is debatable whether or not he meant to pass or shoot. He was competent, no more. Juninho came on for him at the start of the second half and played the way we have come to expect -- almost very good, but ultimately not very effective. Juninho is fast, hustles, dribbles well, and almost passes very well. He is young, and hopefully he'll get a lot of chances in next year's Campeonato Pernambucano. Kássio had a decent game. He hustled a little more than usual, which is a good sign. He has gotten much better over the course of the year, and next year should be an important part of the team.

Ciro didn't have the best of games. He didn't play poorly, but he got a bad red card early in the second half. He made an ill-advised challenge, and the referee (who had previously ignored far worse fouls) gave him a straight red card. The greater part of the blame lies with the inconsistent referee than with Ciro, but it was an unnecessary tackle and all that Ciro can do is learn to play with more control. When he stops trying to do everything and plays more within the flow of the game he will be a very good forward. Wilson scored three goals without playing well. He is not a good forward and Sport needs, desperately, to sign better forwards for next year.

I'm very happy to see the season end. Sport never had a realistic chance of winning the Brasileirão, and never had to worry about relegation. The last five months, since winning the Copa do Brasil, have been alternatingly frustrating and boring. When Sport won it was usually without playing very well, and when Sport lost it was through lack of effort and concentration. The team is capable of playing very well, but without any motivation they were just going through the motions for the majority of the season. Next year should see an improved team, and hopefully that will mean much improved performances.