The Campeonato Pernambucano Begins

If your team is any good, you only have one month off in Brazil. Sport had one month between games, and it seemed like forever. I got through the time alright, it wasn’t fun but it wasn’t the prison sentence it always seems like when the Brasileirão ends, but when I went back to the stadium to watch the first game this year it seemed like I hadn’t been there in ages. I spent the first fifteen minutes of the game getting used to the feeling and trying to follow the game. I don’t think I even watched a game on tv in that month, so it wasn’t like the perspective from the stands wasn’t the normal one, but somehow it was strange and I needed fifteen minutes to get back into the groove and understand what I was doing there.

13,000 people, which seemed like an empty stadium, braved the sun to watch Sport beat Vitória 4-0 on January 10. The team was almost unchanged from that which ended the Brasileirão a month earlier. Sidny, in particular, played exactly as he had played in December. Vitória didn’t provide any resistance, and Sport didn’t play particularly well, but got the job done. Ciro won a penalty and then scored two, and every time he takes the field he looks better than he did last time.

The absence of beer has become a sad normality in Brazilian stadia, and the poor organization of Sport’s event staff has long been the norm. Last year, before the ban on alcohol sales in stadia, it was normal for the beer to run out before the game ended, and sometimes in the first half. What was not normal was for water and soda to sell out before the game ended, or in the case of this game, before halftime. This represents an inexcusable lack of planning by, and loss of income for, the club, but it also represents a legal hazard. In the tropical summer, under the afternoon sun, water is a necessity. One angry parent, whose child got sick in the sun could sue the team and cause all manner of problems. Sure, there are ambulances and doctors to provide first aid, but offering that as a solution to problems caused by the heat and sun is like W claiming that all Americans have access to health care because they can go to the emergency room.

The following Wednesday night Sport beat Salgueiro, Pernambuco’s sole representative in this year’s Sèrie C, 2-0 in Salgueiro. The game wasn’t televised, but reports say that Guto, on loan from Internacional, changed the game when he entered in the second half. Ciro scored Sport’s first goal.

On January 18 Sport played Serrano in Recife. An improved, but still anemic, 17,000 people attended the game. Sport played better, although Sidny still did his part to hurt the cause, and won 3-0. Luciano Henrique scored the first, minutes after entering the game, Ciro scored the second, and Sando Goiano dribbled past the goalie to score the third. Sidny was substituted at halftime, and Jonas made his first appearance in Sidny’s place. Jonas wasn’t as bad as Sidny, but he didn’t look close to the quality that Sport needs. Guto also entered in the second half and looked tired. Lúcio Surubim, a former Náutico player turned analyst for Globo Nordeste, said after the game that Sidny needs to decide whether or not he wants to continue to be a professional soccer player. Sidny really has been just that bad lately.

Daniel Paulista signed a three-year contract last year, once again guaranteeing that Sport (playing two of Daniel Paulista, Hamilton, and Sandro Goiano) will again have one of the two or three best volante pairs in Brazil. Paulo Baier will make his first appearance tonight against Sete de Setembro.