Sport Defeats Sete de Setembro

Sete de Setembro reminds me of the 1994 Canadian team that almost (depending on your definition of “almost”) qualified for the World Cup finals. That team had Craig Forrest, the greatest goalkeeper to ever put on gloves, and a dwarf named Alex Bunbury (seriously, he was like 4’6” and lightning fast by Honduran standards). There was also a defender named Frank Yallop and some guy named Catliff, but neither of them matter, and the other guys who wore the Canadian uniform didn’t matter, either. Craig Forrest routinely faced 35 shots per game, stopping 32 with ease. His goal kicks frequently came to rest in the opposing goalkeeper’s arms after one bounce. Every so often he would miskick a goal kick and the ball wouldn’t go quite so far, and Alex Bunbury would run under it have a chance. And every so often he would convert one of those chances. And so sometimes Canada would beat Honduras 2-1, and lose 3-1 to Mexico, and Canada came three points and 12 goals away from qualifying for the 1994 World Cup finals.

Sete de Setembro is like that. Raul Mondragon is quite a goalie, apparently. He can only beat himself when he plays against Sport. Last year he played like a man possessed and Sport could only tie 1-1 in Garanhuns. Sport won 2-0 in Recife, but only Mondragon kept Sport from scoring five. He had no defense in front of him, and his Alex Bunbury was a midfielder named Juninho, who is 22, skinny, and balding, and now plays for Sport. Juninho was good, and Sete de Setembro finished the state championship with both nostrils wet, but above the water. This year’s Alex Bunbury is Nêgo Pai and that is Sete de Setembro’s problem.

20,011 people showed up to watch Paulo Baier make his first appearance for Sport. Maybe that number should be an even 20,000 – there were a few people in the Sete de Setembro section, and they were probably more interested in seeing Nêgo Pai. Sport played 45 minutes of listless, inspiration-free soccer. Mondragon made a few impressive stops, because that’s what he does, and Jonas did his best Sidny impression and now we all know why Internacional had to force Sport to take him. The right fullback position is a gaping hole in Sport’s team right now, and Sport must take action to fill it. Neither Sidny (who spent the game on the bench, considering whether he really wants to continue stealing money from soccer teams) nor Jonas is capable of playing fullback for a team in the Série A. At halftime Nelsinho removed Jonas, moved Igor to right fullback, and put César in Igor’s spot. Igor proved himself a far more capable fullback than either Sidny or Jonas, which was a relief, but he is too slow to play the position except in emergency situations. Unfortunately, it looks like Sport has an emergency situation on its hands.

Paulo Baier showed why his signing was greeted with such celebration, showing a vision and touch that Sport hasn’t had in recent years. As he becomes accustomed to playing with his new teammates his influence on the field will grow, and Sport will be a formidable team. And when Daniel Paulista is freed to play (there are bureaucratic delays in Romania, apparently) and takes Hamilton’s spot, Sport’s midfield will be a thing of beauty. Sandro Goiano was angrier today than he has usually been since leaving Grêmio for Sport, and that can only be a good thing. An angry Sandro Goiano is a frightening thing (and a friendly, polite Sandro Goiano would probably still frighten my mother, just to give you an idea of how frightening the man is) and when he looks like he’s about to lose control, tear off someone’s arm and eat the raw meat right off the bone, well, his team tends to play a little harder. Everyone wants Sandro Goiano on their team, if only so that they don’t have to play against him.

Ciro had a reasonable game, but didn’t make a difference. He scored one goal that was annulled (he did look like he was offside) and took two or three good shots that went over the crossbar. Wilson isn’t up to the task of being Ciro’s partner, so he left at halftime and Luciano Henrique moved up from midfield, and Fumagalli entered in Luciano Henrique’s place. Fumagalli had a good game, his best of the four games Sport has played this year. Luciano Henrique scored the game’s only goal, but it might as well have been credited to Mondragon, who appeared to have stopped the shot, only for the ball to dribble out between his hands and in to the goal. To remove all doubt, and because a goal isn’t really a goal unless the net bulges, Ciro thumped the ball into the corner of the net and ran off celebrating wildly.

Sport lacked the precision that the supporters have come to expect. Dutra’s touch abandoned him toward the end of the game, Durval made several uncharacteristic mistakes (including volleying in the direction of the moon when he received a corner in front of an open goal), and while Hamilton played well on defense he seemed more interested in giving the ball back to Sete de Setembro than he did in giving it to his teammates.

Nothing to be worried about – the team has played one bad game so far (I think, since I didn’t actually see the game against Salgueiro. Apart from a few brilliant passes from Paulo Baier, a few flashes from Ciro (that all ended up with the ball in the stands), and César’s bicycle kick – miraculously saved by Mondragon – the game was a boring affair. The crowd was quiet, and no one responded when someone behind me tried to start the crowd chanting (after the game, which may have accounted for the lack of enthusiasm). That incident showed how listless and jaded the supporters have been since the Copa do Brasil last year. The games in the Série B in 2006 were raucous affairs, everyone singing and shouting all game long, but since Sport’s return to the Série A things have been subdued. For now I think we should blame it all on Nêgo Pai’s macumba and stay optimistic for Sunday’s game against Porto.