James Nalton

Editor and owner of The Botafogo Star. Author of Brazilian football column Sambafoot Sunday, and freelance football writer for various publications. Follow on Twitter

May 052013
 
Neymar Could Join Barcelona

Multiple sources, including Brazil’s Sport newspaper, are reporting that Neymar will be joining Barcelona this summer – much earlier than was originally thought. It has long been touted that the Brazil’s most coveted wonderkid will be waiting until after the 2014 World Cup, for which Brazil are the hosts, before making his high profile move to Europe. There have also been several rumours from Spain that Barcelona have taken out considerable player insurance policies, which […]

May 032013
 
Botafogo Stars in Brazil Toulon Tournament Squad

Three of Botafogo’s future stars have been selected for the Brazil squad to play in the 2013 Toulon Tournament. Centre back Doria, midfielder Gabriel, and promising young striker Vitinho will all get chances to impress in the yellow shirt as they travel to France for the annual youth tournament. The Brazilian youth side will be hoping to improve on a miserable performance in the South American U20 Cup, in which they were eliminated at the group stages. Brazil […]

Apr 212013
 
Jefferson Retains Place in Brazil Squad

Jefferson has retained his place in the Brazil squad for the second of two games where only home based players have been selected. The Botafogo goalkeeper was called up for the first game against Bolivia and played the full 90 minutes. He was accompanied on this occasion by his young team mate Doria who managed to get a few minutes at the end of the game – coming on for Dede in the 87th minute […]

Apr 172013
 
Dede to Sign for Cruzeiro

As the headlines in Europe read “Dede Snubs Chelsea/Milan/Man United/Liverpool” (delete as appropriate depending on the locality of the reporter), the Brazilian press are revelling in a big money move within their own league rather than away from it. As is commonplace in Brazil and South America the deal wasn’t straightforward, and the contract negotiations involved a collection of third parties and the settling of old debts before Vasco da Gama could finally announce that […]

Apr 102013
 
Vitinho - Botafogo Stars of the Future

Vitinho is a promising young forward who has previously impressed at youth level with Botafogo, and is now starting to play himself into the senior team at the age of 19. Having been limited for the last two seasons – first to youth football, and then the odd appearance in the Carioca state championships – this could be the season where Vitinho starts to break through and show his considerable talents on a bigger stage. […]

Apr 032013
 
Jefferson & Doria in Brazil Squad to Face Bolivia

Botafogo stars Jefferson and Doria have been called up to the Brazil national team squad which will face Bolivia on the 6th of April in Santa Cruz. Both players will be hoping to make the best of their appearance in the national squad for different reasons. At the age of 18, Doria will hope to make his debut for the senior national side, having only represented Brazil at U20 level previously. The 30 year old […]

Mar 302013
 
Selecao Update - It’s Not Like Watching Brazil

At least not at the moment anyway. Luis Felipe Scolari is now three games into his second stint as the manager of the Selecao, but he’s yet to convince the legion of Brazil fans around the world that he’s the man to take them to World Cup Glory on home soil in 2014. A disappointing defeat against England at Wembley was followed by a more exciting, but no more satisfactory draw against Italy in Geneva, […]

Mar 292013
 
Seedorf's Sending Off - His Explanation

After his sending off in the game against Madureira last Sunday, Clarence Seedorf appeared in a recent press conference which was transcribed for the official Botafogo website by Danilo Santos. Here’s a link to the article in Portuguese, or read on for a rough translation of what Seedorf said. On his Sending Off “I sleep well and i’m relaxed. It’s like there was a natural disaster with multiple deaths, but it was just an incident […]

Mar 232013
 
2013 Brasileirao Fixtures Announced

Botafogo face a tough start to the 2013 Brasileirao campaign, as they travel to Sao Paulo to face 2011 champions Corinthians in the first game on the 26th of May. The first home game will be against Neymar’s Santos just three days later. The full list of Botafogo fixtures for the 2013 Serie A season is shown below, but is probably subject to change. The break between June the 9th and the 7th of July […]

Mar 122013
 
Botafogo Triumph in Taca Guanabara

Botafogo defeated Vasco da Gama 1-0 to be crowned Taca Guanabara champions on Sunday. A solitary goal from right back Lucas was enough to give Botafogo the win it what was a scrappy game at the Engenhao, but it was Clarence Seedorf who was the centre of attention as the Brazilian media focused on his commanding performance in the Botafogo midfield. Seedorf lead by example and also had some part in the goal, as it was […]