After three months of largely uninteresting state league football mixed in with some Copa Libertadores fun, Brazil’s national league, the Brasileirão, makes its much anticipated return this weekend. Things are much different now than they were last December when the 2015 campaign concluded. Then, Corinthians were the deserved champions and looking like the best side in the recent history of South American football. Now, Timão has seen so many of the players that made that […]
With the slog that is the Brazilian state leagues finally behind us, the eyes of the country turn to the Brasileirão. The are story-lines aplenty, with Flamengo looking to return to relevance on the pitch, a heavily weakened Corinthians seeking to win back to back titles, and plenty of teams looking likely to make a run at the title. With those in mind, let’s take a look at the best and worst case scenarios of […]
An absorbing Copa Libertadores group phase has rattled by in a flash of power cuts, on field brawls, red cards, centre halves in goal, and matches played at severe altitude or in the middle of the Andean desert. Occasionally some football broke out too. Four of the five Brazilian clubs have progressed to the knockout rounds, with Copa do Brasil winners Palmeiras narrowly missing out. How did the Brazilian clubs fare? Who awaits them in […]
The football world’s shortest off-season comes to an end this weekend, when Brazilian clubs return to competitive action with the start of the local state leagues. Just 55 days after Corinthians were crowned Brasileirão champions, the landscape of Brazilian football is vastly different than it was on December 6th. Corinthians have seen their side raided, with players leaving to both China and Europe, while others have invested wisely, including an influx of talented Argentine players […]
“I want to return to the Seleção, that’s my aim. It (the squad) will be announced on Thursday, and I deserve to be in the national team. I am the best Brazilian striker, I don’t see anyone better. I can be there, I can help teammates, either as false nine, on the left, on the right, but it’s Dunga’s decision.” So said Alexandre Pato, shortly before Dunga announced his squad for World Cup qualifiers against […]
This preview of the 2015 Brazilian season was written by Anthony Wood (@FRfutebolAnt) and Luke Butler (@FRfutebolLuke), who are Brazilian football experts for the football data and analysis company, Football Radar. After a few long and arduous months of state championship football, the 2015 edition of Brazil’s premier league competition, the Brasileirão, kicks off this weekend. The league has seen eleven different teams crowned champions over the past two decades and this season looks set to be as competitive and unpredictable […]
Corinthians, São Paulo, Internacional, Atlético Mineiro and Cruzeiro all emerged from the group phase of the Copa Libertadores unscathed. Some qualified with greater ease than others, Tite’s Corinthians consummately sailed through the ‘group of death.’ In contrast, Galo, who really ought to fit their supporters with pacemakers as standard, qualified by the skin of their teeth. The main obstacle to a Brazilian club snafuing this year’s Libertadores comes mainly from Argentina, specifically Boca Juniors, […]
The Copa Libertadores group stages start this week and the five Brazilian clubs taking part will look to improve on the country’s rather dismal showing in 2014. There were no Brazilian clubs in the last four, which, given Brazil’s economic supremacy over their South American brethren, represents a severe underperformance. As a paradigm, that’s the rough equivalent of all Premier League and La Liga teams striking out of the Champions League before the semi-final stage. […]
A few weeks ago, Arsene Wenger opined that South America was the world’s citadel for top class strikers. With the likes of Luis Suarez, Sergio Aguero, Alexis Sanchez, Diego Costa, Radamel Falcao, Edinson Cavani and, if you want to stretch the definition of ‘striker’ a little, Lionel Messi setting a benchmark for forward play in recent years, Europe’s cupboard looks comparatively bare. Wenger elaborated: “Maybe it’s because in Europe street football has gone. In street […]
Another season of one of the most competitive leagues in world football has come to an end. Although they weren’t as convincing this campaign, last year’s champions Cruzeiro have successfully retained their crown, which speaks volumes about the difference in quality between the Belo Horizonte club and the other teams in the league. Even if Cruzeiro don’t rise to their normal standards they don’t have much to worry as the other so-called title contenders (São […]