Fútbolita

• There was a time… when Farmer Fred was an incredibly promising striker for the selecao. Now, all we’re left with are memories!!! Isto e triste, but at least Hulk’s around these days. Anyway, speaking of Fred, he helped his home side Fluminense to a nice 3-0 victory over Sport last night. Poor Sport, their beauty queen won the title ‘Musa Brasileirao’ this year but their performances on the field have been dismal.
• Sao Paulo was handed a 3-2 defeat in the hands of Botafogo despite goals from Washington and Jorge Wagner. What’s happening tricolor?! They’re supposed to be formidable… or maybe not. Botafogo were the ones who needed it more to prevent themselves from being relegated. “Next week, we will have a tough match. However, enthusiasm will carry on and will help us to keep from the risk of being lowered into the second division,” said their coach Estevam Soares.
• So Adriano had too much barbecued chicken and wasn’t able to help Flamengo in their goaless draw at the Maracana. They wasted their chance to go top of the table (desculpe, the Lords of KFC were at work). Anyway, Kleberson thinks they still have a good chance. “We haven’t lost anything yet, we had to win our last three matches, we didn’t manage that, but we still managed to get one point closer to Sao Paulo,” he declared. In other words, he means “your drumsticks will not work against Adriano”

via Reuters, Globo

Palmeiras-Corinthians will forever always remind us of that louco Brazilian film, Romeo and Juliet Get Married where the characters come from a family of opposing hardcore supporters. They would’ve loved result in yesterday’s 2-2 draw! Ronaldo Lima scored a double for the Timao while Danilo and Maurício did the favour for Palmeiras. All the goals came in the first half.

In the other game, Nilmar’s former team, Internacional, were unable to pull off a victory against Botafogo. They were down 0-1 in the second minute when Juninho struck for the visiting side. However, Inter still think they can win the Championship.

“It’s no use trying to make excuses. We do not play well. We conceded a goal early. We had a lot of pressure from the fans. We have to recognize that everyone fought to the end to try to break even and turn the game,” said coach Mário Sérgio. Well, at least their fans know how to turn the heat up…literally!

Photos via UOL and Reuters

• Botafogo’s fans made a banner teasing Fluminense’s injured striker, Fred in their 0-0 home draw yesterday. The striker has been suffering muscular problems in his thigh and hasn’t played a single match since July 23rd. The banner read : “Hey Vilma, where’s Fred?”.
• He may not have scored against Chile last Wednesday (it was Nilmar’s day, pessoas!) but Adriano scored twice on Saturday to lead Flamengo to a 3-0 victory over Sport Recife at the Maracana. Ok, we’ll stop with the barbecue jokes for now. It’s only fair! (Watch the goals below)
• Palmeiras fell to a 3-2 defeat away to Vitoria at the Barradao stadium, but still remain as the league leaders with 44 points.
• Thankfully, Sao Paulo defeated Avaí 2-0 with goals from Dagoberto and Hugo. Yes, the tricolor are back to winning ways and are now level on 43 points with Internacional.

via Gettyimages

Oh… you can always count on the Corinthians fans to go all out every week! By that, we mean carrying black balloons and body slamming amidst the sticky crowd. Wouldn’t you like to be there, futbolitas?

Anyway, the Timão fought to a 3-3 draw against Botafogo yesterday and it seemed like the referee left his brains at home.  There was an apparent hand ball in a Botafogo goal and Corinthians had a dodgy penalty ruled in favour of them. Dentinho scored a double for Corinthians while Andre Lima’s handball was allowed.

In another match, Palmeiras defeated Internacional 2-1 thanks to the brilliant Diego Souza. Unfortunately, it’s a sad day because Sao Paulo lost their second spot place to Goais after their loss to Atletico Paranaense. This ends our seven-match winning streak. Damn!!!

• Unfortunately Brasileirao’s reigning top scorer, Adriano hasn’t been living up to his name. Instead, the king of churrascarias wasted his chances during Gremio’s 4-1 drubbing of Flamengo yesterday. Goals from Perea, Réver and a double from Jonas chalked up three points for the Gaúchos, who’re now in a better position to secure a spot in the Libertadores. Sorry, Ana…now you can’t make those tricolor jokes at me!
  
• Speaking of Sao Paulo, they’ve extended their winning streak to six games after a 2-1 win over Sport thanks to goals from Washington and Hugggoooooo.
  
• Palmeiras battled to a 1-1 draw against Botafogo who were the first to score in the 23rd minute. Lucio Flavio fed the ball to Andre Lima who blasted it beautifully into the net. [Watch the video below!]
  
• Corinthians, who’re still without the injured Ronaldo, defeated Atletico Mineiro 2-0 at the Pacaembu stadium to end their five-match winless streak. The four-time national champions have not won a game since their 2-1 result against Vitoria on July 23.

Brazilian side Botafogo are experiencing problems that European teams rarely hear or know of. The club is having serious financial difficulties that have led to the delay in paying  the wages of their players. Globo reported that at the end of 2007 Botafogo had total debts of $106.1 million (or R$209.7 million).

This year, Botafogo find themselves unmotivated and playing without purpose in the last round of the Campeonato Brasileiro. Existing problems do not make their match against Palmeiras on Sunday any easier. And you’d think that they’d be down in the dumps with no zero postivity. In reality, it’s quite the opposite with coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo citing the team’s determination to show that things can turn around for the club in 2009.

“We need wins to qualify for the Copa Libertadores,” explain Luxemburgo. “For us, the game of the year is this Sunday. Everyone is saying that players will come into the game with the mindset that they don’t have any responsibilities, which will make it more difficult. But that is not true.”

Ideally, the team had wanted to win the championship title at home. “We failed, but the chance to play in the Copa Libertadores is also very important. It is possible for us to return to the elite of South American football – part of our plans for next season,” added Luxemburgo.

We think that it is extremely sad to see a team like Botafogo struggling to stay afloat. After all, you’d be tempted to think that a rich history is enough to pull them through. For a squad that boasts former greats like Leonidas da Silva, Didi and Garrincha, surely they should be doing a lot better.

Andre Luiz of Brazil’s Botafogo takes the yellow card from the referee during their Copa Sudamericana  match against Argentina’s Estudiantes. The game ended in a 2-2 draw with the Argentinian side advancing to the semifinals. Predictably, the yellow card turned to red a few minutes later and Luiz was given his marching orders. No surprise, there!