Brazilian league structure how does this leauge work, they start in january and play each team twice and the top 8 are in a playoff? or is it some other way? by the way, is corinthians or flamengo in it this year, and who won last year?
The next Campeonato Brasileiro 2004 starts at the end of April. It used to be played sort of like you mentioned, but the last championship which ended about a week or so ago was played differently. It was like the Spanish one where the team with the most points won. Here is the final standing. 1-Cruzeiro 100 2-Santos 87 3-São Paulo 78 4-São Caetano 74 5-Coritiba 73 6-Internacional 72 7-Atlético-MG 72 8-Flamengo 66 9-Goiás 65 10-Paraná 65 11-Figueirense 65 12-Atlético-PR 61 13-Guarani 61 14-Criciúma 60 15-Corinthians 59 16-Vitória 56 17-Vasco 54 18-Juventude 53 19-Fluminense 52 20-Grêmio 50 21-Ponte Preta 50 22-Paysandu 49 23-Fortaleza 49 24-Bahia 46 This year's last two teams will now go on to 2nd Division and Palmeiras and Botafogo which were the top two there will come back to 1st division.
i noticed a lot of the teams are not consistent on how they do year after year, would u say santos is one of the most consistent and are always contenders?
Actually no. I don't think its a matter of consistency but more of a fact that there are very good players throughout most teams, making it very challenging every year. Unlike in Argentina for instance where 2 teams (River Plate and Boca Juniors) have dominated, in Brasil the winners are much more spread out. (Note that I am only talking from 1971 onwards which is when the Brazilian Championship officially began) Here is an breakdown: 22 teams have reached the final 17 teams have won it 5 teams have never won Club Winner Runner up Flamengo 5 0 Palmeiras 4 2 Vasco 4 2 Sao Paulo 3 5 Corinthians 3 3 Inter 3 2 Gremio 2 1 Santos 1 3 Cruzeiro 1 3 Atletico - MG 1 3 Botafogo 1 2 Guarani 1 2 Fluminense 1 0 Bahia 1 0 Atletico - PR 1 0 Sport 1 0 Coritiba 1 0 Sao Caetano 0 2 Bangu 0 1 Vitoria 0 1 Portuguesa 0 1 Bragantino 0 1
Is there only a single season a year or are there two like in most Central American countries? What are the other competitions and/or cups? Thanks for the info.
The national campeonato usually goes from late March until early December, with everyone playing a home and away. The soccer starts in late January with the state championships, which is more of an open competition amongst teams from several divisions in each state. There used to be regional championships as well but CBF has quit favoring them recently, though some still occur. Not all teams choose to participate. There is also the Copa do Brasil (like the FA Cup, US Open or any other open cup competition). This is usually the 1st and 2nd division teams and goes from Feb - June or so. In the past there was a copa dos campeoes, where all the champions of the various tourneys would play. Someone else could give you a better update on what the status with that is. This tourney was Paysandu's ticket to the Libertadores last year. And yes, there is the Libertadores for the top 4-5 teams every year. Whew...There is tons of soccer and less the two months of a break for most teams. I think there are some older threads tucked away that explain this in better detail as well. I've really enjoyed following the Brazilian league. Yes, it's disappointing when guys like KaKa get pulled out in the middle of the season (yet, he wasn't doing so well here before going to Milan) and the overall raping of the league. There is a lot of parity (and parody) and it makes for a good following. As far as Santos goes, they have just returned in recent years as a power. They have had several down years since Pele departed.
Santos.... booooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!! Vasco.... booooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!! but I do feel sort of bad for Bahia so sory for the tough year. even with Kaka though for Sao Paulo i do not think they could have won it because he did not lay as good with Sao Paulo as it looks like he is playing with Milan. sometimes i think that the year is too too too long. I remember maybe two years ago with the Joao Havelenge cup where there were something like games one after the other. a team would play one game then play the next day. it was so so stupid. but for a fan that is addicted i guess it is the perfect drug. but now it is like trmp has just said. there is not the big break anymore for club seasons there is always something to see with football in Brasil teams. also remember that for brasil man summer months are now and coming when in US, Europe it is winter. tough to play (for me at least) in 150% humidity. okay that is exageration. 145%.
who's league do u think is better (ARGENTINA O BRAZIL) in terms of: attendances? cometetiveness? (i think that's a word) and out of curiosity, in either of those leagues, would u find the country's good players playing in or would they be in europe already?
I can't say about attendances - the 2003 league average was about 14.000 fan per game, which is pretty low, comparing to major leagues - but I can tell you: Brazilian Championship is undoubtedly the most competitive football tournament in the world. Every year, there's always 4 or 5 teams with real chances to win the title, maybe more - and the candidates to crown rarely are the same each year. I imagine that the Argentinian League (both 'Torneio Clausura' and 'Apertura', which consists in two tournaments of one shift only) should have historically better attendences. But I'm not sure. And yes, there's still good/excellent players acting in Brazil, mainly because the renovation capacity of brazilian football is unparalleled; however, these players are often negociated with european clubs as soon as they're 'discovered' by there.
i would agree that no other country comes close to producing the soccer talent that brazil does. both in quantity and quality. i think that if brazil's selecao was afforded more time to prepare for competitions they would be absolutely unbeatable. it would be brazil on top every world cup. -- buddachile
Quest for knowledge i don't know anyting bout the brazilian soccer league. could someone tell me a few things about it, importantly when does it start? and everyone needs a team to root for, so if i follow it who should i be a fan of?
**threads merged** You don't need to start a new thread for basically the same topic. Threads merged.
flamengo suck historically, flamengo is one of the principal teams in brazil. But lately, in the last 3 years, it has been a crappy team, almost went to the second division last year, and in 2003 league didn´t even went to libertadores cup. Nowadays, the best teams in brazil are: Cruzeiro Santos São Paulo The rest is rest But as said, every year the brazilian teams change and new candidates for titles appear. The 5 biggest teams in brazil, in order, are: 1- Flamengo 2- Corinthians 3- São Paulo 4- Palmeiras 5- Vasco da Gama