Internacional gets important win

Not even the fact that the team played without most of its regulars seemed to matter for Internacional on Sunday. The team still played well and managed an important 2-0 win over Palmeiras at the Beira Rio Stadium in Porto Alegre to reach 6 points and the lead atop the standings in the 2009 Brazilian Serie A. Danny Morais and D’Alessandro scored for the locals in front of close to 30,000 fans, happy to see the second win in as many games. Inter decided to rest some of its regulars due to the second leg of its quarterfinal matchup against Flamengo, for the Brazilian Cup, scheduled for Wednesday.

Vitoria also has six points in two games, after beating Sport 1-0 at home, in front of just 4,500 people. Maybe fans will start believing in the team after these first wins to start the championship and show up in larger numbers in the next home game?

Speaking of few fans, only 2,500 hundred cared enough to see Barueri host Fluminense. In this case, however, it seems that the people who stayed home knew better, as both teams played out a boring scoreless draw.

It seems that the Brazilian Serie A will finally have a new champion this year, after three-time defending champion Sao Paulo remains winless after a couple of games. This time around, the team could only savage a point in a 2-2 home tie against Atletico Paranaense. Decimated by injuries to regular players and poor performances by other key members of the team, Sao Paulo just hopes to get things going again before having to face Cruzeiro next week in the Copa Libertadores quarterfinal.

Cruzeiro, by the way, went to Recife and lost 2-0 to Nautico. Santos built a 2-0 lead over Goias at home but ended up surrendering a 3-3 tie in a very entertaining game. Botafogo and Corinthians also created quite a few scoring chances, but had to settle to a 0-0 draw at the Engenhao in Rio de Janeiro.

Coritiba scored first but ended up losing 4-2 to Santo Andre at home, while Flamengo could not score and drew Avai at home, 0-0. Finally, Gremio went to Belo Horizonte and lost to Atletico Mineiro 2-1, in a personal revenge for coach Celso Roth against the team that had fired him earlier this year. Atletico's winning goal came in injury time of the second half, on a controversial penalty kick.

Defending champions lose in debut of 2009 Serie A

The 2009 Brazilian Serie A had its first round this weekend, with ten matches. Sao Paulo, which won the last three national titles, lost 1-0 in its debut, an away game at the Maracana Stadium, in Rio de Janeiro, against Fluminense. Mauricio scored a nice goal a few minutes into the game to give the locals the win. The champions still created some chances to tie the game - which would have been a fair result -, but without success.

Meanwhile, defending Sao Paulo State champions Corinthians decided to side a team with many reserves in its home game against Internacional at the Pacaembu Stadium, and ended up paying the price with a 1-0 loss, in a marvellous goal by Nilmar. He rode past several defenders before putting the ball into the net, to the joy of the colorado fans.

Newcomers Santo Andre tied Botafogo 1-1 at home, in front of just under 2,000 people. One would think the first game in the Brazilian Serie A, against a traditional Brazilian team, would attract more fans than that. Goiania also had a pitiful attendance, with just 2,500 people witnessing the 3-3 draw between locals Goias and Nautico, which came back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game.

Cruzeiro scored a good 2-0 win at home over Flamengo at the Mineirao Stadium in Belo Horizonte, while Vitoria scored the same 2-0 at home over Atletico Paranaense in Salvador.

Gremio attracted 40,000 fans in Porto Alegre, but could not go beyond a 1-1 draw with Santos. Palmeiras came from behind to defeat Coritiba 2-1 at home , while Barueri had a good first game in a 1-1 away draw with Sport, in Recife. Finally, Avai could not hold on to a 2-0 lead and ended up tying Atletico Mineiro 2-2 at home, thanks to two goals in just over five minutes by Atletico, in the final 20 minutes of the game.

Two more ties for Brazilian teams in the Libertadores

Gremio Porto Alegre made its 2009 Libertadores debut on Wednesday, but could not get beyond a scoreless draw against Universidade de Chile at home. The locals dominated a game they could have easily won by 3 or 4 goals, losing several scoring opportunities and complaining about some poor refereeing (two penalties should have been awarded, as well as a goal which was badly waved off). Meanwhile, Cruzeiro went to Ecuador and tied Deportivo Quito 1-1. The Brazilians could also have won the match, but are still happy with one away point - as long as they are able to beat the same opponents when they play each other again in Brazil.

All in all, Brazilian teams have not yet been great in this year's tournament, but they haven't been completely terrible either. Some, like Sport, have managed great results playing solidly (though not marvellously). It's still early, and from what they have shown so far, all the five teams have a chance to advance to the second round.

The importance of music and football in South America

The BBC's Tim Vickery has a good view on the importance of music and football in South American's lives. During this time of the year, when Carnaval is celebrated in Brazil, this becomes especially the case for fans in the entire country, but particularly in Rio and Bahia, where the passion for both art forms is rampant.

Speaking of Carnaval and soccer, this Saturday traditional side Flamengo lost 3-1 to humble Resende at the Maracana Stadium, in the semifinal of the Rio de Janeiro's State Championship first round. As people in Brazil would say, the team 'has danced', that is to say, it has lost - being eliminated from the first round in the process.

In Sao Paulo, the state's most important teams - Palmeiras, Corinthians, Sao Paulo and Santos - now lead the table in that order, midway through the first stage of the tournament. The top four teams qualify for the semifinals, with the first placed team playing the fourth and the second playing the third. The winners of the semifinals play for the title, which will happen in April.