With ten games, the Brazilian First Division kicked off for a new season this Saturday. Rio de Janeiro State champions Botafogo hosted Sao Paulo State champions Santos in a very entertaining 3-3 tie. Also on saturday, Gremio went to Goiania and held Atletico GO to a scoreless draw, thanks in great part to goalkeeper Vitor.

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.

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.

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).

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.

Brazilian teams had their first games in the 2009 Copa Libertadores this week.
Palmeiras, which is playing strongly at home in the Paulista championship, had trouble while visiting defending champions LDU Quito, losing 3-2. Walter Calderon had two goals for the locals, with Willians getting the other.

Here's a closer look at the results from the first round of the 2008 Brazilian Serie A.
In a tough match, with Sao Paulo playing without some key players in order to rest for the midweek match against Fluminense for the Libertadores quarter-finals, Gremio scored a lone goal at the start of the second half to escape with a 1-0 away win and extend Celso Roth's command atop the squad from Porto Alegre.

Here are this weekend's results, for the first round of the 2008 Brazilian Serie A. Two-time defending champions Sao Paulo played with a reserve squad and lost at home to Gremio, 1-0. Newcomers Ipatinga also lost by the minimum score at home, to Atletico Paranaense. Cruzeiro recovered from the midweek loss at home to Boca Juniors, going to Salvador to defeat Vitoria - coming back to the First Division - by a 2-0 score.

Here are the ten games that open the 2008 Brazilian Serie A. Three are on Saturday, the rest on Sunday:
SATURDAY
Sao Paulo-Gremio
Nautico-Goias
Vitoria-Cruzeiro
SUNDAY
Ipatinga-Atletico Paranaense
Coritiba-Palmeiras
Internacional-Vasco
Botafogo-Sport
Atletico Mineiro-Fluminense
Flamengo-Santos
Portuguesa-Figueirense

With most State Championships now over, it's time for soccer in Brazil to concentrate back to its most important tournament, the National Serie A.
Will two-time defending champion Sao Paulo manage a third consecutive championship? Will Palmeiras continue its strong play that rewarded the team with its first State championship this decade?

And so the 2007 Brazilian Serie A championship came to an end on Sunday, with Sao Paulo repeating as champions and winning its fifth ever National title. The team coached by Muricy Ramalho had been crowned four games before the end of the season, and tied once and lost twice in its three last games - including a 2-1 away defeat to Atletico Paranaense on Sunday.

After this weekend's games, only one Libertadores spot remains open for Brazilian teams in 2008. This year's Brazilian Serie A champions, Sao Paulo, had already qualified alongside Fluminense, Brazilian Cup champions. Flamengo also guaranteed its place in the continental competition with a 2-0 win over Atletico Paranaense at the Maracana Stadium in Rio.

Sorry about the disappearance over the last couple of months. Lots of changes in my offline life, and not as much time as I'd have liked to keep the blog updated. I might have to change the style of the blog over the next while, with shorter entries and not that much info in regards to upcoming games, but at least I'll try to show up more regularly.

Flamengo beat Cruzeiro 3-1 on Wednesday at the Maracana Stadium, in a match that had been postponed from the 16th round of the Brazilian Serie A soccer league. The result not only helped Flamengo move a little bit further away from the relegation zone, but also prevented Cruzeiro from closing the gap to league leaders Sao Paulo. With the loss, the team from Belo Horizonte remains with 45 points, nine less than Sao Paulo, with 54.

After a couple of losses to Mexico, Brazil finally restablished the normal state of affairs with a 3-1 win in a friendly match between the two teams in Boston on Wednesday. The last loss to the Mexicans had happened in June, when Brazil opened its campaign at the Copa America with a 2-0 defeat. The team would come back to win the title. Mexico had also won the previous matchup between the two countries, in 2005, also by a 2-0 score.