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?

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

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.