17 JUNE 2001

CORINTHIANS 1: Ewerthon 75
GRÊMIO 3: Marinho 43, Zinho 47, Marcelinho 87
(Grêmio wins the title 5x3 on aggregate)

Showing a lot of courage and determination, Grêmio surprised favourites
Corinthians and won the title of the Brazilian Cup, thus securing a berth in
next year's Libertadores Cup.

Knowing that a goalless draw favoured the home team, Grêmio pushed forward
right from the start. They created all the decent scoring chances of the first
half, but their forwards showed some nervousness when they had to finish the
plays. In the 43rd minute, though, Grêmio finally opened the scoring. After a
corner kick, Marinho rose all alone inside the five-yard box and headed the
ball into the net. Early in the second half, the visitors doubled their lead,
thanks to a defensive lapse by Scheidt, who childishly lost the ball to
Marcelinho. The Grêmio forward then passed the ball to Zinho, who easily
dribbled the goalkeeper before scoring. Needing two goals, Corinthians pressed
forward, but Grêmio was very dangerous on counter-attacks. In the 75th
minute, the home side brought some hope to their fans: Ewerthon made a
nice play and scored with a precise low shot from 10 yards out. From that point
on, Corinthians threw everything they got at Grêmio, who hang themselves
anyway they could. In the 84th minute, Gil appeared to have been brought
down inside the Grêmio box, but referee Antônio Pereira da Silva did not
award Corinthians a penalty (it's impossible to say if he was right or not).
Three minutes later, Grêmio sealed the title thanks to a goal by Marcelinho,
who capped off a nice passing play.

Grêmio is the biggest Brazilian Cup winner, with 4 titles. In the 13-year
existence of the competition, the team from Porto Alegre has reached the
final 7 times.

Red Card: Scheidt (Corinthians)


10 JUNE 2001

GRÊMIO 2 : Luís Mário 64, 69
CORINTHIANS 2 : Marcelinho 28, Muller 51

Corinthians got a draw and two away goals, which could be considered a good
result, if wasn't for the fact that the Timão at one point led the match
2x0. The team from São Paulo opened the scoring in the 28th minute.
Marcelinho shot from 30 yards out and the ball deflected in the head of a
defender, taking goalkeeper Danrlei out of the play. Grêmio pressed forward
in the rest of the first half, but couldn't score. Six minutes after the
break, Corinthians extended its lead: Marcelinho made a nice play down the
left side and flicked the ball to Muller, who showed superb control to
dribble past a defender and fire an unstoppable shot past Danrlei. But the
home side didn't give up, and in the 64th minute they pulled one back.
Marinho got the ball inside the box, the Corinthians defenders attempted to
clear, but the ball ended up with Luís Mário, who found himself all alone in
front of the goal and scored. Five minutes later, Luís Mário struck again.
he robbed the ball from Otacílio and fired a long-range shot. It seemed an
easy save for Maurício, but the Corinthians keeper let the ball slip in.
Corinthians are favourites to win the Cup, but there's still a lot to play
for in the second leg.


Tomaz R. Alves
tomaz@trivela.com
http://trivela.com