BRAZILIAN CUP - SEMI-FINALS - DRAW
CORINTHIANS x PONTE PRETA
GRÊMIO x CORITIBA
23 MAY 2001
ATLÉTICO PARANAENSE 0
CORINTHIANS 1 : Éwerthon 51
(Corinthians wins 1x0 on aggregate)
As expected, it was Atlético that made most of the attacking. But Corinthians'
defence was well assembled, and the home side had few clear-cut chances.
Early in the second half, the 'Timão' took the lead, against the run of play.
Cléber went down the left side, dribbled Alessandro and crossed to Éwerthon,
who rose all alone to head the ball home. The final 40 minutes were back
against the wall for Corinthians, but their defence managed to withstand the
pressure. In injury time, Atlético scored a goal, but the referee correctly
disallowed it.
22 MAY 2001
FLAMENGO 1 : Edílson 35
CORITIBA 1 : Alan 72
(Coritiba wins 4x3 on aggregate)
Flamengo started the match pressuring their opponents, but was unable to
create scoring chances. In the 35th minute, before a corner kick for the
home side, referee Alfredo Loebeling awarded Flamengo a penalty kick,
although there was no perceivable infraction, excepting the usual pushing
and shoving. Edílson stepped up and converted the spot kick. After the
break, it was Coritiba that pressed forward, while the home side did
everything they could to run down the clock. In the 72nd minute, the
visitors were rewarded, when Alan put them ahead on aggregate, deflecting
home a cross by Ânderson. In the final minutes, Flamengo desperately tried
to score, but to no avail.
SÃO PAULO FC 3 : França 30, 41, Alexandre 68
GRÊMIO 4 : Marcelinho 27, 54, 57, Zinho 84
(Grêmio wins 6x4 on aggregate)
São Paulo FC coach Oswaldo Alvarez was sacked the day after this defeat. He
has been in the job for just 4 months, but the board felt that the results
of the team were unacceptable. I don't know what they expected, since their
squad was assembled with kids and there was no money to buy players. The
name of this match was Marcelinho, who scored a hat trick before being sent
off by the referee. Remember that Marcelinho played for São Paulo FC last
season, but the board sold him to Olympique Marseille, which loaned him to
Grêmio. The match was very entertaining, and Grêmio was always in
command. There were two penalties, one for each side, both converted.
São Paulo FC never gave up fighting, but never looked like avoiding
elimination.
Red card : Marcelinho (Grêmio)
PONTE PRETA 5 : Washington 17, 23, 34, 68, Régis 50
FORTALEZA 2 : Claudinho 52, Júnior Amorim 81
(Ponte Preta wins 5x3 on aggregate)
Ponte Preta wasted no time to reverse their handicap against Fortaleza,
thanks to Washington (who is the top scorer of the Brazilian Cup, with 11
goals). It took just 34 minutes for the striker to complete a hat trick,
giving the home side a comfortable cushion over Fortaleza. In the 50th
minute, Régis made it 4x0 to Ponte Preta. The visitors tried to come back
into the match with a goal in the 52nd minute, but Washington's fourth goal
in the 68th minute sealed the deal.
Red Card : Júnior Amorim (Fortaleza)
17 MAY 2001
CORINTHIANS 0
ATLÉTICO PARANAENSE 0
This match had a particularity: it was played at 3:00 PM, because of a
government resolution that prohibits football matches at night, in order to
save energy (Brazil is going through a terrible energy crisis). From now on,
all football matches in Brazil, excepting those in the southern region, will
be played in the afternoon. Corinthians owned the early exchanges, wasting
many scoring chances in the first 20 minutes. But everything changed after
Marcelinho was sent off, for deliberately kicking an opponent. After that,
scoring chances became something rare. The only noteworthy play came in
the 79th minute, when Corinthians was awarded a penalty, which was wasted
by Ricardinho.
Red Card : Marcelinho (Corinthians)
16 MAY 2001
CORITIBA 3 : Evair 32, Mabília 58, Messias 90
FLAMENGO 2 : Rocha 6, 40
Flamengo had a good start, opening the scoring in the sixth minute, in a
set-up play, with Ronaldo rolling the ball to Beto, who sent a rocket, which
was parried by the goalkeeper, allowing Rocha to score on the rebound. But
Coritiba managed to tie the match in the 32nd minute, with Evair. Flamengo
took the lead again in the 40th minute: Rocha made a nice passing play with
Roma and shot the ball over the out-rushing goalkeeper. In the second half,
Coritiba once again tied the match, with Mabília scoring from close range
after a cross by Juliano. That seemed to be the final result, but in injury
time Coritiba managed to score an important goal, with Messias heading home
after a corner kick.
GRÊMIO 2 : Warley 9, Marinho 83
SÃO PAULO FC 1 : França 15
The home side opened the scoring in the ninth minute: Zinho took a free
kick, Rogério Ceni made the save but the ball fell straight to Warley, who
easily poked it home. São Paulo FC tied the match in the 15th minute,
against the run of play: Reginaldo Araújo crossed from the right side and
França headed the ball into the net. Grêmio created all the good chances of
the second half, but Rogério Ceni stopped them with a string of great saves.
Seven minutes from time, the home side finally managed to score, with
Marinho poking the ball home after a scramble inside the box.
FORTALEZA 1 : Clodoaldo 81
PONTE PRETA 0
Fortaleza got an important victory, beating Ponte Preta without conceding
any away goals. During this match, the home side made all the attacking, and
Ponte relied on luck and their goalkeeper to hold on to the result. The
match seemed to be heading to a goalless draw, when Fortaleza scored their
goal: a free kick by the home team deflected on a defender, and the ball
ended up with Clodoaldo, who scored with a precise shot. Ponte Preta pressed
forward in the final minutes, and even managed to score a goal, but the
referee correctly disallowed it.
Tomaz R. Alves
tomaz@trivela.com
http://trivela.com
ROSARIO CENTRAL (Argentina) 1-0 AMERICA CALI (Colombia)
Rosario finds themselves in trouble with only a minimum margin to defend in
the away game in Cali. The goal came through forward PIZZI, of 'memorable'
passage in the Spanish NT, in an impressive and surprising long distance
shot, after an amazing backheel assist.
My updated dds for qualifying : America 50-50
VASCO (Brazil) 0-1 BOCA JUNIORS (Argentina)
One might say that Vasco spent all their stamina, adrenaline and huevos in
their last Sunday match against eternal local rivals Flamengo - they won 2-1
with one player less.
Too bad for them, because Boca was completely focused and willing.
The most vibrant moment of the game happened when the speakers
announced that Coritiba had just scored against Flamengo...
Boca's midfield controlled the flow of the game with their passing game -
without the ball and the counter-attacking opportunities all Vasco's
notorious pace was worthless.
In the second half, in one of goalie HELTON's trade mark corner blunders
(as I told you!!!), GUILLERMO SCHELLOTO punished the Cariocas for their
fickleness.
So let's wait for the second match. ROMARIO will likely return - and with
him on field, at least Vasco will not lack huevos in the Bombonera.
My odds : Boca 70-30
RIVER PLATE (Argentina) 0-0 CRUZ AZUL (Mexico)
With striker MARTIN CARDETTI suspended and play-maker ARIEL ORTEGA half
injured, River Plate did not come even close of beating Cruz Azul in the
Monumental de Nunez. Cruz Azul seems destined to be the first Mexican team
to reach a Libertadores final.
My odds : Cruz Azul 60-40
PALMEIRAS (Brazil) 3-3 CRUZEIRO (Brazil)
I told you that that was must-see TV for anyone with the slight interest for
soccer!
That was a roller coaster! A hat trick by Palmeiras' LOPES, a trade mark
huge goal by GEOVANNI, a curly free kick goal by JORGE WAGNER. Want
more?
LOPES scored the first as CRIS, perhaps practicing to be a Barcelona
defender, missed a bicicle kick inside his own box.
Afer an early red card by Palmeiras' butcher MAGRAO, Cruzeiro took control
and scored twice in 2 minutes: OSEAS assisted NENEM who blasted goalie
MARCOS, OSEAS tapped in the rebound.
GEOVANNI in his trade mark 'run and shoot' style, a great goal despite
Palmeiras' defenders having left the field to grab some beers at that moment.
Then, LOPES evens out the game for the first time. In the best Rivaldo
style, he turned heavy defender LUISAO inside out and finished with
perfection with his supposedly blind left foot.
Just to add some spice to the mixture, former Bahia player JORGE WAGNER
curls a perfect left-footed free kick over the human wall and away from
self-important goalie MARCOS MANCHESTER.
And the Man of the Match brought Palmeiras back to the game in the 91st
minute!. LOPES once again did the 'Rivaldo thing' - do you remember
Rivaldo's goal against Argentina in the Copa America, when he passed
forward the ball to Ronaldo and Ronaldo just prepared the ball for his shoot?
Just replace TUTA for Ronaldo and LOPES for Rivaldo. Awesome!
It is still wide open! Granted that 3-3 away is a great score, but Palmeiras
showed that their loose combination of talented players can pull up any
result - all they need is to have 2 of their stars in a good day at the same
time. LOPES is already Libertadores top scorer with 8 goals, ALEX can wake
up at any moment and there is still FELIPE and MUNOZ to pull neat tricks. It
is also worthy mentioning that Cruzeiro's star player, GEOVANNI earned
himself a red card and is out of second match in Belo Horizonte...
My odds : Cruzeiro 65-35
Bordon
bordon_is_gone@hotmail.com
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