LIST OF CHAMPIONS
REGIONAL COMPETITIONS
RIO - SÃO PAULO TOURNAMENT
CHAMPION : Palmeiras
RUNNER-UP : Vasco
SOUTH - MINAS TOURNAMENT
CHAMPION : América Mineiro
RUNNER-UP : Cruzeiro
SÃO PAULO STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
CHAMPION : São Paulo FC
RUNNER-UP : Santos
RIO DE JANEIRO STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
CHAMPION : Flamengo
RUNNER-UP : Vasco
MINAS GERAIS STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
CHAMPION : Atlético Mineiro
RUNNER-UP : Cruzeiro
RIO GRANDE DO SUL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
CHAMPION : Caxias
RUNNER-UP : Grêmio
NATIONAL COMPETITIONS
BRAZILIAN CUP
CHAMPION : Cruzeiro
RUNNER-UP : São Paulo FC
CHAMPIONS' CUP
CHAMPION : Palmeiras
RUNNER-UP : Sport
BRAZILIAN CHAMPIONSHIP (JOÃO HAVELANGE CUP)
CHAMPION : ?
RUNNER-UP : ?
A reunion of the 'Clube dos 13' directors next week will decide the fate of
the competition. There are three possibilities :
1. São Caetano are declared champions - the rules of the tournament clearly
say that in case of interruption of a match, the team responsible for such
interruption should be considered losers. In that case, São Caetano would
win the second leg of the final and the tournament.
2. The title is split between both clubs - it's very likely that the 'Clube
dos 13' choose a politic solution, that doesn't discontent neither side.
I think this the most probable outcome.
3. A new match is scheduled - after all the ridiculous scenes at São Januário
(when Vasco proclaimed themselves Brazilian Champions), Vasco now
pleads for a new match. It's very unlikely, since the players of both teams
are already on vacations.
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS
LIBERTADORES CUP
CHAMPION : Boca Juniors (ARGENTINA)
RUNNER-UP : Palmeiras
MERCOSUR CUP
CHAMPION : Vasco
RUNNER-UP : Palmeiras
QUALIFIED FOR THE NEXT LIBERTADORES CUP
CRUZEIRO
PALMEIRAS
VASCO
SÃO CAETANO
TOP 5 BRAZILIAN TEAMS OF 2000
1. VASCO (52 pts)
2. PALMEIRAS (50 pts)
3. CRUZEIRO (26 pts)
4. SÃO CAETANO (20 pts)
-. SÃO PAULO FC (20 pts)
This top 5 ranking is not official. In fact, it was created by me, awarding
points for the champions and runner-ups of all the half-decent competitions
of 2000 (the amount of points changes according to the importance and
tradition of the tournament). I also awarded five bonus points to the teams
that qualified for the Libertadores Cup.
Here's a brief summary of the achievements of the top 5 :
1. VASCO
Vasco showed why they are known as 'the kings of the runner-ups'. They
finished second in the Rio-SP tournament, Rio de Janeiro state championship,
the FIFA World Club Championship and (probably) in the Brazilian
Championship. Their only title was the Mercosur Cup, where they made a
fantastic comeback in the decisive game, which they were losing 3x0 at
halftime and came back to win 4x3.
2. PALMEIRAS
This year, they had three different coaches, and got to finals with all of them.
Commanded by Luiz Felipe Scolari, Palmeiras won the Rio-SP tournament
and was runner-up of the Libertadores. With caretaker coach Murtosa, they
won the Champions' Cup (thus assuring their berth in the next Libertadores).
And with Marco Aurélio, they were runner-ups of the Mercosur Cup, in spite
of having their squad thorn apart in July (the only half-decent players left
from the squad that played in the Libertadores final were Galeano and
goalkeeper Marcos, who got injured and didn't play in the second semester).
3. CRUZEIRO
They were the most consistent team of the year. Although they don't have a
great squad, Cruzeiro is well balanced. All their finals were in the first
semester (South-Minas, Minas Gerais State Championship and Brazilian Cup),
when Marco Aurélio coached them. In July, Luiz Felipe Scolari took over, and
they managed a good performance in the João Havelange Cup (they had the
best record in the first stage). I think Cruzeiro is the Brazilian team with
better chances of achieving success in the next Libertadores Cup.
4. SÃO CAETANO
The 'Cinderella' of 2000. In the first semester, they won the second
division of the São Paulo State Championship (thus gaining promotion to the
first division of that competition). In the second part of the year, they
qualified from the yellow group (a.k.a. second division) to the playoffs of
the João Havelange Cup and came all the way to the final, where they were
stopped by the São Januário disaster.
Interesting fact : the São Caetano football club was created just 11 years
ago!
4. SÃO PAULO FC
The 'Tricolor' had a great first semester, where they played beautiful
football, driven by great performances by França, Raí, goalkeeper Rogério
and a very competent supporting cast. São Paulo surely played the most
attractive football on the year, taking them to the São Paulo State
Championship title and the Brazilian Cup final. But then Raí retired, França
forgot how to play football and the board sold all the other good players of
the team for peanuts. Predictably, they had just an average campaign at the
Brazilian Championship, which cost Levir Culpi's job.
Tomaz R. Alves
tomaz@trivela.com
http://trivela.com
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