2 AUGUST 2000

FLAMENGO 3 : Camilo 42, Petkovic 64, Athírson 90
GRÊMIO 0

Before the match, Athírson said to a radio station that he didn't want to
play for Flamengo anymore. Because of that, the fans booed him every time he
touched the ball. Even that way, he managed to play a decent match, scoring
a goal in a lucky play. Even playing far from their best, Flamengo was much
better than Grêmio in this match. The team from Rio Grande do Sul was lucky
to hold on to a tie for 42 minutes, until Camilo opened the scoring. In the
second half, Flamengo maintained their dominance, scoring two more goals.

Attendance : 11,477


SANTOS 2 : Dodô 43, Júlio César 70
VITÓRIA 0

Dodô played quite well in this match. He scored Santos' first goal and was a
constant threat to Vitória's goal. Even after the big troubles that he had
at São Paulo FC, he didn't learn to keep his mouth shut : "Corinthians was
interested in me. But Santos didn't accept to swap me for Edílson", he said
(Ha! Ha! Ha!). The recent purchase of Edmundo started a small crisis among
Santos players, that didn't want the 'Animal' in the team, but this
convincing victory eased up the ambient. Vitória tried to play defensibly to
get a tie, but the tactic didn't work, and Santos got a deserved win.


5 AUGUST 2000

ATLÉTICO PARANAENSE 1 : Emerson 42
FLAMENGO 1 : Petkovic 60

Atlético dominated the first half of this match. The home team created many
opportunities and only didn't get on the scoreboard earlier because of some
nice saves by Clemer. Only in the last minutes of the first half Atlético
opened the scoring. After a corner kick, Emerson, unmarked, headed the ball
into the net. In the second half, Flamengo managed to take control of the
match. In the 60th minute, Petkovic headed home after a perfect cross by
Athírson.


FLUMINENSE 2 : César 85, 90
SANTOS 1 : Dodô 20

Santos managed to steal defeat from the clutches of victory on this match. In
the 20th minute, Dodô gave Santos the lead with a delightful backheel
goal. The 'Peixe', even under pressure most of the time, seemed quite
capable of holding on to the one goal lead. But with just five minutes to go
defender César equalised, heading home after a free kick. In the last minute
of regulation, César struck again, in an identical play.


CORINTHIANS 4 : Ewerthon 3, 74, Ricardinho 36, João Carlos 67
GAMA 2 : Betinho 53, Sílvio 70

It took four matches for coach Osvaldo Alvarez to get his first win in
charge of Corinthians. And it came against weak Gama. The first half was
completely dominated by the home team, which could have taken to the break a
much bigger lead. In the second half, there was a minor scare for the
Corinthians' fans when Gama cut their deficit in a penalty kick converted by
Betinho. Just fourteen minutes later, the home team regained their two-goal
lead through João Carlos. Gama tried to fight back, with a goal by Sílvio,
but it clearly was Corinthians' night and Ewerthon scored an insurance goal
just four minutes later.


6 AUGUST 2000

VASCO 3 : Viola 1, 33, Romário 16
CRUZEIRO 3 : Geovanni 36, 50, Oséas 47

This was the best match of the competition so far. It was the encounter of
two rival coaches : Oswaldo Oliveira (formerly at Corinthians; now at Vasco)
and Luiz Felipe Scolari (formerly at Palmeiras; now at Cruzeiro). Vasco
started the match very well and Viola opened the scoring in the first
minute. In the 16th, Romário scored Vasco's second and 17 minutes later
Viola made it 3x0. At this point, the match seemed decided, but Cruzeiro
started a remarkable comeback in the 36th minute, with a free kick goal by
Geovanni. After the break, it was Cruzeiro that dominated the match, and
with two goals in the first five minutes (a rocket by Oséas, and a simple
tap-in by Geovanni) they tied the match. At that point, it seemed that
Cruzeiro would win the game, but it was Vasco's turn to change things
around. The home team created the best chances, but was guilty of some poor
finishing. After all, it was a well-deserved draw for both teams.


GRÊMIO 0
PALMEIRAS 1 : Thiago Mathias 69

Antônio Lopes became the third coach to be sacked since the start of the
João Havelange Cup (remember : the Brazilian Championship started just nine
days ago) after Grêmio lost this match to Palmeiras. It was also the first
victory of coach Marco Aurélio in charge of Palmeiras. The first half was so
bad that it isn't worth mentioning. After the break, Grêmio attacked with
more flair, led by Ronaldo Assis. But things turned around in the 61st
minute, when Roger was sent off. Palmeiras took advantage of that situation
and eight minutes later they scored the only goal of the match. Pena
received the ball on the edge of the box and crossed to Thiago, who headed
home.

Red Card : Roger (Grêmio)


SÃO PAULO FC 2 : Souza 37, França 58
SANTA CRUZ 1 : Róbson 62

São Paulo FC played far from their best, but it was enough to beat an
uninspiring Santa Cruz side. The visiting team enjoyed most of possession in
the first half, but it was São Paulo FC who scored, in what was their first
chance of the match. São Paulo made it 2x0 in their second scoring chance of
the game. Edmílson sent a long ball to França, who just lobbed it with his
head over goalkeeper Washington. Four minutes later, Santa Cruz got a
consolation goal in a strange play. Robson's weak shot hit the crossbar, hit
goalkeeper Rogério and then came back to Robson, which just tapped it in.
Before the end, Santa Cruz had a couple of chances to tie the match, but
they couldn't convert.


CORITIBA 0
BOTAFOGO CARIOCA 2 : Rodrigo 83, Magrão 94

Two mediocre teams met in this mediocre match. There were many scoring
chances, but most of them created because of defensive mistakes rather than
by good plays of the attackers. Túlio, from Botafogo, had three great
chances to open the scoring, but missed them all. The first goal of the
match came only in the 83rd minute, in a weak long range shot by Rodrigo,
that only found the net thanks to an awful blunder by goalkeeper Gilberto.
In injury time, Magrão added an insurance goal for Botafogo.

PORTUGUESA 0
GOIÁS 2 : Dill 3, 16

Dill scored his fourth and fifth goals in the competition, giving Goiás an
unexpected lead of the tournament. This match was Goiás' third in the
Brazilian Championship, while Portuguesa was making their debut (they just
came back from Portugal, where the team played five friendly matches - lost
three and tied two). Goiás dominated the first quarter of hour, when Dill
scored both of his goals. After that, the visiting team just controlled the
ball and wasted as much time as possible, having no problems to contain an
uninspiring Portuguesa side.


BRAZILIAN CHAMPIONSHIP - OTHER RESULTS

2 AUGUST 2000
GAMA 2x1 FLUMINENSE
PONTE PRETA 3x1 AMÉRICA MINEIRO
INTERNACIONAL 0x1 GOIÁS
BAHIA 2x1 ATLÉTICO PARANAENSE
CORITIBA 0x0 SPORT

3 AUGUST 2000
PALMEIRAS 0x0 BOTAFOGO CARIOCA

6 AUGUST 2000
ATLÉTICO MINEIRO 0x0 BAHIA
JUVENTUDE 1x1 PONTE PRETA


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