BRAZILIAN CHAMPIONSHIP - SEMI-FINALS - 2ND LEG

23 DECEMBER 2000

CRUZEIRO 1 : Sorín 42
VASCO 3 : Juninho Pernambucano 32, Euller 68, Romário 93
(Vasco wins 5x3 on aggregate)

A hard-fought victory earned Vasco a place in the finals of the João
Havelange Cup, where they will face surprising São Caetano. Cruzeiro
started better, and created most of the early chances. But it was Vasco
that opened the scoring. The team from Rio had a free kick down de left
side. Instead of crossing the ball, Juninho Pernambucano shot directly to
the net, scoring a pretty goal from a tight angle. Cruzeiro intensified their
pressure and tied the match on the 42nd minute. Sergio Manoel crossed
from the left side to Fabio Júnior, whose shot was well saved by Hélton,
but the rebound fell to Sorín, who promptly headed it in. In the last play
of the first half, Cruzeiro had a golden opportunity to take the lead. After
a scramble in the area, Fabio Junior managed a weak shot. Goalkeeper
Hélton was beaten, but Junior Baiano cleared the ball off the line.
The second half repeated the same story of the first: Cruzeiro created
most of the opportunities, but it was Vasco that scored. Junior Baiano
sent a long ball to Euller, who out-ran defender Cléber and shot with
no chance for goalkeeper Fabiano. Cruzeiro pressed forward, since
they now needed a goal, but Vasco was very dangerous on the
counter-attacks. On the 82nd minute, Romário hit the post, but in
injury time the striker didn't miss : he received the ball in a fast
counter-attack, dribbled the keeper and poked the ball in, sealing
victory for Vasco.

Attendance : 64,800


BRAZILIAN CHAMPIONSHIP - SCHEDULE

27 DECEMBER (Wednesday) - São Caetano x Vasco
30 DECEMBER (Saturday) - Vasco x São Caetano


BRAZILIAN CHAMPIONSHIP - SEMI-FINALS - 1ST LEG

14 DECEMBER 2000

SÃO CAETANO 3 : Adhemar 45, 59, Daniel 76
GRÊMIO 2 : Ronaldinho 69, 84

After a nervous beginning, São Caetano finally settled, and created some
dangerous plays. On the first half injury time, São Caetano opened the
scoring. Marinho brought down Serginho inside Grêmio's box. Adhemar
stepped up and coolly converted the penalty. The second half had a frantic
opening, with both teams missing great scoring chances. On the 66th
minute, Adhemar struck again. He received a long ball on the right side,
entered the box, cut past defender Itaqui and shot from seven yards, with
no chance for goalkeeper Danrlei. But ten minutes later, it was Ronaldinho's
turn to shine. With a trademark run down the left side, he burst into São
Caetano's box, dribbled defender Daniel and scored a beautiful goal. But
Adhemar wasn't done yet. He took a corner kick from the right side and
placed it perfectly for Daniel, who rose higher than the defenders and
headed the ball past Danrlei. With six minutes remaining, Grêmio got a
crucial goal, which kept their hopes alive for the second leg. Paulo Nunes
made a very nice play and rolled the ball to Ronaldinho. The young
attacker sent a rocket from 20 yards, out of the reach of the goalkeeper.


16 DECEMBER 2000

VASCO 2 : Euller 40, 48
CRUZEIRO 2 : Fábio Júnior 80, Alex Mineiro 88

Cruzeiro showed the never-say-die attitude that characterises all the squads
commanded by Luis Felipe Scolari. On the first stage of the competition,
Cruzeiro tied 3x3 with Vasco, in a match the team from Rio led 3x0. And
history repeated itself. Cruzeiro started the match a little better, and
created all the (few) scoring chances of the first half-hour. But on the
40th minute, it was Vasco that opened the scoring. Jorginho sent a long ball
to Juninho Paulista, who was inside the box. The player dominated the ball
on his chest, taking out a defender with this move, and passed to Euller,
who was all alone to score. Three minutes after the break, Euller struck
again. Vasco sent a very long ball to the attacker, who out-ran the
defenders and poked the ball past the rushing goalkeeper. Everything
seemed under control for the home side, who would take a commanding
two-goal lead to the second leg. But with ten minutes to go, Cruzeiro got
the all-important away goal. Fábio Júnior received a long ball inside Vasco's
box and shot from eight yards, but Hélton made a good save. The Cruzeiro
striker got his own rebound, and shot again, for another great save by
Hélton. But the rebound once again fell at the feet of Fábio Júnior, who
finally scored. The scenario turned really ugly for Vasco on the 88th
minute, when Cruzeiro tied the match. Fábio Júnior crossed from the right
side. Sorín attempted a bicycle kick, but missed. The ball ended up with
Alex Mineiro, who struck a nice volley, with no chance for the goalkeeper.
NOTE : after the match, Vasco's president Eurico Miranda burst into his
team's locker room, demanding more passion from his players. As
punishment, he ordered that all the players should show up on Sunday
to train. Coach Oswaldo Oliveira strongly opposed to that. The two argued
and Oliveira was sacked. Joel Santana is now the new coach of Vasco
(unbelievable, isn't it?)


17 DECEMBER 2000

GRÊMIO 1 : Zinho 8
SÃO CAETANO 3 : César 51, 75, Adhemar 63
(São Caetano wins 6x3 on aggregate)

For the third time, São Caetano came back from a deficit to qualify. The
'Azulão' is now in the final of the João Havelange Cup, thus earning a place
in next year's Libertadores Cup. Not bad for a second division team, with an
11-year existence.

Now lets get to the match. Grêmio started attacking, and opened the scoring
on the 8th minute. Zinho shot from inside the box, goalkeeper Sílvio Luís,
made the save, but the rebound hit São Caetano's Serginho and went in
(the referee credited the goal to Zinho). Now it was São Caetano who
needed a goal, and so they dominated the rest of the first half. But the
game-tying goal came only on the 51st minute, thanks to a debatable
penalty (Adhemar seems to have dived after a clean tackle by Marinho).
César stepped up and scored. Grêmio then attacked with all they got, but
the visitors killed them off with a counter attack. Esquerdinha sent a long
ball to Adhemar, who entered Grêmio's box and shot a rocket into Danrlei's
top left corner. The goal took all the gas out of the home team. On the
75th minute, São Caetano put the final nail on Grêmio's coffin. Adhemar
entered the box and passed the ball towards Esquerdinha, but defender
Patrício intercepted the ball with his hand. César once again stepped up
and converted from the spot. São Caetano now waits for the outcome of
the other semi-final to know who their opponents will be.

NOTE : this result decides the four Brazilian teams that will be on next
year's Libertadores Cup. They are CRUZEIRO (Brazilian Cup champions),
PALMEIRAS (Champions Cup winners), SÃO CAETANO (Brazilian
Championship finalists) and VASCO (even if the lose to Cruzeiro, they
qualify for having a better performance than Grêmio on the final stage
of the João Havelange Cup). Watch out for possible manoeuvres to kick
tiny São Caetano out of the prestigious South American competition.


BRAZILIAN CHAMPIONSHIP - SCHEDULE

23 DECEMBER - 2nd leg of the semi-final between Cruzeiro and Vasco
27 DECEMBER - 1st leg of the final
30 DECEMBER - 2nd leg of the final


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