Mauricio’s Brazilian Football Roundup
A summary of the Brazilian football week, and a preview of a second round of the Brazilian championship, written by a native, for the public outside the country of football…
BRAZIL’S CUP
We had two matches from the round of 16 on Wednesday. One of the best matches of the year in Brazil, Grêmio, current champion and greatest winner of the cup, beat Fluminense, a team of many young talents, 3-1. In the other match, the current Brazilian champion, Palmeiras won 1-0 against Internacional, second division club.
LIBERTADORES CUP
Six Brazilian teams played a half-week round in the Libertadores Cup. On Tuesday Atletico MG beat Godoy Cruz (ARG) by 4-1, with a show of the Ecuadorian Cazares. Atlético ensured the group lead and one of the best campaigns in the first round. In Wednesday, Chapecoense beat Lanús in Argentina by 2-1, to be decided at home in the last round. In addition, we had a decision on the group with two Brazilians, Flamengo and Atlético PR. And it was two spectacular games, both twisted and turned, both decided in the last minutes. Atletico PR secured a qualifying win in Chile, against Universidad de Chile, winning 3-2. Flamengo was eliminated though, losing to San Lorenzo in Argentina, with a goal at 90+1 minute. On Thursday, Santos got a high score in the altitude of La Paz. With one player less during the main part of the match tied with The Strongest by 1-1, forwarding his classification, which will be decided on the last round in his stadium in Vila Belmiro.
BRAZILIAN NATIONAL TEAM
On Friday, coach Tite named the Brazilian squad for two friendly matches against Australia and Argentina in June. Some names were left out, like Neymar, Marcelo and Dani Alves. Tite will be testing some players, already thinking about the Russian World Cup in 2018. The Premier League has the greater number of call ups, with David Luiz, Fernandinho, Philippe Coutinho, Willian and Gabriel Jesus. Below the complete list:
Goalkeepers: Diego Alves (Valencia), Weverton (Atlético-PR), Ederson (Benfica)
Defence: Alex Sandro (Juventus), Fagner (Corinthians), Filipe Luís (Atletico Madrid), Rafinha (Bayern Munich), David Luiz (Chelsea), Gil (Shandong Luneng), Jemerson (Monaco), Rodrigo Caio (São Paulo), Thiago Silva (PSG)
Midfielders: Fernandinho (Manchester City), Giuliano (Zenit), Lucas Lima (Santos), Paulinho (Evergrande), Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool), Renato Augusto (Guoan), Rodriguinho (Corinthians)
Forwards: Diego Souza (Sport), Douglas Costa (Bayern Munich), Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City), Taison (Shakhtar Donetsk)
BRAZILIAN CHAMPIONSHIP – second round predictions
This weekend will we have the second round of the Brazilian championship. The main match is Altético MG x Fluminense, who are playing an excellent football. Below you can see my predictions for all matches:
SATURDAY:
Santos v Coritiba – (Santos win)
Atlético GO v Flamengo – (Flamengo win)
Chapecoense v Palmeiras – (draw)
SUNDAY:
Vasco v Bahia – (Vasco win)
Vitória v Corinthians – (Corinthians win)
Botafogo v Ponte Preta – (draw)
Atlético MG v Fluminense – (Atletico MG win)
Atlético PR v Grêmio – (draw)
Sport v Cruise – (draw)
MONDAY:
São Paulo v Avaí – (São Paulo win)
Next Tuesday you will see the summary of the top matches, and you can charge me for the results! Follow me on @mwgremio and good matches!