Will It Be Gremio or Sao Paulo? Brazilian League Title Goes To The Wire

A few months ago I was in Porto Alegre to see Gremio take on Goias at the Olimpico Monumental stadium, home of the then league leaders Gremio. At the time, the Tricolor gaucho team from the south of Brazil were clear at the top of the table, unbeaten at home and looking a very likely candidate to win the 2008 Campeonato Brasileiro. Goias won 2-1, recovering from a goal down to stun the hosts.

I still remember both vividly and fondly the celebrations in the away end. There were literally only 5 visiting fans, and as the stadium went deathly quiet upon the second goal flying in, all you could hear were the elated, ecstatic voices of five solitary away fans, running up and down the aisles of the terrace like lunatics, howling in sheer unadulterated delight. It was a comic moment, brilliantly juxtaposed with the shock and silence of 50,000 Gremio fans shocked into silence.

Goias’ victory was completely unexpected and from that moment on Gremio’s title challenge began to stutter. They took just one point from their next available six and were thrashed 4-1 by bitter rivals Internacional in the Rio Grande do Sul derby. Teams they were expected to beat like Portuguesa and Figueirense at the bottom of the table took points off them. In their place Sao Paulo took control of the title race. Champions for the last two consecutive years, and blessed with midfielder Hernanes – undoubtedly one of the best players in the league if not the best, Sao Paulo steadily began to emerge as frontrunners.

Now, going into the final matchday of the season this weekend, the league has become a two-horse race between Gremio and Sao Paulo. And it is that team again – Goias, who will have a decisive say as to whether or not Gremio can snatch the title from the Paulistas.

For in the last set of fixtures, Sao Paulo travel to Goias with a three point lead. If Goias win and Gremio beat Atletico Mineiro at home, Gremio will become champions. If Sao Paulo avoid defeat however, they will win the league for a third straight year.

As one might have come to expect from the Brazilian football league, the build-up to the nailbiting final weekend of the season has unfortunately been filled with controversy. Because of crowd trouble in one of Goias’ previous fixtures, against Cruzeiro, Brazil’s authorities ruled that Goias must play their remaining home games at a neutral ground. Sunday’s title decider will therefore take place at the Estadio Bezerrao in Brasilia, where Sao Paulo have a large fanbase. This caused Gremio to protest, with club president Paulo Odone declaring that the decision, ‘adversely affects Gremio and benefits Sao Paulo.’ He is right, and the ruling gives Sao Paulo a major advantage given their popularity in Brasilia.

Meanwhile, controversy has also centred around ticket prices for the match in Brasilia, with Goias initially announcing they would charge upwards of 400 Reais ($165) for tickets, now reduced to around 250 Reais – a price most Brazilian football fans simply cannot afford. And though all games this weekend are scheduled to kick-off at the same time, there has been a tendency in the past for mysterious delays harming kick-off times in Brazil. To avoid this the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) has threatened fines of 10,000 Reais per minute ($4,000) for delayed kick-offs.

So can Goias return the favour to Gremio in spades by beating Sao Paulo? It is certainly possible. Playing at a neutral ground will provide a major benefit to Sao Paulo, but Goias cannot be underestimated. They have already beaten several of the big guns this season, claiming not just Gremio’s scalp but also those of Palmeiras, Cruzeiro and Flamengo.

Gremio may have let their title push slip just a bit too far to reclaim on the last day of the season given that Sao Paulo only need a point. But, this time around, absolutely no-one in the blue and white half of Porto Alegre will begrudge Goias fans their moments of wild celebration if they can pull off another shock result and help Gremio lift the title.

Brazil, Brazilian Football, Goias, Gremio, Previews, Sao Paulo