League

São Januário
Spectators: 6637 (Terracing: 5637, Seating: 1000, VIP seats: 0) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Thiago Leão started the match with the kick off. After a defensive mix-up in SÃO PAULO FUTEBOL CLUBE's zone, Sebastião Lago stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Pedrinho Vander came out of the goal and Sebastião Lago tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Thiago Leão received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 9th minute. Rafinha Maia tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. The supporters of SÃO PAULO FUTEBOL CLUBE booed when CR.RICARRDO was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 11 match minutes in a wonderful position. Ramón Tinoco didn't get a good kick on the ball. In the 12th minute Thiago Leão shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Rafinha Maia saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Luís Paulo Cearense hit a great freekick 13 minutes into the match. Rafinha Maia didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Thiago Leão went, in the 14th minute, to the upper right corner, 0-1 was the resulting score. When the match had gone on for 17 minutes, Tales Oliveira put it in 0-2 from a short distance just to the right of Rafinha Maia. Rafinha Maia took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Frank Teles, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Thiago Leão in the 21st managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Rafinha Maia saved CR.RICARRDO from getting behind. With a little luck, SÃO PAULO FUTEBOL CLUBE's Pedrinho Vander got control of the ball when Sebastião Lago tried to sneak it across the goal line. After 36 played minutes SÃO PAULO FUTEBOL CLUBE got a freekick which was hit by Reynaldo Goiano. After 40 minutes, Torleif Bergbøl mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the SÃO PAULO FUTEBOL CLUBE and the CR.RICARRDO players grew even worse after the yellow card. After a rather tough play, SÃO PAULO FUTEBOL CLUBE's Torleif Bergbøl got a free kick in the 41st minute. Rafinha Maia stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Thiago Leão's shot from short distance in the 45th minute. The crowd was extremely unhappy with the home team's performance in the first half. They were losing 0-2.

The players of the home team were most fresh-looking when they entered the field to play the second half. Raphael Paranaense was the one to do the kick off. After having played for 56 minutes, Glauco Souto managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. SÃO PAULO FUTEBOL CLUBE's supporters crossed their fingers, but Glauco Souto was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. After 59 minutes of play, SÃO PAULO FUTEBOL CLUBE's Thiago Leão made it 0-3 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Rafinha Maia was left in no man's land by his defense there! Glauco Souto kicked well hit freekick during the 63rd minute of the match. In the 70th minute Glauco Souto suffered a foot injury and had to be helped off the field. Rubens Eger charged in rather forcefully in the 70th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Rubens Eger the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. SÃO PAULO FUTEBOL CLUBE's Enéas Loyola was substituted for Glauco Souto. The referee blew the whistle for a penalty in the 70th minute of the game. One of CR.RICARRDO:s players had nearly got his shirt torn off by an opponent while getting free in front of SÃO PAULO FUTEBOL CLUBE:s goal. The audience was convinced that Thiago Leão's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Rafinha Maia was relentless in the 76th minute of the game. Pedrinho Vander came out of the goal in the 80th minute to try and stop a shot by CR.RICARRDO's Sydney Moreira. But to his dismay, Sydney Moreira quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 1-4. After some fancy dribbling in the 87th minute, Thiago Leão managed to get in a good position for a shot. SÃO PAULO FUTEBOL CLUBE's supporters rose to their feet, but Thiago Leão was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Rafinha Maia breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. After 88 played minutes SÃO PAULO FUTEBOL CLUBE got a freekick which was hit by Enéas Loyola. After 91 played minutes CR.RICARRDO got a freekick which was hit by Luís Paulo Cearense. If Tales Oliveira had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 95th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. After 96 played minutes CR.RICARRDO got a freekick which was hit by Luís Paulo Cearense. The SÃO PAULO FUTEBOL CLUBE supporters could be heard counting down the last seconds of the match. They errupted in celebration when the whistle blew, knowing SÃO PAULO FUTEBOL CLUBE would go home with victory in their luggage after a match that easily could have ended differently.