binny

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Dear Diary,

18 September 2006: Limping across the finishing line

It’s always going to be difficult to lift your side for a match that has no bearing whatsoever on the result of your season. I did try to impress on them the need to keep up the momentum for the crucial forthcoming games, but it doesn’t always work.

Our penultimate game of the league campaign took us to Potiguar. Cassiano regained his place in the starting XI in what was otherwise an unchanged line-up. The game was by no means a classic, although we can point to keeping the bulk of the possession.

Rocha fired us ahead with a free kick with 28 minutes gone, and things looked good with Sicardo Linea was sent off for the home side on the stroke of half time.

But, we levelled that score up six minutes later when Vieira was given his marching orders, and we couldn’t hold out until the very end; Carlos Magno equalising for Potiguar in stoppage time from the penalty spot.

We completed our league campaign with a home tie against Maranhão. The visitors had a slight chance of making it through as runners-up, and we were in no mood to oblige.

André made his first start for the club, coming in at right back for the suspended Vieira, and Cajuru returned, forcing Rony onto the bench.

We played well, but not spectacularly, and as the game drew on without a goal, Maranhão started to give up on their dreams. And just to put a final nail in their coffin, Rocha scored the only goal of the game three minutes from time.

Having finished top of the group, we knew that we’d play the first leg of the first knockout round away from home. It’s by no means an easy draw as we face Castanhal, who picked up just as many points in their group as we did.

Third Division, Group 3
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| 1st | Q | Sampaio Corrêa | | 14 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 19 | 10 | +9 | 30 | | 2nd | Q | Potiguar | | 14 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 21 | 15 | +6 | 21 | | 3rd | | Maranhão | | 14 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 18 | 16 | +2 | 19 | | 4th | | Moto Clube | | 14 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 13 | 17 | -4 | 18 | | 5th | | River (PI) | | 14 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 19 | 20 | -1 | 17 | | 6th | | Ferroviário (CE) | | 14 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 12 | 11 | +1 | 16 | | 7th | R | Parnahyba | | 14 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 14 | 17 | -3 | 15 | | 8th | R | Flamengo (PI) | | 14 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 20 | -10 | 9 | </pre>

binny

Dear Diary,

25 September 2006: The Castanhal affair

With two knockout rounds and then 14 games to be played in the final group stage all before the end of the season, games are going to be coming thick and fast now; with two games a week between now and the end of the season.

André Lima had picked up a knock prior to our first leg game, where we were away, and so Marciel came in to start.

With the season now heading into knockout, the game was predictably tight. No-one wanted to give a goal away, although a 1-0 win would always be welcome.

We were solid throughout the park, but no-one really shone as the game meandered its’ course. We seemed destined to take a 0-0 back to our place, but one sloppy moment ten minutes from time cost us, and we knew that we had it all to do.

In truth, the teamtalk was simple before the second game. Fail to win and our season is over. Anything else, and we have a shot at the final group stage and a 50% chance of winning promotion.

André Lima was sufficiently recovered to take his place back up front, but Antônio Carlos Júnior was now a victim of our injury list, and Ramires was called upon to fill in.

We played alright in the first half, but just couldn’t find our shooting boots. That changed straight after the break though when André Lima had us two goals up after just three minutes of the second period.

With the confidence that the goals had given us, we surged forward, and Araújo made it 3-0 on the night just before the hour mark.

We did suffer one setback when Cajuru’s season ended prematurely, but André Lima completed his hattrick on 75 minutes to see us through 4-1 on aggregate.

The draw for the second knockout round gave us a tricky tie against a team from São Paulo called Juventus. The first leg will be at Nhozinho Santos. We’ll also welcome to the squad an attacking midfielder by the name of Helinho who has joined on a free transfer from Brasiliense.

binny

Dear Diary,

2 October 2006: Oy vay, Juvé

Well, in the end it just wasn’t to be.

After a fantastic first season in charge in which we have surpassed many expectations, we fell short at almost the final hurdle, as we were outplayed by Juventus.

We were back to full strength at the back for the home leg, with both Vieira and Antônio Carlos Júnior both fit and available again. Helinho made his debut from the start, replacing the crocked Cajuru.

The euphoria of the Castanhal game seemed to have a negative effect on us as we were poor, pure and simple. Even the ever-reliable Diogo had a nightmare.

The crucial period of the game came midway through the first half when first Almir sliced a clearance into his own net, and then Almir Sergipe beat Diogo from distance.

André Lima did pull a goal back for us just after the hour, but Eli hit the visitor’s third nine minutes later to put us on the back foot for the second leg.

It was an unchanged line-up for the second leg; these players got us into this mess, and they were charged with getting us back out of it.

Our performance was much improved in the second game, but with two goals to make up, it was always going to be difficult. The home side put enough men behind the ball, and looked dangerous themselves on the break.

Just after the hour mark, the tie was put beyond our reach when we conceded a penalty that Flávio converted. Three minutes later Vieira let his anger get the better of him, but our ten men did pull a consolation goal back through André Lima.

So, a 4-2 aggregate loss was how the season ended. Of course it’s disappointing, but we’ve exceeded all expectations, and we look forward to building on our experience for the next campaign. Araújo was voted by the fans as their player of the season, and our captain will be a crucial cog in the side for the coming year. Who knows, maybe we can go all the way next time round!

binny

Dear Diary,

12 January 2007: The off-season

Long time no write! Not surprising really, as I’ve been quite busy over the close season. My holiday was very nice, but it was only a week, and I’ve been looking forward to the forthcoming campaign.

A number of our squad from last season left when their loans ran out, including goalkeeper Luciano, right-winger Cajuru and striker André Lima. São Raimundo though did allow us to make Antônio Alex’s loan move into a free transfer.

Two other midfielders were allowed to leave on free transfers. Juninho Pinheirense and Kléo had not featured in the first team squad last season, and they jumped at the opportunity to join Samambaia and Icasa respectively.

We’ve not been in particularly good financial position though, and so my hand was somewhat forced when São Raimundo made a £65,000 bid for one of our best player’s last season; left-back Almir. With his departure, we were left a bit short in that position, and so in came veteran Sandro Blum, who’ll also take on a coaching role at the club.

I struggled to find a suitable backup goalkeeper for Diogo during the break, and in the end I had to settle for SÃ*lvio, who is over 40. It’s likely that he’ll be third choice for the season.

And finally, the striker shortage was filled by Rinaldo, a 28-year-old who had been released from his Second Division side. The only other signing during the summer was that of Vivaldo Pereira Ferreira who joins the scouting department at the club.

We played one friendly game ahead of the new season. It was against São Raimundo, part of the deal that took Almir to them. It was a useful exercise as everyone in the first-team squad got a feel of playing football again. The football itself wasn’t great though as the game ended goalless.

So, we have no more players than we did last year, but we do own them all, and that is a relief in terms of long-term planning. A number of the youth players can expect to see a bit of action during the season; with right-back Oliviera and strikers Marciel and José Everaldo most likely to be given an opportunity.

binny

Dear Diary,

25 January 2007: Steady start

So, we’re back under way for the new season, and as ever we play in the Maranhão State Championship first-up.

The first game of the season took us to Comerciário, a game we expected to dominate. Diogo was in goal, and the centre-back pairing was unchanged from last season, with Antônio Carlos Júnior and Cassiano getting the nod. Sandro Blum was preferred to Ranielli at left-back, and with Vieira suspended and Oliveira injured, Barão was asked to play at right back.

Helinho and Everaldo were asked to play on the wings, with Antônio Alex and Ricardo Araújo in the middle. Rinaldo made his debut up front alongside captain Araújo.

It was the debutante Rinaldo who put us into the lead with just nine minutes on the clock, and a rout looked on the cards. That became even more likely when Ruben was sent off for the home side after just 15 minutes of play, but somehow, the goals didn’t flow.

We weren’t helped when Antônio Alex, in his first competitive match as a fully-fledged Sampaio Corrêa player was taken off injured on the half hour mark. It’s not that we played poorly or anything, we just looked a little rusty up front. We never looked like conceding, and we didn’t. So 1-0 it was and we had the three points under our belt.

The clearout of unwanted players continued during the week as the ageing duo of Marcelo Souza and ArÃ*lson were allowed to move to União Cacoalense and Gênus respectively, both on free transfers.

Vieira was back from suspension for the first home game of the season, against São Bento, and he replaced Barão at right back. Coquinho and Rocha were given the central midfield berths, but otherwise we were unchanged.

We started poorly as our minnow opponents opened the scoring through Rogério after just six minutes. That woke us up though and Aráujo equalised within 60 seconds.

From there on, we dominated proceedings as would be expected, but as in the first match, we again didn’t seem fully up to speed with the rigours of playing a game every week.

Araújo nicked a second early in the second half to give us a 2-1 victory, but there is much to improve on performance-wise ahead of the big derby matches later in the competition.

We also have a massive game to look forward to in the Brazilian Cup. Having qualified through the State Championship last season, we’re up against the mighty holders Flamengo in the first round. We play the first leg at home, but will then travel to the Maracanã for the second leg. It will definitely be an experience to savour, whatever the result.

binny

Dear Diary,

7 February 2007: Getting better

There are signs of improvement from the lads as we get back into the swing of playing matches, and that is most definitely encouraging.

Imperatriz came to visit at the end of January, and the only change to the line up was the introduction of Marciel up front in place of the crocked Araújo. Sandro Blum took the captain’s armband.

Imperatriz are one of those sides who you should be logically beating, but always give you a tough time getting it. Everaldo gave us the lead midway through the first half with a rare goal, but we were pegged back soon afterwards when Édson levelled up the scores.

Rocha cracked in a free kick just before half time to give us some momentum, but it took a monumental effort at the back in the second half to prevent us conceding any more goals.

Just prior to the trip to Chapadinha I managed to sign another defensively-minded central midfield player; Agenor joining on a free transfer from Brasiliense.

He went straight into the starting line-up, replacing Rocha in the centre of the park, but otherwise it was an unchanged line-up.

For the first time this season, we looked really good as we dominated proceedings from start to finish. Young striker Marciel grabbed a brace either side of half time, and Agenor marked his debut with a goal just before the break as we ran out comfortable 3-0 winners, to set us up nicely for the forthcoming games against Maranhão and Moto Clube.

binny

Dear Diary,

20 February 2007: Derby-day disasters

Before the last two games, I’ve had a pretty decent record in derby games, but we’ve just collapsed in the last two, and I’ve got no real explanation for either performance. It’s a real setback for us, because in order to retain our title as State Champions we’re going to have to come top of the pile in the second round of games, which is no easy task.

We started off with a home game against Maranhão, where Rocha coming in for Agenor was the only change to the line-up.

It was a pretty dire game, and it’s no surprise that some fans were seen sleeping towards the latter stages of the game. We lost Helinho to injury just after the half hour, and that was just about the only thing to note in the whole game.

Maranhão didn’t create much either, and it was a relief when the final whistle went with the score still goalless.

On the back of such an abject display, we travelled to Moto Clube where we somehow contrived to perform even worse. With Helinho out for a few months, Rony was asked to deputise on the right, and Agenor came back into the centre of midfield in place of Rocha.

We started off well enough without looking too threatening, but we turned off just before half time, and Misael punished us twice and we found ourselves two-nil down at the break. And as if that wasn’t enough, Rony was injured in the first half, and he wasn’t able to continue.

With frustration reaching boiling point, we found ourselves down to ten men when Agenor received his marching orders early in the second half, and Leandro Xavier and Joélson struck late on to put us to the sword.

It’s back to the drawing board as soon as possible; we’ve got a game against Flamengo coming up and we don’t want to be humiliated.

One player who will not be playing any part in our future though is Ricardo Araújo. He’s been blighted by injury at the start of this season, and with another four players capable of playing in central midfield, he was allowed to join J. Malucelli for a whopping £75,000.

binny

Dear Diary,

1 March 2007: Please tell me this isn’t a dream

If ever a response was needed to the past two performances, we certainly got them. I’m in kind of a daze at the moment following our last two results; one expected, the other most certainly not.

The Opening Stage of the State Championship ended with the visit to our place of Açailândia. To be fair to them, they’re in way past their depths at this level of football, but we still had to translate that into a convincing win.

We welcomed Araújo back up front from injury, whilst Barão became the third player in as many games to start on the right flank. And it was he who gave us the lead towards the end of the first half.

With the lead behind us, we started to surge forward, and our front duo of Araújo and Rinaldo each scored within ten minutes of the restart. We looked like scoring every time we moved forward, and late on Vieira hit our fourth.

And then the killer blow for the visitors as first Rinaldo and then substitute Marciel scored deep into injury time to give us a wonderful 6-0 win.

Just a few days later, the mighty Flamengo came to town for the first leg of our cup tie. We would be without Alysson who was sold for £5,000 to Anapolina. Antônio Alex had to sit out the game on the bench as he was not fit enough, and so Agenor came in his stead to the centre of midfield.

We were given a small lift after just three minutes when Fellype Gabriel twisted an ankle and had to be substituted. We set out our stall well, and matched Flamengo in the midfield, taking them to 0-0 at half time.

And then, pandemonium. Just two minutes after the break, Rinaldo latched onto a well-timed pass, and slipped the ball into the net, and sensationally, we were ahead.

It was a mixture of disbelief and sheer joy for the next eight minutes as we led the cup holders. Dodô levelled things up then, but we knew that we could match them now.

We didn’t get too many more opportunities to retake the lead, but then neither did Flamengo. Our passion boiled over a little too much with seven minutes to go when Coquinho was sent off, but we held on for a 1-1 draw to take back to the Maracaña next week.

Opening Stage
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | 1st | | Maranhão | | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 4 | +9 | 17 | | 2nd | | Moto Clube | | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 2 | +16 | 16 | | 3rd | | Sampaio Corrêa | | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 6 | +8 | 16 | | 4th | | Imperatriz | | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 6 | +12 | 11 | | 5th | | Comerciário (MA) | | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 9 | -3 | 9 | | 6th | | Chapadinha | | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 15 | -8 | 6 | | 7th | | São Bento (MA) | | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 21 | -12 | 4 | | 8th | | Açailândia | | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 25 | -22 | 0 | </pre>

binny

Dear Diary,

12 March 2007: Falling short

Before the trip to the Maracaña, we had to negotiate a home tie with Comerciário. The only changes came in the centre of the park where Rocha and Antônio Alex came in for Agenor and Coquinho.

We were right on the money from the word go, and by half time Rinaldo had scored twice, and Araújo once. We didn’t let up either early in the second half as we created more chances, but just after Vieira had seen his penalty saved – but converted by Everlado, Charles pulled a goal back for the visitors.

Vieira did get an opportunity to atone for his missed penalty when he scored the second one awarded to us, and although Rubens pulled another goal back, a 5-2 win was just what we needed to get our Closing Stage campaign under way.

I probably don’t need to tell you that the Maracaña is a wonderful stadium, and just leading my side out onto the field of play was special. Add to that the fact that we were still very much in the cup tie, and it was truly a moment to savour. Antônio Alex was a little weary, and so he made way for Coquinho, whose suspension didn’t count for the cup game – despite having received the ban for his sending off in the first leg.

Flamengo didn’t put out their strongest side again, but this time they made a fast start, and within three minutes Diogo was picking the ball out of the net after Ronaldo Angelim’s excellent strike. We held our nerve though, and did a decent containing job, but as you can imagine, it was difficult for us to make any sort of breakthrough in the attacking department.

Bruno Mezenga scored a second just after the half hour, and that was game over. We did well not to concede a third on the night, and overall we gave a very good account of ourselves. But a 3-1 aggregate loss means that we can now concentrate on ensuring top spot in the Closing Stage of the State Championship so that we might be able to retain our title.

binny

Dear Diary,

20 March 2007: Clinical finishing

It’s been a hectic week as we had to make up matches following our cup escapades. No time to dwell on that though, as we have our minds firmly set on winning the remaining games.

First up was a trip to São Bento, and Antônio Alex was back in for the suspended Coquinho.

Things didn’t start too cleverly when Vieira saw red after just five minutes, but with São Bento being as poor as they are, we went to three at the back and continued as normal. Rinaldo gave us some breathing space with a goal after fifteen minutes, and we looked pretty much in control.

We never looked like conceding, but it’s always nice to get a two-goal cushion. And we had to wait until the hour mark to get it; the unlikely source of Cassiano getting his first goal for the club. Rinaldo wrapped things up with his second of the evening late on as we ran our comfortable 3-0 winners.

A second away trip in four days was next on the cards as we faced the tough trip to Imperatriz. Oliviera came in for his first start at right back in place of the suspended Vieira, and Helinho was fit enough to start again following his injury, thereby relegating Barão to the bench.

The first half was pretty quiet, with only two real points to note: Rocha putting us ahead from a well-executed free kick, and Clayff limping off for the home side just before the break.

The second half though was a completely different story. Eight minutes in Thiago Ferreira was sent off for a professional foul, only for the home side to equalise two minutes later through a harshly-awarded Daniel penalty.

Again though we had to rely on a centre back to get us back in front; this time it was Antônio Carlos Júnior doing the honours from the edge of the box. The game was wrapped up eleven minutes from time when Dênis put though his own net to put us 3-1 up.

That wasn’t the end of the action though as Imperatriz finished the game with just nine men left on the field of play after Daniel, their goalscorer, turned hero to villain and was sent off. Not that we particularly care; we’ve got three wins out of three so far in this stage.