retired_manpk1

June 2014
The league broke for the month as all eyes turned to the 2014 World Cup in Spain, won by Germany in extra time against France. That gave us the opportunity to get the squad back to full fitness, and assess the capabilities of the squad. That encouraged me to make one signing, and again I’ve gone for someone who’ve I’ve coached before. Luiz Henrique, a defender, was signed for £50,000 from Grêmio, and I had him for about a year at Goiânia a few years back.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">State Winner State WinnerAcre Vasco (AC) Alagoas CRBAmapá Mazagão Amazonas Rio Negro (AM)Bahia Bahia Ceará FortalezaBrasiliense Gama EspÃ*rito Santo DesportivaGaúcho Grêmio Goiás GoiâniaMaranhão Imperatriz Mato Grosso União Rondonópolis MG do Sul Comercial (MS) Pará PaysanduParaÃ*ba Treze Paraná CoritibaPernambuco Naútico PiauÃ* Flamengo (PI)Potiguar América (RN) Rio FluminenseRondônia Guajará Roraima Naútico (RR)Santa Catarina Criciúma São Paulo CorinthiansSergipe Sergipe Tocantins Palmas</pre>

retired_manpk1

July 2014
The home tie with Remo didn’t get off to the best of start, as Wendell scored for the visitors after just nine minutes. The expected barrage though didn’t come, and as the half went on we gained in confidence. Cristiano equalised just before the break, and we had the upper hand going into the second half. But we were slack again at the back, and on 67 Miguel scored what turned out to be the winner for Remo.
We didn’t really perform as we travelled to Mazagão, and it was a matter of when, not if, they would score. They got their first with six minutes to go in the first half through MaurÃ*cio, and Samuel struck a second twenty minutes from time. Cristiano pulled one back seven minutes later, but we didn’t half enough in our tank to find an equaliser.
A crucial home tie with basement-dwellers Brasiliense followed, but such is our lack of confidence that we couldn’t put any of our chances on target. Brasiliense had their opportunities in the second half, but the game ended 0-0, helping neither side.
Another defender was brought into the club ahead of our trip to Ponte Preta. Rodrigo Alvim, who can play at centre-back or on the right, joined from AvaÃ* for £30,000. We looked completely out of our depth at Ponte Preta, and with 21 minutes gone we conceded to Eduardo. Waltinho added a second before half time, and ten minutes form the end Osmar made it 3-0. Edivaldo scored a consolation for us in the penultimate minute, but it was really irrelevant.
The last game of the month was a home tie with União Barabarense. We didn’t help ourselves when Edivaldo was sent off after just twelve minutes, and although we defended astutely, LuÃ*s Fernando got the final touch to give our visitors the lead with half an hour gone. Things got worse for us four minutes into the second half when Carlinhos, our only other available striker, also got himself sent off, and we were left to fend for ourselves with just nine men. We committed ourselves well, but lacked the finishing touch to find an equaliser, even when União Barbarense had Nélson sent off five minutes from time.

Things are not looking good for us. We have just ten games to pull ourselves out of the relegation zone, but we’re struggling for goals, and conceding far too easily. Our next match is a trip to Moto Clube, and that could be decisive in our attempts to stay up.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag G.D. Pts1st AvaÃ* 13 9 3 1 27 5 +22 302nd Santo André 13 9 1 3 29 17 +12 283rd Goiânia 13 8 3 2 20 12 +8 274th União Barbarense 13 7 4 2 15 8 +7 255th Ceará 13 8 0 5 18 10 +8 246th Remo 13 6 3 4 23 20 +3 217th Tuna Luso 13 6 3 4 15 13 +2 218th Fluminense (BA) 13 6 2 5 19 15 +4 20-----------------------------------------------------9th Botafogo 13 6 2 5 14 13 +1 2010th Paraná 13 6 1 6 16 21 -5 1911th Ponte Preta 13 5 4 4 17 14 +3 1912th Mazagão 13 5 4 4 15 12 +3 1913th Figueirense 13 4 6 3 11 14 -3 1814th Goiás 13 4 4 5 16 18 -2 1615th Londrina 13 3 7 3 8 9 -1 1616th ABC 13 3 6 4 12 12 0 1517th Paulista 13 3 6 4 9 11 -2 1518th São Caetano 13 3 4 6 16 18 -2 1319th Vitória 13 3 3 7 13 26 -13 1220th América (RN) 13 2 6 5 12 16 -4 1221st Joinville 13 2 5 6 10 19 -9 1122nd Moto Clube 13 1 6 6 7 12 -5 9-----------------------------------------------------23rd Tupi 13 1 4 8 6 19 -13 724th Brasiliense 13 0 5 8 4 18 -14 5</pre>

retired_manpk1

August 2014
We had a difficult time in our crucial game away at Moto Clube. But we somehow held out until half time, and three minutes into the second half caught them on the break to take the lead through Batista. Three minutes later though Fernando Santos equalised, and Silva Neto scored a winner for our hosts thirteen minutes later.
Second-placed Santo André came to visit, and at the end of a quiet opening half Carlinhos sensationally put us ahead. It got even better when he doubled the lead just before the break, and we closed out the second half to claim just our second win of the season.
A trip to struggling América was next for us, and after just nine minutes Fernando Tavares had us ahead. He might have had a second a minute later, but just four minutes after taking the lead Babau equalised. We were though given a boost when América had Carlos Victor sent off with still seventy minutes to play, but our dominant play couldn’t result in a goal. They also had a few chances to catch us on the break, but just as the game seemed to be heading for a draw, Carlinhos struck to give us the win with just two minutes left on the clock.
Two consecutive wins had us in high spirits, and we welcomed Tuna Luso to our place. A disappointing game was brought to life just after half time when Leanderson fired us into the lead, and a fantastic strike from Leandro on the hour doubled our advantage. Tuna Luso just couldn’t find a way back, even when Mancuso was sent off for a second booking eight minutes from time.
Conceding a Paulo Lemes goal after just three minutes at home to table-toppers AvaÃ* wasn’t the best start for us, but such was the confidence in the side that we kept our heads up and produced chances. The equaliser came five minutes after the break through a Danilo strike, and fourteen minutes later Fernando Tavares had us ahead. It looked like we would win the game going into injury time, but then Marcos Baiano handled in the box, and Neizinho rescued a point for AvaÃ* from the penalty spot.
The last game of the month was a trip to São Caetano. Both sides produced chances, but defences and goalkeepers were on top as both sides failed to find the net. Nine minutes from time though we were caught on the break, and Fernando Cabral scored to give the home side a 1-0 victory.

We picked up ten points this month, and that has given us a real chance of surviving. There are still twelve points to play for though, and we’ll be scrapping and fighting for as many as possible in our bid to stay up.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag G.D. Pts1st Pl AvaÃ* 19 12 6 1 35 9 +26 422nd Pl Santo André 19 13 2 4 40 21 +19 413rd Goiânia 18 10 4 4 23 15 +8 344th Ceará 18 10 0 8 25 20 +5 305th Botafogo 18 9 3 6 21 16 +5 306th Remo 18 9 3 6 30 26 +4 307th Ponte Preta 19 8 6 5 27 19 +8 308th União Barbarense 19 8 6 5 19 16 +3 30-------------------------------------------------------9th Mazagão 19 7 6 6 23 19 +4 2710th Fluminense (BA) 19 8 2 9 25 23 +2 2611th Paraná 19 8 2 9 24 31 -7 2612th Goiás 19 7 5 7 22 25 -3 2613th Paulista 19 6 8 5 20 15 +5 2614th Figueirense 19 6 8 5 20 21 -1 2615th ABC 19 6 7 6 18 18 0 2516th São Caetano 19 6 5 8 22 24 -2 2317th Tuna Luso 19 6 5 8 20 24 -4 2318th Vitória 19 6 5 8 22 35 -13 2319th Londrina 19 3 10 6 13 18 -5 1920th Joinville 19 4 6 9 18 28 -10 1821st Tupi 19 4 5 10 15 25 -10 1722nd Moto Clube 19 3 8 8 13 17 -4 17-------------------------------------------------------23rd América (RN) 19 2 8 9 16 29 -13 1424th Brasiliense 19 1 8 10 6 23 -17 11</pre>

retired_manpk1

September 2014
Six minutes into our trip to Vitória the home side had Marcelo Heleno sent off, but we weren’t concentrated, and immediately fell behind to a Calman strike. We though weren’t deterred, and pushed in search of an equaliser. Nothing was paying off for us though, although we were given an extra hand when Italo was sent off with still eight minutes to play in the first half. Batista got our equaliser in the first minute of the second half, but a winner seemed to be eluding us. That was until Cristiano came on, and he scored two in the last four minutes to give us victory.
We wanted to sew things up at home to Botafogo, but after just 16 minutes Wando had the visitors ahead. Seven minutes later Zeylanov doubled the advantage, and our poor showing got worse when Carlos was sent off after 28 minutes for a professional foul. We kept Botafogo at bay without really threatening, but Zeylanov scored a third seventeen minutes from time.
Our last away game of the season was at Goiás. It was a pretty open game, with both sides coming close to scoring in the first half. Just after the hour Batista gave us the lead, and after a dodgy few minutes, Batista got a second on 75. Brito pulled one back six minutes from time, but in injury time Fernando Tavares scored against his former employers to give us the win and ensure our participation in the Second Division next season.
We could relax for the final game of the season, and the fans came out to salute us at home to Fluminense. Leanderson put us ahead midway through the first half, and Cristiano doubled the lead early in the second half to end the season on a high.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag G.D. Pts1st Pl Santo André 23 16 2 5 48 25 +23 502nd Pl AvaÃ* 23 13 9 1 39 12 +27 483rd Pl Botafogo 23 13 3 7 35 20 +15 424th Pl Goiânia 23 12 6 5 30 21 +9 425th Pl Paraná 23 11 3 9 35 32 +3 366th Pl Ponte Preta 23 9 9 5 32 21 +11 367th Pl Ceará 23 11 2 10 32 33 -1 358th Pl Remo 23 10 5 8 35 32 +3 35-------------------------------------------------------9th União Barbarense 23 9 8 6 24 21 +3 3510th Fluminense (BA) 23 9 4 10 30 28 +2 3111th Goiás 23 8 7 8 25 29 -4 3112th Mazagão 23 8 6 9 26 26 0 3013th ABC 23 7 8 8 23 22 +1 2914th Figueirense 23 7 8 8 24 30 -6 2915th Paulista 23 6 10 7 22 23 -1 2816th Tuna Luso 23 7 6 10 21 27 -6 2717th Tupi 23 7 5 11 23 30 -7 2618th Joinville 23 6 8 9 24 30 -6 2619th São Caetano 23 6 7 10 26 34 -8 2520th Vitória 23 6 6 11 25 43 -18 2421st Moto Clube 23 5 9 9 20 21 -1 2422nd Brasiliense 23 4 9 10 12 25 -13 21-------------------------------------------------------23rd R Londrina 23 3 12 8 14 23 -9 2124th R América (RN) 23 3 8 12 20 37 -17 17</pre>
17th is possibly a little bit flattering for us, but then again we did pick up nineteen points from our last ten games. We’ll be looking for a better start next season, and I would hope that some of the players will put in some better performances.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Name Apps Conc Cln MoM Av RJúnior 1 2 0 0 6.00Mateus 3 2 1 0 7.33Pedro Henrique 35 42 11 1 7.09Reis Santos - - - - ----Name Apps Gls Asts MoM Av RAmaral 4 (3) 1 1 1 7.43Batista 10 6 3 1 7.00Carlinhos 14 (8) 7 4 2 6.91Carlos 23 0 0 3 7.48Cesar Amaral 1 (1) 1 0 0 7.50Cléber 9 (8) 0 0 1 7.00Coimbra 0 (2) 0 0 0 6.50Correia - - - - ----Cristiano 19 (5) 12 6 0 7.00Danilo 16 1 3 1 7.00Edivaldo 5 (9) 2 1 0 6.36Erick 4 (1) 1 1 0 6.20Fernando Tavares 15 4 5 3 7.27George Santos 5 (9) 1 0 0 6.71Igor 6 (13) 0 0 0 6.58João Pessoa 37 0 2 1 7.32Kena 14 8 2 0 7.21Khizhnyak, V 8 (9) 0 2 0 6.35Leanderson 34 2 2 1 6.79Leandro 23 3 0 1 7.13Luiz Henrique 15 0 0 0 5.87Mancuso 29 1 4 5 7.79Marcelo Mattos 16 (5) 0 5 0 7.00Marcos Baiano 24 (12) 1 2 1 6.47Marques 8 (2) 0 0 0 5.90Moura 0 (1) 0 0 0 6.00Pereira (O) 11 (7) 0 0 1 6.39Pereira (Y) 4 (2) 0 0 0 7.00Reinaldo 6 (1) 0 0 0 6.14Rodrigo Alvim 6 (2) 0 0 0 6.00Thiago Mattos 24 0 3 0 6.54VinÃ*cius Meriji - - - - ----</pre>
I was really impressed with the performance of new-boy Carlos this season, and he looks like having a very bright future at the club. Mancuso, voted by the fans as their Player of the Year, also did himself no harm, but there could well be a number of changes to the club over the next two and a half months as we look to improve for next season.

retired_jdupont

Tupi still hasn't gotten the promotion to First Division.

How did you feel when you played (and lost) against Goiânia, back in May 2014?