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Brazilians are crazy. They absolutely love their football, and this is borne out by the league that they run. The top division has 24 sides, and that means a minimum of 46 leagues for each club. Add to that the playoff games and regional divisions, as well as possible continental competitions, and you could be looking at 70-80 games in a season. The second division is a bit different, but it’s still at least 23 league games for each side, and the top eight have to go through two further groups to win promotion. Fantastic.
The third division is a little different. There are only 128 sides in the league, but only 2 will be promoted in any one season. That makes it 16 times more likely that a side will be relegated – 32 face the drop. So, how does it work? The 128 sides are split into 16 groups of 8 sides each, and after 14 games, the standings are calculated. The bottom two sides in each group are relegated, and the top two sides move into the second round. It’s then essentially a knockout until the final four when a group stage decides which two teams will move up. Got it? Good.
I found myself in charge of one of the third division clubs. Goiânia are based in the town of Goiânia and take part in the Goiás State Championship during the early months of the season. The stadium is known as Ol*mpico for some reason, and has a capacity of 10000. Not that I expect it to be full or anything. The State Championship is played from mid-January until March or April and has an interesting form. 12 sides play each other once, and at the end, three sides are relegated, and eight playoff for the Championship.
The squad looks quite decent for this level, but it is small and needs strengthening.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Flávio Mendes GK Júnior GKBira D R Edgar D LMarcelo Borges D/M LC César Lira D CFred D C Marcos Roberto D CPeta D C Clóvis DM CEduardo Silva DM C Wender DM CDanilo M RC Mayke M RLCRoger M LC Eliseu M CCarlos Henrique F RL Carlos Magno F LCCristiano F LC Cley S CLu*s Fernando S C</pre>
There was a little bit of money in the bank for transfers, and I managed to make five signings before the start of the season. Carlos Alexandre, a right back, was signed for £30,000 from Ponte Preta, and young striker Michel came in on a free transfer from Malutrom. The other three signings were in midfield. Attacking midfielder Liminha cost £40,000 from Joinville and wingers Chicão and Leandro Diniz came in for free from América (MG) and for £100,000 from Atlético Mineiro respectively.
Thanks guys. I hope you enjoy reading the story as much as I enjoy playing the game!
January 2004
It was quite a nice start for us as we faced three non-league sides as we opened our State Championship campaign. All five new signings started as we travelled to Rioverdense, but it was Cristiano who provided the vital touches, scoring twice in a six-minute spell around the half hour as we won 2-0. Cristiano was again on target as we stuttered to a 1-0 victory at home to Jataiense to leave us with maximum points. Leandro Diniz skied an early penalty at Grêmio Inhumense as we struggled to find our feet. But just after the restart Michel scored his first goal for the club, and five minutes later Cristiano added a second. That was the rest of the scoring as we ended the month on a high.
It was an excellent month, and I couldn’t have hoped for much more. 3 wins out of 3 and three clean sheets to boot, things are about to get a lot harder as we face some of the league sides in February.
Good to know a foreigner is playing our league. :thup:
If you are curious to know, the teams considered big in the State of Goiás are Goiás, Vila Nova, Atlético Goianiense and Goiânia.
In Brazil all States have their own FAs and their own league structures (In real life the State of Goiás have at least 2 division while the State of São Paulo have 6 divisions).
February 2004
Two goals in as many minutes midway through the first half from Cristiano gave us a good start to the month at home to Anapolina, who are above us in the league structure. The visitors pulled a goal back midway through the first half through Leonardo Goiano but eleven minutes later Cley struck his first goal to give us a 3-1 victory.
Our next match was away at reigning champions Goiás, but we took a 7th minute lead through Peta when the defender headed in a corner. We rode our luck for much of the game, and twenty minutes from time Cley struck twice to give us an unassailable lead. Cley completed his hatrick in injury time as we incredibly won 4-0, and moved to the top of the table. :eek:
Things were made difficult for us when Carlos Alexandre was sent off on 22 against non-league Goiatuba, but four minutes later César Lira headed us into the lead. But with the one-man advantage Goiatuba hit back, and Barros equalised immediately after half time. We huffed and puffed our way through to the end of the game, and four minutes from time restored our lead when Carlos Henrique scored from the penalty spot. Lu*s Fernando added a third in the final minute as we kept up our winning streak.
Vila Nova had slipped after a good start, and after a terrible first half, Cley put us in front ten minutes into the second half. Chicão and Michel added goals in the last seven minutes as our amazing run continued.
Anápolis had quietly moved into second spot in the division and they proved difficult to break down at Ol*mpico. But eleven minutes from time Cley put us ahead, and in the final minute Michel added a second.
Our winning streak finally came to an end in our last game of the month at home to Real as the visitors sat back and defended deep for 90 minutes. 0-0 it finished, and no one could really complain.
We’ve qualified for the quarterfinal and kept up an unbeaten run. Confidence is sky-high, and the only challenge now will be keeping onto our top players. The cup begins early next month, and we’re hoping to take our league form into the competition.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Our next match was away at reigning champions Goiás, but we took a 7th minute lead through Peta when the defender headed in a corner. We rode our luck for much of the game, and twenty minutes from time Cley struck twice to give us an unassailable lead. Cley completed his hatrick in injury time as we incredibly won 4-0, and moved to the top of the tabl <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Great victory. As you probably noticed Goiás is the only team in State of Goiás that is playing in the Brazilian National First Division (Vila Nova is in the National Second Division). :thup:
March 2004
The month began with a trip to Santo Ângleo in the first round of the Cup. The home side defended deep and played for penalties, and we played straight into their hands, rarely threatening throughout the 90 minutes. Even the sending off of Laênio midway through the second half failed to give us the initiative. The shootout was woeful, with only three kicks finding the net. Unfortunately for us we could only get one and we crashed out of the competition at the first hurdle.
Back in league action we were at Atlético Goianiense and the deadlock was broken with a superb strike from Chicão just before half time. The home side had Rodrigo Aires sent off midway through the second half, and Cley wrapped up victory twelve minutes from time.
During the week we said goodbye to Danilo, who completed a £16,000 move to Botafogo (PB). The last game of the league campaign was at home to struggling Novo Norizonte, and we duly heaped more pressure onto them. Cley got the ball rolling midway through the first half, and Leandro Diniz added a second from the penalty spot just three minutes into the second half. Novo Horizonte were dreadful, and in the final minute had dos Santos Pereira sent off.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Pos Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag G.D. Pts1st Q Goiânia 11 10 1 0 24 2 +22 312nd Q Goiás 11 8 1 2 32 10 +22 253rd Q Vila Nova (GO) 11 7 1 3 23 8 +15 224th Q Atlético Goianiense 11 6 3 2 15 7 +8 215th Q Anapolina 11 6 2 3 23 10 +13 206th Q Real (GO) 11 5 4 2 12 5 +7 197th Q Anápolis 11 5 2 4 18 11 +7 178th Q Grêmio Inhumense 11 3 2 6 9 23 -14 11---------------------------------------------------------9th Goiatuba 11 2 2 7 8 24 -16 8---------------------------------------------------------10th R Jataiense 11 1 2 8 3 25 -22 511th R Novo Horizonte 11 0 4 7 4 23 -19 412th R Rioverdense 11 0 2 9 3 26 -23 2</pre>
The quarterfinal draw gave us a home tie against Grêmio Inhumense, and after missing a few early opportunities, Cley put us ahead just before the half hour. Liminha fired in his first goal for the club just before half time and Leandro Diniz added a third on the hour. Rangel was sent off for the visitors soon afterwards, and Cley took advantage, scoring a fourth sixteen minutes from time. Even the sending off of Wender seven minutes from time couldn’t prevent us progressing through to a semi-final tie against Anápolis.
The last game of the month was the first leg of the semi-final, played away from home. We had a fantastic chance to take the lead in just the ninth minute, but Leandro Diniz sent his penalty straight at the goalkeeper. The home side were causing us problems, but just before the half hour mark we broke forward and Cristiano found the goal again. It was not an easy match for us, but we had Michel to thank for giving us the advantage with a second goal in the final minute. Interestingly enough, this was the first game that we’ve been involved in this month that hasn’t seen a sending off!
So, another good match, and the clean sheet run has now extended to an amazing eight matches. In fact, in 14 games this season, we’ve conceded just two goals, and that has to be promising for the major part of the season.
April 2004
The second leg of the semi-final got off to a fantastic start as first Leandro Diniz scored from the penalty spot, and then Peta doubled the lead. We were just having fun now, and Cley added a third on 26. Two goals in as many minutes from Cristiano and then Cley just after the hour mark gave us a fantastic 7-0 aggregate win and a tie against Vila Nova in the final.
The first leg was at their place, and we starting fantastically well with Cristiano scoring twice within the first fifteen minutes. Vila Nova had Wando sent off shortly after for a second booking, but it took us until just before half time to score a third; Cley getting it. Cley added a fourth five minutes into the second half, and Cristiano completed his hatrick on 56, but the home side had the final say, pulling a goal back fourteen minutes from time through Paulo Rafael.
The second leg was a bit of a formality, and the first half had the feel of a training session. Things got easier when Fábio Bahia was sent off on 58 minutes, and twelve minutes later Michel scored the only goal of the game. The 6-1 aggregate victory brought the state championship back to Goiânia for the first time since 1974, and needless to say, the fans were pretty jubilant.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">State Winner State WinnerAcre Rio Branco (AC) Alagoas CSAAmapá Santos (AP) Amazonas Rio Negro (AM)Bahia Vitória Ceará FortalezaBrasiliense CFZ (DF) Esp*rito Santo DesportivaGaúcho Internacional Maranhão CaxienseMato Grosso Juventude (MT) MG do Sul Comercial (MS)Minas Cruzeiro Pará PaysanduPara*ba Botafogo (PB) Paraná CoritibaPernambuco Sport Recife Piau* Flamengo (PI)Potiguar América (RN) Rio FlamengoRondônia CFA Roraima Rio Negro (RR)Santa Catarina Figueirense São Paulo Mar*liaSergipe Sergipe Tocantins Tocantinópolis</pre>
May – June 2004
The Third Division doesn’t start until very late June, so we had about two months to prepare the squad for the trials and tribulations ahead. I made a few signings to strengthen the squad, and got rid of some of the squad members. Full back Stefano came in for £24,000 from Serra, and Sérgio, a goalkeeper, was signed from Palmerias for £30,000. Attacking midfielder William was signed for £8,000 from Friburguense and Daniel Rossi, a defender come midfielder came in for £50,000 from São Paulo. Eduardo Silva joined Palmas on a free transfer, Mayke went to Camaçari for £12,000, and Wender was sold to América (AM) for £10,000. And so, we commenced our plans to get out of this division – preferably upwards.
Football – as it should be 
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