CWC Final: santos vs barcelona

Catracho wrote:

Irish_Catalan_Scouser wrote:

leemhuis wrote:Rio 12 million people in metro area
Sao Paulo 19 million in metro area

Portugal 10 million people
Netherlands 16 million people


Rio and Sao Paulo can have a leagues alone bigger or same as Portugal or Netherlands.

High population does not mean better leagues/players etc.

Just take Uruguay NT for example.

too bad our players and leagues are better than Uruguays lol.

I misread his post in the first place, so I'm not making sense.

I just finished watching the ENTIRE Santos-Kashiwa game.

Nerman and Ganso were a joy to watch as usual. Ganso's composure on the ball is sensational. Never panics and nearly always uses it well. Still not sure attacking misfield is his best position though. Don't think he has the athleticism for it.

Unlike alot of people on here I personally thought Nerman had a great game. Sure his great goal aside, he never truly threatened Kashiwa's defence but he almost single-handedly started every single one of Santos' attacks. Great to see he's developed his game even further over the past year. Like Messi he doesn't need to score to have an impact on a game. Outstanding talent.

Was impressed by Danilo (again) and Sacchi (sp?) too. Good to see attacking fullbacks haven't completely died out yet.

Don't think Santos have a chance in the final though unfortunately. Would truly be a miracle if they get more than 20% of possession against Barca.

20%?a bit exaggerated Gil.....internacional won vs barca and estudiantes gave them a run for their money on barcelona's past 2 cwc finals,Santos can pull something out specially with nerman and ganso(even though its unlikely)

Interesting point about Ganso's position, Gil.

Brazil fans see Hernanes as CM and Ganso as AM, it seems I'm the only one to think it's just the opposite.

At last i was right

Catracho wrote:

rsinatra wrote:

aford92 wrote:Can some of the Brazilians on here describe to me how Brazilian domestic football works? When you manage there on FM there are 2 league championships, The State Championships and Serie A. Why is there more than one league championship each season? and Which one is more prestigious?

i know people have already explained it to you, but here's some extra info: many people, including me, don't think the state championships should exist anymore. they are a waste of time for the big teams, and the smaller teams are, unfortunately, disappearing, because now many of the small town people are rooting for the bigger teams from the state capitals, etc. it is tradition, and it's good for some of the local rivalry, but the greedy people who sponsor it have gone mad. for example, in sao paulo state they have decided to make a mini league out of it, with waaaaay too many teams, it's really boring, because most of them are pretty bad ones, who aren't even in the serie c or something. the quality level of most of these championships is really low.

without the state championships, we would have the chance of a much better calendar in brazil, say copa do brasil + brasileirao league happening simultaneously, so that the copa do brasil winner doesn't lose the interest for the league as it generally happens (because both the winner of the copa do brasil and the brasileirao top 4 qualify for the libertadores), and so on. and then CONMEBOL should move the copa sudamericana to happen simultaneously with the libertadores. it sounds like a lot, but if they can manage to schedule all these cups and leagues in europe, it should be possible in brazil!!

anyway, if state championsips should exist, they should be made into more divisions with a more limited number of teams, so that it doesn't take so much time.

Ya... but I still lol whenever a team loses to some small club from like Paulista Serie A. (which is like division 5-6)

yeah, it's fun.. it still doesn't mean that the championship should exist because of that .

leemhuis wrote:

Irish_Catalan_Scouser wrote:

leemhuis wrote:Rio 12 million people in metro area
Sao Paulo 19 million in metro area

Portugal 10 million people
Netherlands 16 million people


Rio and Sao Paulo can have a leagues alone bigger or same as Portugal or Netherlands.

High population does not mean better leagues/players etc.

Just take Uruguay NT for example.

It explain why before Rio and Sao Paulo have city leagues. Many people supporting many clubs in each city. Only rare meetings between clubs of different city before Serie A in Brazil.

In the past, those state championships were very strong indeed. They even had a tournament called "Rio-São Paulo" which was even more exciting. But not anymore. All of these clubs were kind of angry in 1971 when the Brazilian league started, because they suddenly had to make long trips and play against teams they'd never heard of before. Now it's more balanced, but we still have states who are complete virgins (aka have never been to Serie A, or even Serie B).

In São Paulo, they have 6 Serie A teams right now: Santos, São Paulo, Corinthians, Palmeiras, Portuguesa and Ponte Preta. (the last two just got promoted from Serie B). 6 out of 20 is actually still a lot.

From Rio we have Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense, and Vasco.

Then we have Sport and Náutico from Pernambuco state (both just got promoted).

Atlético-MG and Cruzeiro from Minas Gerais state.

Bahia from Bahia state.

Internacional and Grêmio from Rio Grande do Sul state.

Figueirense from Santa Catarina state.

Coritiba from Paraná state.

and Atlético-GO from Goiás state.

Funkentelechy wrote:Interesting point about Ganso's position, Gil.

Brazil fans see Hernanes as CM and Ganso as AM, it seems I'm the only one to think it's just the opposite.

People compare Ganso's style to the late Sócrates, who was somehow a sort of AM. Socrates was a drinker and a smoker (not athletic at all), he was WAAAAAAAY too tall, with very small feet, and yet he was part of the 1982 Brazil and one of the biggest football legends in our country, and perhaps one of the top-3 most original ones.

So, Ganso doesn't smoke, probably doesn't drink, isn't as tall as Socrates, trains more and is physically more prepared for the game.. I don't see why he can't succeed as a CAM. Of course, he's still far from being what Socrates was, but anyway, you'd be surprised to what football does to people who clearly aren't fit for other things (Garrincha and his crooked legs for example wouldn't have been able to play any other sport).

Sao Paulo dominate Brazilian futebol... but recently Carioca teams have been stepping up, if it wasn't for Corinthians a Carioca team (Vasco) woulda made it 3 Carioca teams in a row to win the league. (Flamengo & Fluminense)

also there are some big teams that aren't in Serie A. Goias, Atletico Paranaense, Ceara, Fortaleza, Avai, Santa Cruz, and Vitoria. Very big league we have.

Catracho wrote:Sao Paulo dominate Brazilian futebol... but recently Carioca teams have been stepping up, if it wasn't for Corinthians a Carioca team (Vasco) woulda made it 3 Carioca teams in a row to win the league. (Flamengo & Fluminense)

also there are some big teams that aren't in Serie A. Goias, Atletico Paranaense, Ceara, Fortaleza, Avai, Santa Cruz, and Vitoria. Very big league we have.

True that. I hope Santa Cruz continue their good campaign to return at least to série B in 2013, they are a team of strong tradition. Vitória too.

Hell, even Pará state has some real traditional teams that unfortunately have been decreasing in quality and fame because of money. Remo and Paysandu.

we all remember Paysandu in the Copa Libertadores..and Santa Cruz have one of the biggest fan bases and attendance sin all of Brazil.. they averaged somewhere like 30k a game this past season.. even had a game where 50k showed up.

thats a real fanbase.

btw, I was watching the latest Cartão Verde, and they talked about how the CWC would be more exciting if the final was played over two legs like it used to be in the 60's. One in each country.

It would be tiring, perhaps less fair, etc, but much more fun. The stadium can be so boring in Japan. The semi-final was filled with so-called Japanese Barca fans, and yet it was so quiet that you could hear the players yelling on the pitch. No singing, yelling, nothing at all.

Luckily there are over 1000 Santos fans that came from Brazil, so in our match you could hear some singing..

If both teams played at home, the atmospheres would be incredible.

But of course, it's impossible to fit it in nowadays' schedule. And now there are other teams from other continents.....

btw, I was watching the latest Cartão Verde, and they talked about how the CWC would be more exciting if the final was played over two legs like it used to be in the 60's. One in each country.

It would be tiring, perhaps less fair, etc, but much more fun. The stadium can be so boring in Japan. The semi-final was filled with so-called Japanese Barca fans, and yet it was so quiet that you could hear the players yelling on the pitch. No singing, yelling, nothing at all.

Luckily there are over 1000 Santos fans that came from Brazil, so in our match you could hear some singing..

If both teams played at home, the atmospheres would be incredible.

But of course, it's impossible to fit it in nowadays' schedule. And now there are other teams from other continents.....

Thanks to everyone that explained the domestic football scene in Brazil. Much appreciated.

SANTOoooooooooooooS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this game is going to be MASSIVE. It's not just another mickey mouse cup game.

the game is at 5:30 AM here!! i think i'll stay up to watch it!! for the first time, i kinda feel like neutral fan, more leaning to fellow european club

ijomer wrote:the game is at 5:30 AM here!! i think i'll stay up to watch it!! for the first time, i kinda feel like neutral fan, more leaning to fellow european club

lol i always stayed up when santos had to play at the libertadores, which is usually like 2 am here. i dont think it'll be possible next year :/

But today it's going to be at 11:30am, so that's alright .

I can understand your feeling for the fellow european club.. i always root for the south americans

rsinatra wrote:

ijomer wrote:the game is at 5:30 AM here!! i think i'll stay up to watch it!! for the first time, i kinda feel like neutral fan, more leaning to fellow european club

lol i always stayed up when santos had to play at the libertadores, which is usually like 2 am here. i dont think it'll be possible next year :/

But today it's going to be at 11:30am, so that's alright .

I can understand your feeling for the fellow european club.. i always root for the south americans

(that support was a jinxer!!)

T- 45 mins!! can't wait

Mundo Deportivo is reporting 9 canteranos + alves and abidal. I'm thinking this is the lineup
Valdes
Alves Puyol Pique Abidal
Busquets
Xavi Thiago
Messi Cesc Iniesta

What time is it? uk or paris time

All 11 players who don't start and are in Japan will be on the bench and can come on as sub. santos with expected team except for elano not starting, neymar and ganso lead the team in attack, centre-back edu dracena captain

I hope Barcelona loses somehow.

Any chat available?

Here we go

NERMAN

Visca el barca!!!

Best chance so far for Santos.

Ffs NERMAN..l he should have passed. Thiago dive