Colombia. Back to playing after the cancellation of 1989 championship. Still the complicated 3-staged formula, so confusing to outside eye – Apertura, in which the 15 participants played 12 games each (!), followed by Finalizacion – which was played as a normal league championship. That is every team played twice the others to the total of 28 games. After that an Overall table was made including all games played so far – that is 40 games total – and the top 8 teams in it went to third stage or final round. Top-4 of Apertura and Finalizacion obtain bonus points for final rounds:
1 for the winners, 0.75 for 2nd place, 0.50 for 3rd placed, 0.25 for 4th
placed teams. The complicated formula is the reason the first 2 stages are omitted here, starting with the overall table.
America (Cali) won the Apertura with 19 points, followed by Independiente Santa Fe, Atletico Nacional and Millonarios – these 4 teams got bonus points, according to their final positions.
America won Finalizacion as well – with 40 points – followed by Deportivo Independiente, Bucaramanga, and Cali. These four got bonus points according to their positions.
And the combined Overall table was made, which for the bottom 7 teams was the final table and the top 8 going to the final stage.
Sporting Barranquilla (Barranquilla) – last with 22 points. Although Colombia was moving to introduce Second Division and promotion/relegation between the two top national leagues, it was not effective yet and Sporting Barranquilla remained top tier club. To row from left: Fabián Lara, Harold Freyle, Alex de Alba, Carlos Arroyo, Amado “El Gandhi” Rodríguez, Miguel Calero. Crouching: Chedy Devenich, Edison Domínguez, Adolfo Prescott, Yosvida Fuentes, Roberto Vizcaíno.
Cucuta Deprotivo (Cucuta) – 14th with 24 points. Top row from left: Luis C, Sánchez, Arsecio Correa, William Mosquera, Asdrúbal Álzate, José F. Salazar, Pedro Barbosa. First row: Francisco Cassiani, Héctor Ruiz, Carlos Guerrero, Juan Carlos Gutiérrez, Carlos Mario Molina.
Union Magdalena (Santa Marta) – 13th with 27 points.
Atletico Junior (Barranquilla) – 12th with 31 points.
Deportivo Tolima (Tolima) – 11th with 33 points.
Deportivo Pereira (Pereira) – 10th with 39 points.
Millonarios (Bogota) – 9th with 41 points. Standing from left: Sergio Goycochea,?, Cerveleón Cuesta, Wilman Conde, Eduardo Pimentel. Front: Carlos Enrique Estrada, ?, Oscar “Pájaro” Juárez, Hugo Galeano, Alberto Gamero, Freddy León.
Nothing achieved this season, but their Argentine goalkeeper suddenly became famous at the World Cup.
Cristal Caldas – or Once Caldas – was 8th with 43 points, Deportes Quindio – 7th with 44 points, Independiente Santa Fe – 6th with 45 points, Deportivo Cali – 5th with 46 points, Atletico Nacional – 4th with 47 points, Atletico Bucaramanga – 3rd with 49 points, Deportivo Independiente – 2nd with 50 points, and America, naturally, was on top with 59 points. These teams moved to the final stage.
Final stage. Here the teams with bonus points earned earlier started with them. The 8 teams were divided into 2 groups, playing twice against their group opponents. The top 2 teams in each group qualified to the Final Group, in which bonus points were carried on and after every team played against the others the group winner was declared champion of Colombia.
Semifinals:
Group A:
Deportes Quindio (Quindio) – last with 5 points.
Deportivo Cali (Cali) – 3rd with 6.25 points.
Atletico Bucaramanga – 2nd with 6.50 points and America – 1st with 9 points qualified to the final round.
Group B:
Deportivo Independiente – or DIM (Medellin) – 4th with 5.75 points.
Cristal Caldas (Manizales) – 3rd with 6 points.
Independiente Santa Fe – 2nd with 6.75 points and Atletico Nacional – 1st with 7.50 points qualified to the final.
Final Group: bonus points from the first 2 stages of the season carried on.
Independiente Santa Fe (Bogota) – 4th with 3.75 points.
Atletico Bucaramanga (Bucaramanga) – 3rd with 5.50 points.
Atletico Nacional (Medellin) – 2nd with 7.50 points.
America (Cali) – first with 11 points. They did not lose a single game at this round: 3 wins and 3 ties. Scored 12 goals, permitting only 3 in their own net. 9 points from the final round were enough for the title, but since America carried 2 bonus points from the earlier stages, they finished with total of 11 points.
Brilliant season for America – they won every stage from start to finish and were particularly strong at the very end. Interestingly, the squad was not so well known as the team their closest rival Atletico Nacional had and even compared with some earlier squads of America they lacked well-known abroad players, but these boys played stronger than star-studded formations. Perhaps their best known player was the 29-years old Uruguayan midfielder Jorge Da Silva, a newcomer, coming from Palestino (Chile). The other 2 foreigners were both hardly known Argentines: the 28-years old striker Pedro Olalla and newcomer Jorge Balbis, 29-years old defender, arriving from Rosario Central (Argentina). Famous or not, newcomers or old hands, the players blended well together, delivered strong football during the whole season and brought back to Cali the title for the first time since 1986. It was the 7th title for America and becoming second all-time best club in Colombia – they pushed Independiente Santa Fe to 3rd position (6 titles), but were still far behind Millonarios (12 titles).
Huracan Buceo finished last with 10 points and was relegated. Standing from left: Jorge González, Blas A. Romero, Gerald Britos, Heber Pais, ?, Da Silva. First row: Julio Zoppi, Gustavo Badell, Oscar Quagliatta, ?, Washington Silva.
River Plate – 13th with 19 points.
Progreso – 11th with 22 points. The 1989 champions were now down the table… not unexpected, really. Perhaps playing on two fronts – domestic and Copa Libertadores – was too much for a modest team without stars.
Wanderers – 10th with 23 points.
Rentistas – 9th with 24 points. They were the team with most draws in the championship – 14 outs of 26 games played. Second row from left: José Rey, Enrique Debéllis, Julio Lancieri, Richard Acuña, Carlos Torales, Miguel Santos. Front: Víctor Rodríguez, José Chileli, Daniel Larumbe, Juan Lombardi, Alejandro Garay.
Defensor Sporting – 8th with 27 points. Top row from left: Ruben Silva, Marcelo Tejera, Guillermo Almada, Claudio Arbiza, H. Silva Cantera, Mario Gastán. Crouching: José Chilelli, José González, Héctor Rodríguez, William Gutiérrez, Peter Méndez.
Liverpool – 7th with 29 points.
Racing – 5th with 29 points.
Central Espanol – 4th with 29 points. Second row from left: Pablo Fuentes, Marcelo Paolino, Ruben Dos Santos, Andrés Silva, Fabián Tejera, Marcelo Fracchia. Front: Luis Chabat, Gustavo Ferreira, Gustavo Sarli, Enzo Azambuja, Alfredo Nocetti.
Penarol – 3rd with 31 points.
Bella Vista triumphed with the title after very strong season: 16 wins, 7 ties, 3 losses, 34-15 goal-difference and 39 points. They left Nacional 7 points behind! Excellent season and fantastic ending: Bella Vista not only never won a title before, but nobody ever expected them to win a title – they were modest club by all means, nothing in their tradition suggested such success. And with such a margin – beating occasionally Nacional and Penarol was rare achievement to brag about for years, but to leave them in the dust was fantastic. Well deserved victory, no doubt about it, and one more name was added to the short list of clubs having won the Uruguayan title. They also contributed to the great period of the small clubs: for a fourth year now the champion was neither Nacional, nor Penarol, the title going from smallish to smaller clubs, from Defensor Sporting in 1987 to Danubio the next year, to Progreso in 1989 and now to Bella Vista. As for the squad, the new champions were anonymous just like those before them – a nice success of determined team, but also betraying the general weakness of the big clubs: by now practically all good Uruguayan players played football abroad, even Nacional and Penarol had no worthy starts – just look at their squads: the only recognizable name was the import Dely Valdez, himself not from a country known for great football and players. Thus, the underdogs got their chance.
First time and rare one at that more than deserves a second photo: here they are the 1990 champions of Uruguay Bella Vista. Instant legend for the club’s supporters, who knew quite well that a second title would be… impossible.
One more look then at heroic Bella Vista.
Miramar Misiones – 5th with 18 points. Standing from left: Romero, Néstor Goñez, Santiago Kalemkerián, Darlyn Gayol, Héctor Cedrés, Juan Tejera. Crouching: Oscar Suárez, Pablo Guidi, Fierro, Varela, Etcheverry.
Colon – 4th with 19 points. Second row from left: ?, Aldo Beninca, Ruben Alzueta, Ruben Baeque, Richard Graña, Alvaro Albacete. Front: E. Vega, Hugo R. Guerra, Marcelo Ferreira, Marcelo Morán, Alberto Correa.
Basanez – 3rd with 23 points. A curious record they had: lost only 1 match, tied 11 out of 18 total, won 6.
Sud America – 2nd with 24 points.
El Tanque Sisley – 1st with 26 points.
El Tanque Sisley was the II Division champion and promoted to First Division. Excellent achievement for a club rarely playing top league football. Top row from left: Jorge Benítez (K), Heber Bentancur (U), Washington Castelnoble, Pablo Alonso, Gerardo Pilas, Ernesto Ledesma (AC), Richard Cardozo, Ruben De León, Abel Tolosa, Freddy Pintos, Ricardo Ortiz (E).
Huachipato ended last with 21 points and went down.
Deportes Iquique – 15th with 24 points and relegated.
Everton – 14th with 24 points. Escaped direct relegation on better goal-difference – by one goal – but still threatened with relegation: going to promotion/relegation play-off.
Naval (Talcahuano) – 13th with 25 points and going to promotion/relegation play-off.
Santiago Wanderers – 12th with 26 points.
Universidad de Chile – 11th with 26 points.
Fernandez Vial – 10th with 27 points.
Cobresal – 9th with 29 points.
Deportes La Serena – 8th with 30 points.
Cobreloa – 7th with 31 points.
Deportes Concepcion – 6th with 33 points.
Palestino – 5th with 33 points.
O’Higgins – 4th with 35 points (1 point added as Copa Chile semi-finalists).
Union Espanola – 3rd with 37 points (1 point added as Copa Chile semi-finalists).
Universidad Catolica – 2nd with 38 points (1 point added as Copa Chile semi-finalists).
Colo-Colo won the championship comfortably with 46 points. 2 points were added to their record because they won Copa Chile as well, but even additional points they had significant lead. 17 wins, 10 ties, only 3 lost games, 60-22 goal-difference. Universidad Catolica scored 4 goals more than the champions, but in defensive matters Colo-Colo had no rival – they allowed only 22 goals in their net (Universidad Catolica permitted 41). Second row from left: Jaime Pizarro, Ruben Espinoza, Javier Margas, Eduardo Vilches, Lizardo Garrido, Jose Daniel Moron. Front row: Marcelo Barticciotto, Ricardo Dabrowski, Ruben Martinez, Sergio Diaz, Raul Ormeño. Not widely known names here, but no doubt very strong by Chilean standards at the time.
By itself, nothing strange Colo-Colo dominated the championship and collected one more title, so perhaps for the moment trivia catches attention more than anything else: Soviet automotive manufacturer Lada sponsored Colo-Colo
and the captain sported the German flag on his armband. Signs of the time. Trivia is trivia, but this squad was going to make itself well known far beyond Chile very soon.
General Velasquez – last with 20 points and relegated.
Deportes Arica – 4th (10th) with 28 points and to promotion/relegation play-off.
Cobreandino – 2nd (8th) with 32 points.
Soinca Bata (Melipilla) – 1st (7th) with 32 points.
Regional Atacama – 4th with 37 points.
Audax Italiano – 3rd with 38 points.
Deportes Antofagasta – 2nd with 40 and going to promotion play-offs.
Coquimbo Unido – 1st with 43 points and promoted to First Division. They won both stages of the championship.
Deportes Valdivia – last with 24 points and relegated.
Curico Unido – 5th (11th overall) with 27 points and relegated.
Deportes Linares – 4th (10th) with 27 points.
Deportes Puerto Montt – 2nd (8th) with 30 points.
Deportes Lozapenco – 1st (7th) with 32 points. They had 3 points deducted for financial irregularities.
Lota Schwager – 6th with 26 points.
Nublense – 5th with 28 points.
Deportes Temuco – 4th with 33 points.
Deportes Colchagua – 3rd with 36 points.
Rangers – 2nd with 41 points and going to promotion play-off.
Provincial Osorno – 1st with 47 points and promoted to First Division. Like the winner of the North Zone, they won both stages of the championship. Provinical Osorno also was declared champion of Second Division – it is unclear whether they played and won a play-off against the champion of the North Zone or simply because they were the team finishing with most points in both zones.
Instituto (Cordoba) finished last with 26 points. They were last in the relegation table too and went down to Second Division. Standing form left: Daniel Wermer, Ariel Catinot, César Loza, Sergio Barbieri, Víctor H. Civarelli, Héctor Arzubialde. Front: Walter Fiori, Rivero, Walter Bello, Jorge Matheu, Luna.
Deportivo Espanol – 19th with 31 points. Thanks to earlier record, they had a chance to play in the Copa Libertadores, but lost the qualification tournament. Their strong standing in the relegation table, however, canceled worries about relegation.
Racing (Cordoba) – 18th with 32 points. As mentioned, they had to play a relegation playoff, lost it and went down. Bad year for the city of Cordoba, having two of its 3 top league teams relegated. Second row for m left: Miguel A, Barrios, Lucio Del Mul, Marcelo Quiñones, Eduardo Maldonado, Víctor H. Sotomayor, Juan Bogado (uruguayan). Front: Luis Amuchástegui, Daniel A. Ergo, José A. Barrela, Américo Ozán, Juan Ramón Comas.
Chaco For Ever – 17th with 32 points. Just promoted from Second Division – which was a great success for them – they were in danger of going back to their more familiar league, but managed to stay at least for one more season after destroying Racing (Cordoba) in the relegation playoff.
Estudiantes (La Plata) – 16th with 34 points. Terrible season, really.
San Lorenzo – 15th with 35 points. Standing from left: Riquelme, G.Gonzalez, Bernuncio, Siviski, Docabo, Marchi. Crouching: Carrasco, Villarreal, Ferreyra, Tempone, Calbanese.
Platense – 14th with 36 points.
Union (Santa Fe) – 13th with 36 points.
Newell’s Old Boys – 12th with 36 points. They had 2 points deducted for fans violence. Second row from left: Franco, Martino, Scoponi, Theiler, Fullana, Pochettino. Front: Saldana, Llop, Videla, Falero, Cerino.
Talleres (Cordoba) – 11th with 36 points. Like Newell’s Old Boys, they were penalized with 2-point deduction for violence.
Deportivo Mandiyu – 10th with 36 points. Top row from left: Pedro D. Barrios (uruguayan), Dante Unali, Rubén Cousillas, Pablo Suárez, Elio Rodríguez (uruguayan), César Vega (uruguayan). Crouching: Carlos Tapia, Ricardo Perdomo (uruguayan), Juan C. Verón, Daniel Leani, Félix Torres (paraguayan). Heavily relying on foreign players.
Argentinos Juniors – 9th with 38 points.
Racing (Avellaneda) – 8th with 39 points.
Ferro Carril Oeste – 6th with 39 points.
Velez Sarsfield – 5th with 42 points. Back row from left: Coloccini, Bartero, Simeone, Giuntini, Mancuso, Lucca. Crouching: Funes, Gareca, Morresi, Zarate, Cardozo.
Rosario Central – 4th with 43 points. They had 2 points deducted for violence. Participated in the Copa Libertadores qualification tournament and lost.
Boca Juniors – 3rd with 43 points. Won the Copa Libertadores qualification tournament and thus was the second Argentine representative in the international tournament.
Independiente – 2nd with 46 points. Distant second, no chance for a title this season, but they also lost the Copa Libertadores qualification tournament and that may have been bigger disappointment.
Very strong season for River Plate. They dominated the championship, leaving all others far behind. 20 wins, 13 draws, 5 losses, 48-20 goal-difference, 53 points. They finished 7 points ahead of Independiente and won their 22nd title. May be not an exceptional squad and perhaps lacking strong goalkeeper, but compared to any other team in the league River Plate had the formidable squad and the season left no doubt about it.
Fernandez Oro from Liga Desportiva Confluencia, Rio Negro Province, Zonal Sureste, lost 0-8 to Cipolletti. Standing from left: Gastón González, Claudio Gallucci, Fernando Iglesias, Horacio López, Daniel Villarruel, Alejandro Martini. Crouching: Aníbal Iachetti, Fabio Gallucci, Hugo López, Mirko Ledesma, Nelson.
Guemes (Santiago del Estero) from Liga Santiaguena de Futbol managed a 0-0 tie in the first leg against city rivals Central Cordoba, but lost the second leg 1-3.
Atletico Concepcion from Liga Tucumana de Futbol also was unbetaen in the first leg – 0-0 away against Atletico Tucuman – but no goal was scored in the second leg – 0-0 – and third match was scheduled, in which finaly a goal was scored, but in the net of Atletico Concepcion. Atletico Tucuman won 1-0 and remained in II Division.
Deportivo Armenio was last in the season with 22 points. They were also last in the relegation table and since they were a team from Greater Buenos Aires, were directly relegated to Primera B Metropolitana. The team photo is most likely from the 1990-91 season, but since that is not entirely sure… let stay here.
Olimpo ended 21st with 30 points. They were 21st in the relegation too and subject to indirect relegation to Liga del Sur. However, there is no record of promotion/relegation ply-off, so they must have been directly relegated. Standing from left: Miguel A. Suárez, Antonio Mércuri, Alberto F. Ehulech, Alfredo E. Torres, Horacio Robledo, Daniel Ronco. Front: Alfredo Oviedo, Luis A. Díaz, Marcelo Paolucci, Francisco O. Vargas, Raúl Schmidt.
Cipolletti – 20th with 33 points. 19th in the relegation table and subjected to promotion/relegation play-off which they won and kept their league place.
Defensa y Justicia – 19th with 35 points. 15th in the relegation table and safe.
Talleres (Remedios de Escalada) – 18th with 35 points. 14th in the relegation table and safe. Second row from left: Máximo Pizzarulli, Marcos G. Leiva, Rubén Urquiza, Luis Agli, Daniel Franceschini, Walter Cuadra. Crouching: Claudio Chiodi, Omar González, Omar Castro Villasenín, Alfredo O. Videla, Aldo Noblea.
Deportivo Maipu – 17th with 35 points. 18th in the relegation table and safe.
Central Cordoba (Santiago del Estero) – 16th with 37 points. They had 2 points deducted for violence acts. 16th in the relegation table and subjected to promotion/relegation play-off, which they won and kept their place.
Los Andes – 15th with 38 points, but they were 20th in the relegation table and were directly relegated to Primera B Metropolitana. Tough luck.
Almirante Brown – 14th with 39 points. 12th in the relegation table and thus perhaps safe even after the next season, for there were others bellow them from Greater Buenos Aires.
Tigre – 13th with 41 points. 17th in the relegation table, but that was worry for the next season.
Atletico Tucuman – 12th with 43 points. 10th in the relegation table, but since geography played a role… they were the lowest from their own geographical region and went to promotion/relegation playoff – luckily, they won it and remained in the league. Standing from left: Colalillo, Suárez, Morales, Doroni, Salomón, Cáceres. First row: José L. Acosta, Lugo, Scime, Pacheco, Walter O. Jiménez.
Villa Dalmine – 11th with 44 points.
Colon – 10th with 45 points and qualified for Promotion Playoff.
Sportivo Italiano – or Deportivo Italiano – 9th with 46 points and qualified for Promotion Playoff.
Banfield – 8th with 46 points and qualified for Promotion Playoff. Standing from left: Jorge L. Ávalos, Luis A. Oriolo, Daniel Bolognese, Juan C. Doná, Andrés Lizarraga, Néstor Lo Tártaro. Front: Horacio García, Fabián Berruti, Daniel Delfino, Marcelo Martino, Marcelo Benítez.
Belgrano – 7th with 47 points and qualified to Promotion Playoff.
Atletico Rafaela – 6th with 47 points and qualified for Promotion Playoff. Second row from left: Esteban Bernasconi, Otero, Dante Fontana, Hugo Querini, Ramón Jaquet, Oscar Manis, Gustavo Alfaro. First row: Pablo Quiroga, Julián Pascual Alastuey, Juán Poelman, Víctor Grillo.
Lanus – 5th with 47 points and qualified for Promotion Playoff.
San Martin (Tucuman) – 4th with 48 points and qualified for Promotion Playoff.
Douglas Haig – 3rd with 51 points and qualified for Promotion Playoff.
Quilmes – 2nd with 53 points and qualified for Promotion Playoff. Standing from left: Carlos Karabin, Hugo Ayala, Héctor Almandoz, Alberto Rodriguez, Emilio Kalujerovich, Carlos Castagneto. Front: Abel Blason, Jorge Gáspari, Omar Gomez, Luis Ernesto Sosa, Marcelo Rufini.
Huracan won the championship with 60 points. 24 wins, 12 ties, 6 losses, 70-32 goal-difference. Confident winners and promoted back to top flight, where they more or less rightly belonged. Standing from left: Cúper, Wiktor, Puentedura, Brítez, Montero, Amodeo. First row: Wolheim, Mohamed, Herrero, Carrió, Saturno.
Deportivo Laferrere was eliminated by Lanus 1-2 and 1-1.
Deportivo Moron was eliminated by Atletico Rafaela 0-1 and 2-1. Why they were eliminated is a mystery – both opponents won their away leg and since Deportivo Moron scored 2 away goals, they should have been going up. If away goal rule was not applied, then a third match should have been played. But no and they were out.
Atlanta lost to San Martin 2-3 and 0-4.
Thus Lanus earned promotion to First Division, a great success for them. Was it fair is an academic question… they were only 5th at the end of the regular championship. Yet, they benefited by the rules and rules are rules, so promotion was great at the end. Standing from left: Cordero, Meske, Alcides Herrera, Schurrer, Armando González. First row: Bertolini, Bidevich, Néstor González, Guillermo Alonso, Angelello, Villagrán.
Huracan (Buenos Aires) was the Second Division champion and even if they were a far cry from the great team led by Luis Cesar Menotti more than 15 years ago, they were winners and climbing up – returning to First Division was all the old and respected club craved at the moment and they triumphed.
Cruzeiro – 9th. Standing from left: Paulo César, Gilson Jader, Adilson, Balu, Roberson, Eduardo Souza. First row: Heider, Paulo Isidoro, Luiz Gustavo, Careca, Édson.
Goias – 10th.
Flamengo – 11th.
Botafogo – 12th.
Nautico – 13th.
Vasco da Gama – 14th.
Fluminense – 15th.
Inter (Porto Alegre) – 16th. Standing from left: Cézar Zabala, Elisha Erhart, Maicena, Norberto Arruda Lemos, Chiquinho Junior, Daniel Franco. Crouching: Bernardo Silva, Marcelo Gonçalves Prates, Guga Goleta Pavarotti, Nélson Bali, Edu Lima XI.
Vitoria – 17th.
Portuguesa – 18th. May be a photo of the period, if not of the actual season. Standing from left: Paulo César, Gilmar, Edinho, Jorginho, Capitão, Norberto. Front: Zé Roberto, Caio, Paulinho Mc Laren, Zinho, Nílson.
Sao Jose – 19th and relegated. Really unfortunate – they ended in the relegation on goal-difference .
Inter (Limeria) – last and out. They were the weakest team this season and deserved relegation.
Atletico Mineiro was eliminated by Corinthians 1-2 and 0-0.
Santos lost to Sao Paulo 0-1 and 1-1.
Palmeiras lost to Gremio 1-0 and 0-2.
Bragantino lost to Bahia 1-1 and 2-3. Standing from left: Luis Carlos Prima (Prep. Físico), Gil Baiano, Biro-Biro, Carlos Augusto, Mauro Silva, Marcelo. Crouching: Ivair, Tiba, Mário, Mazinho, João Santos.
Gremio lost to Sao Paulo 0-2 and 1-0. Standing from left: Mazaropi, Vilson, Alfinete. Luis Cláudio, Jandir, Hélcio. First row: Caio, Cuca, Nilson, Paulo Egidio, Assis.
Bahia eliminated by Corinthians 1-2 and 0-0.
Sad ending of the season, but they lost both final legs. As a squad, a bit short on big names and perhaps that was the reason they lost.
Marvelous season for Corinthians – Brazilian champions at last and the victory was square and fair – they won both legs of the final. Long wait, lost first attempt in 1976, but this time they were on top. Compared to other teams – and not just Sao Paulo, but perhaps 4-5 other clubs – Corinthians had no big stars and that made the victory even better. They were unable to win with Socrates – which is sad – but without him they won the title.
First time champions – a historic moment. And what delight for club, players and mostly the fans longing for big triumph so many years. At last one of the most popular and respected Brazilian clubs put its name in the list of champions and beating their bitter city rivals Sao Paulo was just wonderful.
Coritiba going down. It was not long ago they were champions of Brazil… and now relegated to third level. But the rules were changed meantime and Cortitba stayed in Seria B. Fair? No, but Brazilian football politics are special case.
End of season for Rio Branco.
Initially America was going down, then rules changed in their favour.
Short season for Santa Cruz.
Botafogo (Ribeirao Preto) and Socrates finished at this stage.
Gremio (Maringa) – last in the group.
Ceara – last.
Unlucky Itaperuna.
Remo – last in the group.
Guarani knew better days. Now the attempt to return to first level football failed.
Catuense tried hard, but their failure was more or less expected.
Operario.
Atletico Paranaense – unbeaten at the final, but losers… kind of losers, for they were promoted to Serie A, so the season was more than satisfying.
Sport (Recife) – champions of Serie B. Questionable champions, for they were unable to prevail over Atletico Paranaense, but rules are rules. Yes, the rules were a bit strange, but even if the widely employed away-goal rule was in force, they would have been champions, so… only third match or penalty shoot-out could could have produced different winner. All that is purely academic, though – promotion was the most important aim and it was already achieved before the final. A trophy was not hurting, though.
Auto Esporte
Londrina
ABC
Figueirense
Gama
Goiania
Mogi Mirim
Novorizontino
Confianca
Taguatinga
Volta Redonda
Campinense. A title is a title, going along with promotion up. Effectively, Campinense played by the existent rules and fairly promoted, so may be they were not all that happy to see the second level enlarged and teams which they left behind going up along with them.