The VI Copa Brasil was easier to comprehend because the size was cut in half and the formula somewhat simplified. In the First Phase 40 teams were divided into 4 groups, where one-leg round robin was played. The first 7 teams of each group qualified to the Second Phase. No surprises here – it could be said that the current formula favoured the big clubs: after 9 matches against mostly weaker clubs, early elimination of a big club was almost impossible.
The Second Phase divided the qualified teams into 8 groups of 4 teams each. Which makes 32 and only 28 qualified. Four teams from the Second Level were included at this stage of the championship – America FC (Sao Joao do Rio Preto), Americano FC (Campos), Bangu (Rio de Janeiro), and Sport (Recife). Unless these clubs qualified to move from Level 2 to Level 1 the previous year, there was no particular reason for their inclusion. As it turned out, their presence was just making the numbers right. Sport (Recife) finished best of the newcomers – 3rd, but not really close to qualifying 2nd place. Every group played 2-legged round robin tournament, the top two teams qualifying for the Third Phase. No surprises at this stage either – in most groups the big clubs left their modest opponents far behind. The only problem was Group I, where two teams finished with identical records: 2 2 2 5-6 6 points each. Guarani (Campinas) and America (Rio de Janeiro) had to play a tiebreaker for the 2nd place – Guarani prevailed 3-2 and qualified for the next stage.
The Third Phase had 16 teams, divided into 4 groups, where one-legged round robin was played and the group winner moved to the semi-finals. Only one unknown club reached this stage of the championship:
Associação DESPORTIVA Ferroviária (Cariacica). Their run ended at this stage – they finished 3rd in their group.
Goal difference decided the winners of two groups: Atletico Mineiro had better one than Vasco da Gama in Group M. One goal better. Group P ended curiously – Coritiba and Gremio were on top with 4 points each, but Gremio had negative goal-difference: 2-5. Cortiba was easily first with their minimal, yet positive record 2-1. The highest scorers – Corinthians with Socrates – had excellent goal-difference – 6-2 – but only 3 points and ended 3rd.
Gremio – to say they were unlucky would be too much: they received much more goals than they scored. Quite surprising underperformance from a team made of Leao, nelinho, Dirceu, Paulo Isidoro, and Baltazar.
Inter (Porto Alegre) was the strongest at this stage – they were the only team winning all their matches. There was little to complain at this point: since only 4 teams were going ahead, it was normal that most big clubs would be eliminated by their peers. Coritiba was the only ‘lesser’ club reaching the semi-finals.
Coritiba lost both legs against Flamengo – 0-2 at home and 3-4 in Rio. Zico scored both goals in the first match and Nunes, the other current star of Flamengo, scored 2 goals in the second leg.
Coritiba – the weakest ½ finalist. Otherwise great run this season.
The other semifinal was more dramatic – after the first leg Inter was the likelier winner: they managed 1-1 tie away. But Atletico Mineiro came strong in Porto Alegre and destroyed Inter in front of its home crowd 3-0. Reinaldo and Eder scored all goals for Atletico – Reinaldo scored a goal in both matches, Eder scored twice in Porto Alegre. Cleo scored the single goal for Inter.
One version of 1980 Inter – Cleo is missing here. A team just a bit short of winners – semifinalists in the Brazilian championship and losing finalist in Copa Libertadores.
And the big final was between Atletico Mineiro and Flamengo. The first official champion of Brazil vs the most popular, but empty-handed on national scale, club. A battle between Reinaldo and Zico. Perhaps the final was more important for the White Pele, who was playing since 1970 – the beginning of the national Brazilian championship – but never winning the title. Reinaldo was newer and lesser star than Zico, but he was the current leader of Atletico Mineiro and was worth his status: he scored in the opening leg the single, but winning, goal for his team. Atletico Mineiro went to Rio with small advantage, but advantage – goals counted less in South America than in Europe. As it turned out, they counted for almost nothing. Reinaldo scored 2 more goals in the second match, but Nunes also scored twice and Zico delivered a third goal for the home team. 3-2. By the away goals rule Atletico should have been champion. By the usual South American rules, counting only victories, a third match should have been staged. But there was a champion declared right away and it Flamengo. Why? Because they had better semi-final record… So, Coritiba made Flamengo champions… one could wonder what would have been, if Atletico Mineiro also won twice in the semis.
One of the worthless – as it turned out – goal Reinaldo scored.
Nunes scores.
One more for Flamengo – devastated vertical stripes and triumphal horizontal stripes.
Great joy – a goal that counts. Flamengo won a difficult victory and the championship along with it.
Champions at last! First title for Flamengo, received in front of their delirious supporters. Hardly fair victory, but let Atletico Mineiro sulk – it was Flamengo’s night.
Ten years earlier, Atletico Mineiro was new and surprising name to the Europeans – in 1980 it was familiar, although still a bit mysterious. Those, who followed the development of the team since 1970 knew that Atletico Mineiro always managed to keep strong team with few stars for good measure. In 1980 the big name was Reinaldo – so big, observers still call the match Flamengo vs Reinaldo. But he was not alone: there were Joao Leite, Vantuir, and Valdemir, the second layer of Brazilian stars, who hardly ever made the national team because of fierce competition, but had great reputations nevertheless. Palhinha (not on the photo) was also there, plus Paulo Isidoro. And two bright youngsters, rapidly climbing up the football ladder – Toninho Cerezo and Eder (not on the photo). Both will be known around the world very soon and will be two of the most influential players of the 1980s. Judging by the names, Atletico Mineiro perhaps had stronger squad than Flamengo. But they lost. It was unjust decision, but rules are rules… the fact remains: Atletico Mineiro lost the title because of stronger semi-final opponent.
Champions at last: standing from left: Andrade, Marinho, Raul, Rondinelli, Carlos Alberto, Junior.
Crouching: Tita, Adilio, Nunes, Zico, Julio Cesar.
Coached by Coutinho, Flamengo had strong season indeed and perhaps deserved to win its first title. But their triumph was a bit tainted by the rule applied – to a point, the title was given ,not actually earned. And perhaps their squad was a bit weaker than Atletico Mineiro’s – good players, no doubt, but the real strength of the team was its attacking line – Zico, Nunes, and Tita. A good keeper by Brazilian standards – Raul. A bright young star, pushing his way up and up – Junior. Hardly a great squad, but that was the reality of Brazilian football – even the biggest clubs were unable to afford 11-12 great players on their payroll. Yet, Flamengo had a player making a difference, no matter the shortcomings of his teammates: Zico. He was no longer a promising youngster, but a true superstar at his prime. The victory of Flamengo was great mostly because of him – the greatest current Brazilian player had to wait almost 10 years until winning the title. To a point, it was the final recognition of his greatness: after all, a true star wins and so far he did not. Zico won at last, helped by a forward, who looked like the next big thing in Brazilian football – Nunes. His goals at the final were instrumental for the title and he was nicknamed ‘Artilheiro das Decisoes’. The Brazilian title rarely came to Rio de Janeiro so far, but victory of Flamengo hardly made the whole city proud. However, it made Flamengo’s long suffering fans proud at last – and they are the biggest number of fans in Brazil. Fair, unfair, at the end, it was victory for Zico and Brazil – can’t beat that.
The aftermath of the championship was the final table – unlike any other in the world, of course. Teams played different number of games, so naturally those with more matches earned more points and ended up higher. But four teams played fewer matches than anybody else and earned the least points – yet, they were ranked higher than 12 other clubs. Those were the newcomers from Level 2, which started – and finished – at the Second Phase of the championship. Because they started at higher phase, they were ranked higher than those eliminated in the First Phase, although they earned fewer points and played only 6 games. At he bottom finished Maranhao.
Not a club worth mentioning, really. They won zero matches, tied 4, and lost 5 in the First Phase. Their worse goal-difference placed them last – Flamengo PI had the same points, but slightly better goal-difference. At the top of the table were the finalists – nothing surprising: they went to the end, played the most games, earned the most points. The semifinalists all were placed at the top 4 places – thanks to their progression, because when it came to points Coritiba had a point less than Corinthians (5th). Corinthians had the same points as Internacional – 27 – and better goal-difference too, but Inter and Coritiba stepped down at the semifinals, reaching higher stage than Corinthians, thus, ended placed above. As a whole, it was a championship suspiciously designed for the big clubs – they all finished high in the final table. Which meant guaranteed participation in the next championship. But what meant to be at the bottom? Level 2 played for two promotional spots – yet, the promoted from the previous season were not originally included in the Level 1 participants: they still played Level 2. However, they were included in the Second Phase of Level 1 championship as well – thus, playing in two different championships in the same year. What about the next season, then? Were the bottom placed teams relegated? Level 1 formula and number of participating teams changed every year. Most likley the final table meant absolutely nothing, except providing some statistical order of the seasonal performance of Level 1 clubs. It was even a bit of a joke: if Flamengo’s title gave a bitter taste to many, look again at the so-called final table – in it Atletico Mineiro finishes with better record than Flamengo. Both teams had equal points, but Atletico Mineiro had more wins and better goal-difference. And as a final weirdness, one match was not even included in the final record – the tiebreaker between Guarani and America (Rio de Janeiro) was excluded. In reality it did not matter either… since it ended in a tie, goal-difference was the tiebreaker after all. Only in Brazil… try telling that to the happy fans of Flamengo.