So difficult to measure success and fame – of course, many Brazilian clubs were traditional powerhouses in their native states and also participated regularly in the national championship, alas, barely noticed. Yet, sometimes they performed stronger than famous clubs… but in the vast river of Brazilian football that meant almost nothing…
Colorado – strong in their state, but ranked 31st in the national championship this season.
Brasilia – hailing from weak part in terms of football, 73rd in the national championship, but compared to famous Santos, not even playing at national level?
Gama – champions of Distrito Federal. Coming straight from the capital of Brazil, yet a club which was internationally kind of heard of years later – in the 1990s. 48th in the 1979 national championship.
Ferroviario – once again champions of Ceara. 69th in the national championship.
It is impossible to measure what was more important – local success or national one. One thing was to win the championship of, say, Distrito Federal, but quite another to win the Paulista championship. Yet, they were championships on equal level. It could be said that famous clubs often put more effort in their state championship and neglected the national one. Or compensated weak national performance with local success – or the other way around.
Bahia – five consecutive titles at home. 50th in the national championship.
And what about Gremio?
Winners of the tough Gaucho championship, full of stars: Paulo Cesar Lima, Dirceu, Ancheta, Baltazar, Tarciso, Vantuir… Eder on his way to become a world famous star… ever present Manga adding one more title to his name… certainly a strong team, stronger than most. 22nd in the national championship… in any other country such place meant second division… in Brazil it meant Gremio was much weaker than Uberlandia, 9th, a club nobody heard of… or so it seems. The failure on national scale was pushed aside… the importance of winning Gaucho championship emphasized… and may be rightly.