Second phase. 4 groups of 4 teams each, the group winners qualify to the sem-finals.
Group E
1-Atlético-MG 6 3 3 0 7- 3 9 Qualified
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2-Guarani (Campinas – SP) 6 1 4 1 9- 5 6 Note the goalkeeper – Waldir Peres: he played for two clubs this championship. South American lax transfer rules… making it difficult to establish actual squads.
3-Ponte Preta (Campinas – SP) 6 1 4 1 4- 3 6
4-CSA (Maceio – AL) 6 0 3 3 1-10 3
Group F
1-Brasil (Pel.) 6 4 1 1 11- 4 9 Qualified
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2-Flamengo (Rio de Janeiro – RJ) 6 2 3 1 7- 5 7 Standing from left: Cantareli, Leandro, Mozer, Jorginho, Andrade, Adalberto. First row: Bebeto, Adilio, Chiquinho, Gilmar Popoka (?), Marquino Carioca (?). There was to the list of names: the Argentinian great goalkeeper Fillol, Tita, Nunes, Elder. Such players and look at the final table…
3-Ceará (Fortaleza – CE) 6 1 3 2 5-12 5
4-Bahia (Salvador -BA) 6 1 1 4 8-10 3
Group G
1-Coritiba 6 3 2 1 5- 3 8 Qualified
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2-Sport (Recife – PE) 6 2 3 1 7- 6 7
3-Joinville (Joinville – SC) 6 2 1 3 8- 7 5
4-Corinthians (Sao Paolo – SP) 6 1 2 3 3- 7 4 Another team to wonder why gone – half team current national team players, one Uruguayan international, Biro-Biro was a big star for years, Juninho already among the regulars.
Group H
1-Bangu 6 4 2 0 13- 5 10 Qualified
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2-Internacional (Porto Alegre – RS) 6 2 3 1 9- 7 7 May be not very solid squad, but strong enough. On paper. Standing from left: Luis Carlos, Gilmar, Ademir, Mauro, Galvao, Luis. Crouching: Silvio, Fernando, Kita, Pas, Silvinho.
3-Vasco da Gama (Rio de Janeiro – RJ) 6 1 3 2 9- 9 5
4-Mixto (Cuiaba – MT) 6 0 2 4 4-14 2
Semi-finals: very unusual names. If history serves enough – since it did when deciding who will participate in the championship – Atletico Mineiro should have been instant winner. The city of Pelotas had no big enough stadium for the occasion and Brasil had to play its home leg in Porto Alegre, for God’s sake! But history has little to do with football – it does not win games.
Brasil (Pelotas – RS) lost both legs to Bangu: 0-1 and 1-3.
The semi-finals were the end of the road for Atletico Mineiro (Belo Horizonte – MG) as well: they lost to Coritiba 0-1 and 0-0.
The big final was to be decided between two very unlikely contenders: Bangu, a second-rate club in Rio de Janeiro pecking order, and Coritiba, which was well known and respected name, but also did not rank first-rate club on national scale. Since Bangu had better seasonal record, the final was to be played in Rio de Janeiro. This decision put Coritiba immediately to big disadvantage, for Rio was not just home turf to Bangu, but now the city pride was at stake as well and supporters of all big Rio clubs flocked to the stadium to cheer for Bangu. Hostile crowd met Coritiba, but they did not flinch.
The final was not particularly great match, but it tough and highly competitive.
Relentless battle, in which eventually goals were scores.
Brief footage of the game suggests 3 or 4 goals – there is cheering and no immediate sequence showing different decision made before or after scoring. However, it was 1-1 at the final whistle.
One thing was sure – both teams did their best keeping their own net from the ball. The result was 1-1 after the extra-time, the goals scored by Lulinha (Bangu) and Indio (Curitiba).
Penalty shoot-out. It went for a while until Bangu missed and it was 5-6.
Trembling with fear and hope and payers have been answered at last. Marinho missed, Gomes scored.
The great rush to celebrate with their own goalkeeper
Pure joy
Receiving the trophy and
making the triumphal lap of honour. Coritiba won the championship of Brazil.
Bangu AC (Rio de Janeiro) was unfortunate and the whole city grieved to some degree, but it was equal game from start to finish. Neither finalist deserved to lose, neither deserved to win and Lady Luck decided against Bangu. They had wonderful spell this year – it was not just the Brazilian championship: they reached the final of the Rio championship as well, but with their predicament reaching finals was the most they can do, even overachieving doing so. A secondary Rio club, Bangu had no chance hiring big names, even on temporary basis. Goalkeeper Gilmar was just about the only big addition to rather anonymous squad – and Gilmar was not first-rate star. It was too bad Bangu lost, for it was highly unlikely they could reach another final, but what can you do: it was a final of underdogs. Even home turf advantage and vast support did not help – the opposition played well under pressure.
And just because Bangu will not appear again at this stage, one more look at the losing finalists.
Coritiba FC (Curitiba – Parana) won its very first national title! A great achievement, although it was a matter of luck, rather then anything. Like Bangu, they were underdogs – fairly well known club, but provincial and on national-scale ranking, a second-tier at best. Kings at home, but only that. A club founded by German immigrants and not permitting black players originally, but that was in the very distant past. The misspelled name of the city, after which the club was named remained – a curious mistake, considering how meticulously proper Germans are in such matters. Almost as a joke, it is Coritiba from Curitiba, but there was nothing funny about them this year. A glance back to the early months of the season hardly suggest success: Coritiba qualified in the first stage of the long championship, but entirely missed the second stage: the only successful club to fail like that this season. Looked like quick decline… but whatever it was, there was no more weakness to the very end. As a squad, they were not much – not a single big name. Familiar names were also absent – may be Indio, may be Edson, but that was all. However, the boys played fine as a team – at least at the final, where they met equally pedestrian squad. If one of the big teams played against them at the final who knows – probably Coritiba was going to be outclassed and lose, but Bangu was fair game.
It was great moment, surely – Grande Coritiba: champions could not be anything, but ‘grande’. Back in Parana, in Curitiba, among their own supporters, in the club’s annals – ‘grande’. In Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte – hardly ‘grande’, more likely an usurper… but it was great lesson as well: a team without any recognizable player won the title when those having world-famous stars did not reach even the semi-finals. Unfortunately, Coritiba was not a team capable of long-lasting domination – it was going to be one-time-wonder. And it was… so far, Coritiba did not add another title.
Lastly, the meaningless ‘final’ table of the season:
1-Coritiba 29 12 7 10 25-27 31
2-Bangu 31 20 8 3 55-23 48
3-Brasil (Pel.) 30 14 8 8 48-33 36
4-Atlético-MG 28 13 9 6 37-23 35
5-Sport 28 20 5 3 49-16 45
6-Ponte Preta 28 13 12 3 41-21 38
7-Ceará 28 14 8 6 39-29 36
8-Joinville 28 13 6 9 36-23 32
9-Flamengo-RJ 26 11 8 7 40-23 30
10-Internacional 26 11 8 7 36-23 30
11-Vasco da Gama 26 11 8 7 37-31 30
12-Bahia 26 11 7 8 35-29 29
13-CSA 28 10 9 9 33-29 29
14-Mixto 28 10 9 9 27-36 29
15-Guarani 26 8 13 5 36-26 29
16-Corinthians 26 9 9 8 27-22 27
17-Paysandu 22 8 9 5 26-21 25
18-Nacional 22 10 4 8 39-29 24
19-Botafogo-PB 22 7 10 5 21-23 24
20-Brasília 22 8 7 7 22-22 23
21-Pinheiros 22 7 9 6 21-17 23
22-Fluminense 20 7 7 6 24-21 21
23-Grêmio 20 6 9 5 25-21 21
24-Botafogo-RJ 20 9 2 9 26-36 20
25-Náutico 20 8 4 8 25-28 20
26-Santos 20 7 6 7 23-25 20
27-São Paulo 20 7 6 7 36-39 20
28-Vila Nova-GO 22 7 6 9 25-34 20
29-Cruzeiro 20 5 8 7 23-22 18
30-Palmeiras 20 5 8 7 28-28 18
31-Leônico 22 7 3 12 21-33 17
32-Desportiva 22 7 3 12 18-30 17
33-Uberlândia 22 6 5 11 26-26 17
34-ABC 22 6 5 11 27-33 17
35-Goiás 20 5 6 9 21-27 16
36-Flamengo-PI 22 5 5 12 14-24 15
37-Villa Nova-MG 22 5 5 12 18-31 15
38-Portuguesa 20 4 7 9 19-26 15
39-Remo 22 5 4 13 19-38 14
40-América-RJ 20 4 5 11 19-31 13
41-Corumbaense 22 4 5 13 16-37 13
42-Sampaio Corrêa 22 2 8 12 24-43 12
43-Santa Cruz 20 4 3 13 21-47 11
44-Sergipe 22 3 5 14 15-37 11
Meaningless record, but one can mediate on it: Coritiba lost 10 games – Bangu and Sport only 3 games each. Further, Coritiba won the title with negative scoring balance: 25-27. Something possible in complicated championship structures, but not plausible for a winning team. Less than one-goal-per-game average – also not something to brag about: champions should score more. As a whole, low scoring this year – a dismal record, really, and that in a country famous for her strikers!