Second division – Taca de Prata. 46 teams took part in the second level championship – 36, divisded into 6 groups started. The 12 teams, last in the first phase of Taca de Ouro, joined Taca de Prata in its 3rd phase. The group winners in the second phase moved up to continue in the second phase of Taca de Ouro. Strange rules and structure – the winner of Taca de Ouro promoted to first level for the next year, but group winners of the second stage of the same championship going up in the same year, but there was some common sense: a glance at the participants in the second level reveals many familiar names. Familiar, but traditionally second-rate clubs. But the national championship gave quota to all Brazlilian states and they were very different when it came to football – thus, inevitably, obscure clubs started in the top level and well known clubs, mostly from Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Minas Gerais, were in the second level – since they were stronger than many of the top level starters, it made sense to give them a chance to compete at top level. If they were able to qualify. On the other hand, common sense was running thin – it was possible a team starting in second level to finish the year as Brazilian champion. The system catered largely to the big clubs, carrying tons of clout, but the first cracks appeared: poor performance in the previous season put Palmeiras in the second level.
They started in Group D with Anápolis FC (Anápolis-GO), CA Juventus (São Paulo-SP), CE Operário Varzeagrandense (Várzea Grande-MT), Vila Nova FC (Goiânia-GO), and Volta Redonda FC (Volta Redonda-RJ). And finished 4th… since only the top 2 teams of each first phase group qualified for the next stage, Palmeiras was out. Clout or no clout, performance was the measure. Couldn’t blame anybody, but themselves.
Others early finishers were not at the same level of fame.
4th in Group B
Comercial (Campo Grande, MS) was 5th in Group E. To a point, some early losers ring a bell, but only that – nothing like Palmeiras.
The second phase reached Tiradentes (Teresina, PI), Fortaleza (Fortaleza, CE) – group A; Campinense (Campina Grande, PB), CRB (Maceio, AL) – group B; America (Rio de Janeiro, RJ), Corinthians (Sao Paulo, SP) – group C; Vila Nova (Goiania, GO), Volta Redonda (Volta Redonda, RJ) – group D; Campo Grande (Rio de Janeiro, RJ), Uberaba (Uberaba, MG) – group E; and Atletico Paranaense (Curitiba, PR), Sao Paulo (Rio Grande, RS) – group F. So far, Socrates was moving ahead, unlike Luis Pereira. Weird seeing such names in the second division? Well, that was why the second stage had direct promotion.
Four groups of 3 teams each. The last placed – eliminated, the 2nd placed going to the next stage, and the winners moving up to play in the Second phase of Taca de Ouro. The winners were: America – group G, Corinthians – Group H, Sao Paulo – group I, and Atletico Paranaense – group J. No more second level football for Socrates.
And no more football for the losers: Campinense – group H,
CRB – group G,
Vila Nova – group I, and Volta Redonda – group J.
Going to the 1/8 finals: Tiradentes – group G, Fortaleza – group H, Uberaba – group I, and Campo Grande – group J. The rest of the 1/8-finalists came from first level – 12 eliminated after the first phase clubs, the best known of them Goias (Goiania), Vitoria (Salvador), America (Natal), Joinville (Joinville, and CSA (Maceio). The mix seemingly benefited the clubs coming from the higher level, if only by sheer quantity. But the second level teams performed remarkably well.
Only Fortaleza was eliminated – by CSA: 0-2 and 1-1. Meantime, most of the better known clubs were eliminated too: Vitoria, Goias, America.
The second level kept strong in the ¼ finals as well.
Only Tiradentes was eliminated – by Joinville: 0-1 and 2-2.
The semi-finals opposed half of the second level 1/8 finalists to the remains of the higher level clubs, but luck had it teams of the same level played against other. Campo Grande comfortably eliminated Uberaba – 4-0 and 2-0. Joinville and CSA exchanged 2-1 home victories and the ¼ finals records were the decisive factor: CSA had a better one and went to the final.
CSA won at home the opening leg of the final 4-3. Campo Grande won the second leg 2-1. No away-goals rule, no penalty shoot-out – the winner had to be decided in a third match, as was most common in South America. And this time Campo Grande was supreme, winning 3-0, and Taca de Prata with that.
CSA – the popular abbreviation of Centro Sportivo Alegoano – from Maceio lost a trophy. Given the peculiar structure, it is almost impossible to evaluate such a loss: apart from the trophy itself, the winner largely benefited from direct promotion to Taca de Ouro – the very top level tournament CSA started the season in. The state of Alagoas had 1 spot in Taca de Ouro and technically CSA was automatically with the best record of previous season – their main rival, CRB, started 1982 in the second level and was eliminated there earlier than CSA on top of it. As far as state championships played any role in determining Taca de Ouro participants, CSA won the championship of Alagoas for a third consecutive year. Most likely CSA were bitter only because they lost a trophy – otherwise winning or losing had no practical importance.
Not so for the winners.
May be winning a second championship, but for Campo Grande it was huge success – they were small Rio de Janeiro club surrounded by giants. With Flamengo, Botafogo, Vasco da Gama, Fluminense next door, not only winning anything was traditionally out of reach – even dreaming of winning was close to lunacy. Even dreaming of getting a spot in Taca de Ouro was a lunacy – Rio de Janeiro had 5 berths and assuming that Campo Grande had unusually strong year and some of the big clubs a weaker one there was almost no chance to get a berth: behind the famed big ones lurked still well known and much bigger than Campo Grande clubs – America, Bangu, Volta Redonda, the list could easily go on. Winning Taca de Prata meant success on a truly large scale – Campo Grande secured a place at the top level. A great season for club, players, fans. One to be remembered.