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South American Dispatch: Internacional Wary Of The Neighbours From Hell
Goal.com’s Tim Sturtridge reports on Brazil’s biggest rivalry threatening to decide the super tight top flight as second placed Internacional fear their foes Gremio taking it easy on Flamengo in the season’s last game...
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Dec 2, 2009 9:00:00 AM
Four teams can still win the Brasileirao going into the final round of games this Sunday. Flamengo currently sit top the league with 64 points but can still be caught be Internacional, Palmeiras and Sao Paulo who are crammed together two points adrift of the Rio team.
Internacional are best placed to take advantage of any slip from Flamengo in their last game against Gremio in the Maracana. If Flamengo fail to beat Gremio and Internacional win their home match against Santo Andre then it will be them who claim the title.
The trouble for Internacional ahead of the final game of the season is that to win the league they are relying on a favour from their arch rivals Gremio.
“Internacional and Gremio have one of the more bitter rivalries in Brazil,” André Baibich of Goal.com Brazil explains. “In fact, a special report made by Brazilian magazine Trivela elected the Gre-Nal (GREmio and InternacioNAL) as the biggest rivalry in the country. Now, Internacional fans will have to trust Gremio if they want to win the national title.”
The rivalry which divides the city of Porto Alegre near the southern tip of Brazil often manifests itself in violence when the two teams meet and there is little love lost between the two sets of fans.
“If Gremio had any objectives in the competition, their drive to win the match would be indisputable,” André Baibich added. “But their disappointing campaign has them sitting in seventh place in the league. Gremio have their place in next year’s Copa Sudamericana but have no chance of reaching the Copa Libertadores.”
All of Gremio’s fans and most of their current squad will remember the game last season which Internacional lost to the eventual league winners Sao Paulo while Gremio were still in the hunt for the title. It has been suggested that Gremio’s visit to Flamengo is the perfect chance to exact revenge for that game last season in which they perceived Internacional had taken it easy.
With nothing to play for in their last game under normal circumstances in would fair to assume that Gremio would use the last game of the season as an opportunity to blood some of their youngsters. With the game holding the key to where the championship title ends up however they have come under massive pressure in the press to field the strongest team available to them.
This pressure had not just come from their rivals International but also Palmeiras and Sao Paulo who both carry hopes of claiming this year’s title.
“As long as I am the president the team will never play to lose a match,” the man who calls the shots at Gremio, Duda Kroeff said.
However the club president’s view are sharply at odds with the majority of Gremio fans. Right now the Internet forums frequented by the Gremio faithful are chock-a-block with calls for their team to throw the game and hand the title to Flamengo.
Such is the Gremio’s fans disdain for Internacional some supporters are even claiming that they will celebrate the goals of Flamengo and boo their own team if they threaten to take the lead during the match.
“If the Flamengo team gets nervous and can not find the target in the game then our players must start fouling them in the box to give them all the penalty kicks they need to win. If that does not work then it will be time for own goals,” a fan of the Tricolor said.
“If Gremio do not gift wrap the title for Flamengo on Sunday I will not be happy. It is out of the question that we should do our enemy a favour which could make them champions,” was the view of another Gremio fan.
With the unusual circumstances surrounding Flamengo’s home game with Gremio bookmakers are taking no chances. After securing their win away to Corinthians last weekend to put themselves top, the odds on Flamengo taking the title have come in dramatically.
These short odds are in place despite Flamengo needing a win against a team in the top half of table who can call on the talents of Douglas Costa and Maxi Lopez. A draw is very likely to see Flamengo surrender their lead in the league.
But the bookmakers rarely get it wrong and with Flamengo being the form side of the title challengers they would still be favourites for the title whoever they faced in their last game.
Joint top scorer of the Brasileirao, former Inter hitman Adriano, has been declared fit to play for them which is a huge boast for the outfit from Rio. The striker with 19 goals to his name already in the league missed last weekend’s visit to Corinthians when he sustained a burn on his foot during an accident in his garden.
“Adriano is fine and will be working in the gym for the first half of the week. Closer to the weekend he will join the rest of the squad on the training pitch and he is already confirmed to be a part of Sunday’s team," Jose Luiz Runco, Flamengo’s club doctor, said yesterday.
Tim Sturtridge, Goal.com
Internacional are best placed to take advantage of any slip from Flamengo in their last game against Gremio in the Maracana. If Flamengo fail to beat Gremio and Internacional win their home match against Santo Andre then it will be them who claim the title.
The trouble for Internacional ahead of the final game of the season is that to win the league they are relying on a favour from their arch rivals Gremio.
“Internacional and Gremio have one of the more bitter rivalries in Brazil,” André Baibich of Goal.com Brazil explains. “In fact, a special report made by Brazilian magazine Trivela elected the Gre-Nal (GREmio and InternacioNAL) as the biggest rivalry in the country. Now, Internacional fans will have to trust Gremio if they want to win the national title.”
The rivalry which divides the city of Porto Alegre near the southern tip of Brazil often manifests itself in violence when the two teams meet and there is little love lost between the two sets of fans.
“If Gremio had any objectives in the competition, their drive to win the match would be indisputable,” André Baibich added. “But their disappointing campaign has them sitting in seventh place in the league. Gremio have their place in next year’s Copa Sudamericana but have no chance of reaching the Copa Libertadores.”
All of Gremio’s fans and most of their current squad will remember the game last season which Internacional lost to the eventual league winners Sao Paulo while Gremio were still in the hunt for the title. It has been suggested that Gremio’s visit to Flamengo is the perfect chance to exact revenge for that game last season in which they perceived Internacional had taken it easy.
With nothing to play for in their last game under normal circumstances in would fair to assume that Gremio would use the last game of the season as an opportunity to blood some of their youngsters. With the game holding the key to where the championship title ends up however they have come under massive pressure in the press to field the strongest team available to them.
This pressure had not just come from their rivals International but also Palmeiras and Sao Paulo who both carry hopes of claiming this year’s title.
“As long as I am the president the team will never play to lose a match,” the man who calls the shots at Gremio, Duda Kroeff said.
However the club president’s view are sharply at odds with the majority of Gremio fans. Right now the Internet forums frequented by the Gremio faithful are chock-a-block with calls for their team to throw the game and hand the title to Flamengo.
Such is the Gremio’s fans disdain for Internacional some supporters are even claiming that they will celebrate the goals of Flamengo and boo their own team if they threaten to take the lead during the match.
“If the Flamengo team gets nervous and can not find the target in the game then our players must start fouling them in the box to give them all the penalty kicks they need to win. If that does not work then it will be time for own goals,” a fan of the Tricolor said.
“If Gremio do not gift wrap the title for Flamengo on Sunday I will not be happy. It is out of the question that we should do our enemy a favour which could make them champions,” was the view of another Gremio fan.
With the unusual circumstances surrounding Flamengo’s home game with Gremio bookmakers are taking no chances. After securing their win away to Corinthians last weekend to put themselves top, the odds on Flamengo taking the title have come in dramatically.
These short odds are in place despite Flamengo needing a win against a team in the top half of table who can call on the talents of Douglas Costa and Maxi Lopez. A draw is very likely to see Flamengo surrender their lead in the league.
But the bookmakers rarely get it wrong and with Flamengo being the form side of the title challengers they would still be favourites for the title whoever they faced in their last game.
Joint top scorer of the Brasileirao, former Inter hitman Adriano, has been declared fit to play for them which is a huge boast for the outfit from Rio. The striker with 19 goals to his name already in the league missed last weekend’s visit to Corinthians when he sustained a burn on his foot during an accident in his garden.
“Adriano is fine and will be working in the gym for the first half of the week. Closer to the weekend he will join the rest of the squad on the training pitch and he is already confirmed to be a part of Sunday’s team," Jose Luiz Runco, Flamengo’s club doctor, said yesterday.
Tim Sturtridge, Goal.com
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