The Arena Castelao, the first of Brazil's 2014 World Cup
stadiums to be completed, held its first matches on Sunday: a doubleheader in
the northeastern Copa do Nordeste.
But despite the inspiration of having World Cup record
goalscorer Ronaldo in the stands of the stadium opened by President Dilma
Rousseff last month the teams managed only one goal to mark the occasion.
Fortaleza and Sport drew 0-0 before Bahia beat Ceara 1-0
with a goal from former Brazil and Manchester United midfielder Kleberson.
The matches were preceded by a ceremony attended by Ronaldo,
Brazil's sports Minister Aldo Rebelo, FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke and
Jose Maria Marin, president of the Brazilian Football Confederation.
Sunday's matches in the Gaucho championship in the southern
state of Rio Grande do Sul were cancelled after the tragic deaths of more than
200 people in a fire at a night club in the city of Santa Maria.
The state's top clubs Internacional and Gremio posted
messages on their websites declaring three days of mourning and put their flags
at half mast in their stadiums.
The main attraction was to have been former Brazil coach
Dunga's first game in charge of Internacional at Caxias.
Brazilian champions Fluminense drew 1-1 with Botafogo in the
season's first major "classico" in the Carioca (Rio) championship.
Fluminense, also the Carioca champions, went ahead through
winger Wellington Nem after a one-two with right back Bruno in the 38th minute.
Botafogo hit back after the interval when former Dutch
international Clarence Seedorf, who came on as a substitute, crossed for
central defender Bolivar to head the equaliser.
Brazil ace Neymar saved Santos from defeat with a last
minute penalty, his fourth goal in three matches, for a 1-1 draw with
Bragantino in the Paulista (Sao Paulo) championship.
Neymar, who helped Santos win the Paulista title the last
three years, was tightly marked and unable to repeat his brilliant performances
of previous matches.
No comments:
Post a Comment