^ ha ha. I live in Brazil (for a year and I'm only just beginning to understand it).
in short; the season starts with the statewide championship. The games like the one today to empty stadiums. Great though because you'll get the equivalent of Marine v Liverpool and although the big clubs are just warming up there are some good games - like sometimes the early FA Cup rounds when the smaller teams get tp play at Anfield or Old Trafford. The Brazilian equivalent of the FA cup starts next, and might have already? the early rounds of this are complicated (for me) because of the vast distances here. For example if a very small club gets beat in their home leg the 2nd leg is null and void and the bigger club go through (because the cost of the airfares and hotels from Amazonia to the South (long haul) is like a season's budget - more or less - and there is no massive money to be made from gate receipts or TV money). Next the Campeonato - the premier league - they did have a play off system in this for a while but now it's a first past the post - and the top 6 go into the libertadores. That's the short version and it's probably full of mistakes - I spend the first 25 minutes of my Portuguese lesson discussing
The League Cup, the away goals rule, "park the bus"
"rainy night in Stoke" with my teacher so never have time to get to the bottom of what's what in Brazilian football. Maybe Babu Y can help? The other thing is the matches start so late here because the soap operas cannot be cancelled
Anyway it's the South Amercian "Supercup" on in half an hour - The Recopa
Grêmio v Independiente (1-1) after the first leg Ooj - over to you dude
