Marcos Braz, the vice-president of Brazilian champions Flamengo, affirmed that star striker Adriano will remain at the club until the conclusion of the 2010 Copa Libertadores.

Adriano, who topped the Brasileiro scoring charts with 19 goals last season, will receive a 40 percent salary increase, and will participate in the Copa Libertadores, the Carioca State championship, and the beginning of the Brasileiro with the club.

“If Flamengo were to reach the final of the Libertadores, I can assure you that he (Adriano) will be involved in the decider,” guaranteed Braz.

The former Inter Milan striker has recently been targeted by a number of European clubs including AS Roma, AC Milan, Atletico Madrid and West Ham.

Adriano was advised to remain at Flamengo, because playing at a high level for the club would increase his chances of being part of the Brazilian delegation to confront the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Gregory Sica

Southamericanfutbol.com

Flamengo are a firm lock to qualify for the 2010 Copa Libertadores after moving into third place of the Brasileiro after beating direct rivals Atletico Mineiro 3-1 in Belo Horizonte on Sunday.

65,ooo fans turned out at the Mineirao stadium, but it was visitors Flamengo who went ahead when Serbian midfielder Dejan Petkovic scored directly from a corner-kick in the 9th minute.

Chilean midfielder Claudio Maldonado added their second in the 39th minute with a shot from inside of the area.

Former Brazilian international Ricardinho pulled a goal back for Atletico in the 50th minute, but former Inter Milan superstar, Adriano, put the game out of their reach with a fine header nine minutes from full-time.

Palmeiras dropped down to second, after a surprise 1-0 loss to relegation contenders Fluminense in front of 60,000 fans at Maracana stadium. Former Lyon striker Fred, who scored Flu´s winner against Universidad Catolica in the Copa Sudamericana last week, converted the winning goal when he connected to a Dario Conca corner kick with a precise header in the 59th minute.

Despite the win Fluminense remain in the relegation zone, but still have good possibilites of staying in the top-flight.

Defending champions Sao Paulo continue in first place after snatching a 1-1 draw at Gremio on Wednesday.

Ronaldo scored a goal as Corinthians defeated Santo Andre 2-1 at the Pacaembu stadium. The 2002 World Cup winner put the Timao ahead in the 36th minute when he beat a defender outside of the box and rifled a shot into the top corner of the net.

Dentinho added Corinthians´ second in the 77th minute, moving the side into eighth position.

In Sunday´s other matches, Atletico Paranaense beat Goias 2-0, Botafogo ousted Coritiba by the same score, and Internacional drew 1-1 with Barueri.

Gregory Sica

Southamericanfutbol.com

Flamengo defeated league leaders Palmeiras 2-0 with two goals from Serbian midfielder Dejan Petkovic on Sunday.

The Rio de Janeiro giants dominated their opponents, continuing their good run of results from the past few weeks.

Vagner Love, who recently rejoined Palmeiras missed a late penalty in a game that would best be forgotten for the side from the Palestra Italia.

Despite the defeat Palmeiras still lead the Brazilian championship with 54 points, followed by Atletico Mineiro with 50 points, and Internacional and Sao Paulo with 49 points.

Following them are Flamengo with 48 points, Goias with 46 points and Cruzeiro with 45 points.

Gremio got the better of Coritiba with a 2-0 win in Porto Alegre. Perea and Souza scored Gremio’s goals. Atletico Paranaense thrashed Santo Andre 3-0 in Curitiba, with goals from Baier, Sandro and Marcinho.

Corinthians have continued to disappoint and were beaten 2-0 by Sport Recife, while Cruzeiro edged Botafogo 1-0, Vitoria defeated Nautico 3-1 and Fluminense and Internacional tied 2-2.

On Saturday, A Diego Tardelli strike was the difference as Atletico Mineiro sneaked past defending champions Sao Paulo 1-0. Atletico Mineiro have returned to championship contention.

Gregory Sica

Goal.com

Southamericanfutbol.com

Adriano scored twice in the second half to give Flamengo a 2-0 victory over crosstown rivals Fluminense on Sunday.

The former Inter Milan striker found the back of the net with two powerful strikes, to the delight of the majority of the 83,000 crowd at Maracana stadium.

With the two goals Adriano climbed to the top of the scoring charts with 15 goals to his name, one more than Diego Tardelli of Atletico Mineiro and Jonas of Gremio.

During the game Alan of Fluminense was knocked unconscious after colliding heads with David of Flamengo. The striker left the stadium in an ambulance and will stay in hospital overnight under observation.

With the win Flamengo jumped into sixth place, while Fluminense remain rock-bottom of the twenty-team league.

Palmeiras extended their lead at the top of the standings to five points after coming from behind to claim a 3-1 away win over Paulista rivals Santos. Luizinho put Santos ahead in the second half, but goals from Diego Souza, Robert and Vagner Love gave Palmeiras the win.

Goias dropped down to fourth place after an unexpected 3-0 home defeat to Botafogo. While Goias missed out on a great opportunity to close in on the league leaders, Botafogo still remain in the relegation zone, seven points above Fluminense.

Internacional fell to an unlikely 2-0 defeat to Coritiba at the Couto Pereira stadium and were pushed out of the Copa Libertadores qualification zone. Marcos Aurelio and Thiago Gentil scored both of Coritiba’s goals in the second half.

Meanwhile, Gremio fought out a thrilling 3-3 draw with Sport Recife and Avai drew 2-2 with Cruzeiro. While Sport are deep in the relegation zone, Gremio, Avai and Cruzeiro are well and truly out of the title race.

On Saturday, Atletico Mineiro beat Barueri 2-1, Santo Andre edged Vitoria 1-0 and finally Corinthians suffered another defeat, this time at home to Atletico Paranaense.

Gregory Sica

Goal.com

Southamericanfutbol.com

Adriano starred as Flamengo thrashed Coritiba 3-0 in front of more than 50,000 fans at Maracana stadium on Sunday.

Flamengo, Brazil’s most popular club, went into the break with a slender advantage after a strike from Serbian playmaker Dejan Petkovic. Adriano and Willians added two more goals in the second period.

Adriano’s goal was brilliant, as he beat Coritiba goalkeeper Edson Bastos with an extraordinary shot after a swift counterattack. With the goal he moved atop the Brazilian scoring charts along with Gremio’s Jonas, with thirteen goals.

With the win, Flamengo jumped into eighth place of the standings with 37 points. While Coritiba dropped down to fifteenth place.

Ronaldo returned to action after two months out due to injury, but he couldn’t save Corinthians from an unexpected 4-1 home defeat to Goias. A big crowd turned up at the Pacaembu stadium, but they had to put up with ninety minutes of torture, as Corinthians were completely ripped apart.

Former Boca Juniors star Iarley scored twice for Goias, and Fernandao and Joao Paulo scored their other goals.

Defending champions Sao Paulo failed to overtake Palmeiras at the top of the league standings, after being held to a 1-1 draw by Santo Andre in Ribeirao Preto.

Jean gave Sao Paulo an early lead, however, his goal was cancelled out by Pablo Escobar of Bolivia in the second half.

Gremio crushed lowly Fluminense 5-1 at the Olimpico stadium in Porto Alegre, courtesy of two goals from Souza and others from Tcheco, Cassio (own goal) and Jonas. The Tricolor moved into sixth place with 39 points.

Avai put an end to their winning drought, with a 4-0 thrashing of Barueri at the Ressacada stadium in Florianopolis. Avai’s goals were converted by William, Eltinho, Muriqui and Leo Gago.

Meanwhile, Santos and Botafogo fought out a frustrating goalless draw at the Vila Belmiro.

On Saturday, Atletico Paranaense beat Sport Recife 1-0, Nautico and Atletico Mineiro drew 0-0 and Vitoria defeated Internacional 2-0.

The round will come to a close on Wednesday when league leaders Palmeiras travel to Belo Horizonte to do battle with Cruzeiro.

Gregory Sica

Goal.com

Southamericanfutbol.com

Adriano starred as Flamengo claimed a comfortable 3-0 victory over Sport Recife at Maracana stadium on Saturday. The Brazilian international scored a goal in each half to extend the Mengao’s unbeaten streak to four matches. His first was a powerful shot from the edge of the area and his second, a fine header. Ze Roberto scored Flamengo’s other goal.

Cruzeiro defeated Internacional 3-2 in an exciting encounter at the Beira-Rio stadium in Porto Alegre. The Belo Horizonte giants won the match with two goals from Gilberto and another from Thiago Ribeiro. Inter’s goals were scored by Alecsandro and Andrezinho. Had Inter claimed a point from the match they would have moved atop the league standings, along with Palmeiras.

Palmeiras fell to a 3-2 defeat away to Vitoria at the Barradao stadium, but still remain as the league leaders with 44 points. Uelliton put Vitoria ahead after taking advantage of a mistake from Palmeiras goalkeeper Marcos. Striker Robert drew the visitors level right before half-time, but Vitoria went ahead for the second time through Neto Berola. Former FC Porto striker Derlei added Vitoria’s third goal five minutes from full-time. Roberto pulled a goal back for Palmeiras with his second goal of the match just before the final whistle.

Defending champions Sao Paulo are back on track to win a fourth successive championship after downing Avai 2-0 with second half goals from Dagoberto and Hugo. With the win Sao Paulo joined Internacional with 43 points.

Fourth-placed Atletico Mineiro are still in the title race after a 2-1 victory over Atletico Paranaense at the Mineirao stadium. Wason Renteria and Diego Tardelli scored for Atletico-MG. Alex Mineiro scored for the visitors.

The Rio de Janeiro derby between Fluminense and Botafogo ended in a dull goalless draw at the Engenhao stadium. Both teams failed to break each other down, and are now in serious danger of being relegated to the second division.

In other matches, Santos downed Santo Andre 1-0, Gremio beat Nautico 2-0 and Barueri defeated Goias 3-1. On Wednesday, Corinthians face Curitiba in the match that closes the round.

Gregory Sica

Goal.com

Southamericanfutbol.com

Adriano claimed his tenth goal of the season to give Flamengo an important 1-0 victory over rivals Corinthians at Maracana stadium on Sunday.

The former Inter Milan striker became the Brazilian league’s leading scorer with the goal. Having missed two clear-cut opportunities during the game, Adriano made up for this by handing Flamengo the three points with a clinical finish.

After picking up a loose ball in the area, he fired a left-footed shot that went in off the right post. The strike came with a little more than half an hour left in the game.

The win moved Flamengo up to seventh position in the standings with 27 points from 18 matches. Corinthians couldn’t count with the services of star striker Ronaldo, who broke his hand a few weeks ago.

Flamengo’s crosstown rivals, Fluminense, remain in the relegation zone after fighting out an entertaining 2-2 draw with Vitoria in the city of Salvador. Luiz Alberto and Roni scored for Fluminense, while Willian and Roger found the back of the net for Vitoria.

Brazilian champions Sao Paulo continued their sudden revival with a 3-1 victory over Goias at the Morumbi stadium. Sao Paulo’s goals were converted by Washington, Jorge Wagner and Borges, while Meneghel scored the lone goal for the visitors. With the triumph, Sao Paulo climbed into fourth place with 30 points.

Cruzeiro picked up an important 3-1 win away at Coritiba, a result that has taken some pressure off the squad. But with only six wins in 17 matches, the Belo Horizonte giants have been struggling a great deal.

Meanwhile, Barueri claimed another shock result, this time edging Gremio 1-0 to move into an impressive fifth place. The Brasileiro newcomers have been the revelation of the season.

On Saturday, Atletico Paranaense beat Botafogo 1-0, Nautico edged Santo Andre 2-1, and Santos and Avai fought out a 2-2 draw.

Gregory Sica

Goal.com

Southamericanfutbol.com

Five-time Brazilian champions, Flamengo, came from behind to defeat Santos 2-1 at the Vila Belmiro stadium in Sao Paulo on Sunday.

Having taken the lead through midfielder Robson with twenty minutes left in the second half, Santos saw victory slip out of their hands after goals from former Inter Milan striker Adriano and an own goal from Santos defender Para two minutes from full-time.

Adriano’s goal was very impressive as he powered a long-range drive into the back of the net. It was his eighth goal of the season, making him the league’s second leading scorer along with four other players.

With the result Flamengo find themselves in 9th place with 20 points, while Santos are in 12th place with 18 points.

In the Paulista derby, Palmeiras claimed an emphatic 3-0 victory over arch-rivals Corinthians at the Prudentao stadium. Obina scored a superb hat-trick to hand Palmeiras a crucial win that saw them join Atletico Mineiro at the top of the table with 28 points.

Corinthians striker Ronaldo came off just twenty minutes into the match after injuring his left hand when fighting for the ball with an opponent. It is believed that the striker fractured his hand.

Atletico Mineiro missed a great opportunity to remain top on their own, after falling to an unexpected 1-0 defeat to Goias, despite the support of a massive home crowd at the Mineirao stadium. Former Boca Juniors and Internacional midfielder Iarley scored a late goal to give the visitors maximum points.

On Saturday, Botafogo edged Internacional 3-2 at the Engenhao stadium in Rio de Janeiro, with goals from Wellington, Andre Lima and Alessandro. Andrezinho and Leandrao scored for Inter.

Meanwhile, Gremio came from behind to beat Santo Andre 3-2 at the Olimpico stadium in Porto Alegre. Gremio scored through Rafael Marques (2) and Souza. Antonio Flavio and Ricardo Goulart converted for the visitors.

The most exciting match of the round was the 3-3 draw between Sport Recife and Nautico that marked the 100th anniversary of the biggest derby of the region. Carlinhos Bala starred for Nautico, as he scored twice but also missed a penalty.

In other matches, Sao Paulo won 2-1 at Barueri, Fluminense drew 1-1 with Cruzeiro and Vitoria defeated Coritiba 1-0.

For now the leading scorer of the championship is Val Baiano of Barueri with nine goals.

Gregory Sica

Goal.com

Southamericanfutbol.com

“Underachievers” is a label many clubs get saddled with these days as they spend millions in fruitless attempts to chase trophies. But there aren’t many clubs who deserve the tag more than Brazilian giants Flamengo.

The Mengão — Brazil’s most popular club with an estimated 40 million supporters — last lifted the national championship in 1992, and since has seen its status sucked down the drain. With few exceptions, the Rio de Janeiro-based club hasn’t even come close to winning the league title since then and has constantly found itself on the brink of relegation (a run of seven Rio State championships is of small consolation).

But if this season is any indication, Flamengo could return to being the powerhouse it once was. After 11 rounds of the Brasileirão, it sits in first place, five points ahead of closest pursuers Cruzeiro and Grêmio.

Flamengo has been in sensational form and, last Sunday, won its eighth match of the season, a comfortable 3-1 victory over crosstown rival Vasco da Gama in front of almost 70,000 fans at the Maracanã. Caio Júnior‘s side put on a remarkable performance and proved that, for now at least, it seems to have all the necessary ingredients to win the championship.

Since its “Golden Age” of the 1980s — when it won four domestic championships, the Copa Libertadores and the Intercontinental Cup (thrashing Liverpool 3-0 in the final in Tokyo) — Flamengo hasn’t come close to creating such high expectations. Even though it doesn’t currently boast a player with the caliber of the legendary Zico, who guided the team to all those titles, Flamengo’s league matches are all played in front of massive crowds (even the away ones) and, at times, its squad has looked invincible.

Having said that, we’re still less than one-third of the way into the season, and as is usually the case in the Brazilian championship, big-money transfers often jeopardize the title aspirations of the early front-runners.

In Brazil, success seems to come with a price. Just last week, Flamengo lost key attacking midfielder Renato Augusto to Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen for a reported $15 million. Flamengo is obviously happy to earn that much cash for the 20-year-old, but will now have to make do without the player around whom its game plan revolved.

To make matters worse, more changes could soon follow. Caio Júnior, who only replaced South Africa-bound Joel Santana as the club’s coach in the first week of the season, contemplated a big-money move to Qatar before confirming he’ll see out his contract. Meanwhile Marcinho, the league’s top scorer with seven of Flamengo’s league-high 25 goals, could be on his way out after being involved in a violent incident with two prostitutes at a private party in Belo Horizonte last week.

Another key loss could be that of Juan, currently regarded as the best left back in Brazil and an “irreplaceable” figure in Caio Júnior’s back line. Manchester City has confirmed interest in the gifted winger. Other players who have attracted interest from abroad in recent weeks include Kléberson, Léo Moura, Obina, Diego Tardelli and Ibson (Flamengo renewed Ibson’s loan deal from FC Porto for another year).

At this rate, Flamengo’s squad could be completely disassembled by midseason. This will surely affect its title aspirations, although many of its rivals find themselves in a similar situation.

“This happens to all the teams, especially the big ones,” declared an optimistic Caio Júnior. “I’m not so preoccupied because Kléber [Leite, the club's vice president] assured me in relation to this. The Brazilian championship is very important for the club, and we will maintain the base of the squad until the end of the season.”

Despite Caio Júnior’s hope to retain Flamengo’s key squad members, it’s almost a formality that the Mengão will suffer further losses now that the European transfer market is in full swing. Although the rest of South America is affected in a similar way, nowhere is this as evident as in Brazil. For decades, rich European clubs have raided the league of its best players and, although Brazilian clubs have often benefited from the sales in financial terms, it has drastically reduced the level of quality in the competition.

But that’s a whole different issue. Brazil is renowned for producing world-class players, and even if it’s constantly selling its best players to Europe, tremendous talent keeps emerging from the youth ranks of its clubs. Unlike most of its rivals, Flamengo understands that in order to achieve immediate results, it needs to find suitable replacements. To that end, the club is vigorously seeking the services of established stars instead.

In recent days, Flamengo has been linked with several high-profile players, including Juan Román Riquelme and Andrés D’Alessandro as possible replacements for Renato Augusto, as well as three-time FIFA World Player of the Year Ronaldo. The local press had stated that Flamengo was in negotiations with Boca Juniors for Riquelme, although the Argentine giants insisted that the playmaker will remain at Boca.

D’Alessandro’s transfer seems more realistic. The San Lorenzo midfielder has returned to his top form since returning to Argentina, but is apparently in conflict with his club’s directors and would welcome a move to Brazil. If Flamengo wants to secure his signature, it’ll have to act quickly, because fellow Brazilians Internacional has confirmed it will offer the player a lucrative contract by the end of the week.

If Flamengo doesn’t manage to get its man, it’s likely to go for former club idol Felipe, who has played for five different Brazilian clubs and is currently on the books at Qatari champions Al-Sadd. He would be the conservative choice, however; if Flamengo wants to keep up the momentum in the championship, it should go for a player who hasn’t failed them in the past. Another alternative could be former São Paulo midfielder Danilo.

Meanwhile, Flamengo president Márcio Braga seems to have come to a verbal agreement with Ronaldo to join from AC Milan once he recovers from his latest injury setback. Although images from the press this week have revealed that he is excessively overweight, O Fenômeno has the tendency to prove everyone wrong on the field, and could be a good solution for Flamengo’s attacking departures. First he has to lose all those extra pounds, of course.

Even if these transfers aren’t made immediately, it’s vital for Flamengo to continue to pick up positive results in the championship. After years of failure, Flamengo finally has the opportunity to revive its past glory, and is in a favorable position to do so after an exceptional start to the season.

The Mengão has been by far the most dynamic team of the Brasileirão so far, and despite its overall depth, it will have to learn to deal with sudden changes in its squad as the season progresses. Its reputation depends on it.

Gregory Sica

Article at Si.com

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