Sao Paulo favored for Brazilian title

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) -- Three-time champion Sao Paulo is heavily favored to win a fourth national title as the Brazilian championship opens the playoff round Sunday -- and the team doesn't even have to win a game.

Unbeaten in its last 12 games, Sao Paulo finished first among the 26 clubs in the regular season and can win the title with a pair of ties in each of the three home-and-away playoff rounds.

Led by 20-year-old all-star Kaka, Sao Paulo scored a league-leading 57 goals and won 16 of its 25 games, finishing five points ahead of second-place Sao Caetano. The team's campaign has made coach Oswaldo de Oliveira a top choice to replace Luiz Felipe Scolari at the helm of the Brazilian national team.

The quest begins Sunday against archrival Santos, one of the surprises of the tournament. Under the command of veteran coach Emerson Leao, the young squad finished eighth to squeak into the playoffs.

Sao Caetano, founded just 12 years ago, is back in the playoffs for the third straight year and determined not to let another title get away. "Big Blue" has come oh-so-close three times, losing the Copa Libertadores final to Mexico's Cruz Azul and the national title twice -- to Vasco in 2000 and to Atletico Paranaense in 2001.

Sao Caetano's rival is Fluminense, a team it eliminated in its march to the final in 2000. Fluminense fans still smart at the 1-0 loss in Maracana stadium on a booming free kick by Adhemar -- who is back on the club after a stint with Germany's Stuttgart.

Fluminense is led by 36-year-old Romario, who capped a 3-2 comeback thriller over Ponte Preta with a goal in the waning minutes that put Flu in the playoffs. Romario's partnership with Roni -- the latest Ro-Ro attack -- is the key to the team's quest for its first national title since 1984.

In another classic matchup, Corinthians meets Atletico Mineiro in a rematch of the 1999 final, when Corinthians won its third national crown. Coached by wily veteran Carlos Alberto Parreira, Corinthians has a small edge.

The other contest is an all-gaucho affair, pitting Gremio and Juventude from the far southern state of Rio Grande do Sul.

Gremio, a two-time champion, has the experience and the firepower in talented Rodrigo Fabri, the league's leading scorer with 18 goals. But the team must solve a rugged Juventude defense that has given up just 29 goals, second-best in the league.

 

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