Latin American Roundup

Corinthians fans jeer coach despite Libertadores win

SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) -- Brazilian club Corinthians, who are attempting to win the South American Libertadores Cup for the first time, beat Mexico's Cruz Azul 1-0 at home on Wednesday in their opening match in group eight.

New signing Liedson headed the only goal in the 13th minute for Corinthians, who claim to be Brazil's second most popular club after Flamengo with around 20 million fans.

Despite the win, the supporters became impatient in the second half as the visitors -- beaten finalists two years ago -- took control of the game and threatened an equaliser.

Corinthians coach Geninho bore the brunt of the protests when he took off Liedson and brought on midfielder Fumagalli.

Fans chanted "idiot" and also demanded the return of Carlos Alberto Parreira, who left the club last month to take charge of the Brazil national team.

Parreira led Corinthians to two titles -- the Rio-Sao Paulo championship and the Copa Brasil -- last year and also took the "Timao" to the final of the Brazilian championship.

Early fixture list causes surprise in Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) -- Brazilian football chiefs, usually criticized for their bungling and chaotic administration, caused a major surprise on Wednesday by announcing this year's national championship fixture list more than seven weeks in advance.

The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), clearly determined to prove that it has turned over a new leaf, also confirmed that the competition will be played on an orthodox league basis for the first time in its 32-year history and that the teams who were relegated last year really will play in the second division.

The 24-team contest will begin with 12 matches on the weekend of March 29/30, the CBF said. Santos begin the defence of their crown at home to Parana while the opening weekend also pits two of Brazil's most popular clubs, Corinthians and Atletico Mineiro, against each other.

Palmeiras, Portuguesa, Gama and Botafogo, who finished in the bottom four last year, were all missing from the list as the CBF resisted attempts for a so-called "virada de mesa" (turning over the table) that would have allowed them back in.

The announcement was a breath of fresh air for Brazilian football, where competitions are habitually preceded by weeks of wrangling and legal disputes.

Brazil has won a record five World Cups but the usually chaotic organization has always prevented the country's domestic football from enjoying the same prestige as the national team -- and has also prompted an exodus of top players abroad.

A plethora of state, regional and national competitions, which change in shape and size from year-to-year, has made Brazilian domestic football almost incomprehensible for both foreigners and locals alike.

Time-honored system

The national championship, until this year, has been squeezed into the last five months of the year and has never previously used the time-honored league system where teams play each other twice, and the one with the most points wins.

Its credibility has been further damaged by the frequent reprieves for relegated teams.

In 1996, the CBF allowed Atletico Paranaense and Fluminense to take part in the top flight even though they had been relegated the year before.

Three years ago, a long-running row ended when the Brazilian championship was cancelled and replaced by another tournament called the Joao Havelange Cup.

Again, several teams who would have competed in the second division if the Brazilian championship had been played were included in the first division of the substitute tournament.

Chile ends bonus row with national team players

The Nacional Association of Professional Football (ANFP) said on its Web site that the players had accepted a proposal for the payment of bonus and prize money which they are owed from as long ago as the Sydney Olympics in September 2000.

The ANFP said the bonuses would be paid in three installments between May and July of this year.

It said the agreement had been reached following talks between its president Reinaldo Sanchez, national team coach Juvenal Olmos and Salas, who represented the players.

Salas, who plays for Italian club Juventus, last month threatened to boycott the national side, accusing the ANFP of repeatedly failing to keep its promises.

Chile finished bottom of the South American qualifying group for the 2002 World Cup and their domestic football has been hit by a severe financial crisis.

Colo Colo, the country's most popular club, were declared bankrupt at the start of last year and officially came out of administration in December.

The players also staged a three-week long strike in September in protest at unpaid wages and changes to the league format.

Brazil begins its dance of the coaches

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) -- Portuguesa coach Flavio Lopes became the first major coaching casualty of the Brazilian season when he quit after only three games, club sources said on Wednesday.

Lopes began the so-called "dance of the coaches" when he left the club following a meeting with the directors on Tuesday.

The team known as Lusa have picked up only one point out of nine in the Paulista championship, the curtain-raiser for the new season.

"The championship is very short and we need to get results immediately," Lopes told reporters. "Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to put my work into practice."

Brazil has one of the highest coaching turnovers in the world with coaches rarely lasting more than a few months at any given club.

Huracan goalkeeper Schulmeister commits suicide

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) -- Sergio Schulmeister, the goalkeeper of Argentine first division club Huracan, committed suicide on Tuesday, team coach Carlos Babington said.

Schulmeister missed training and when his team mates went to his apartment to look for him, police told them the 25-year-old had killed himself.

"We found out after training. I don't know what was going through his mind," Babington told reporters.

"He missed training and two of his team mates went to see him, they found the police at his door and were told he had committed suicide."

Schulmeister began his career in the youth divisions of Boca Juniors, Argentina's most popular club. He also played for lower division sides Atletico Rafaela, Defensores and San Miguel before establishing himself at Huracan.

Team sources said he had previously attempted to commit suicide in September 2001.

 

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Both the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.