All hail the state champions we've never heard of
Wednesday 07 May 2008 10:35
Ladies and gentlemen, the first part of Brazilian football season is over. Most of the major State tournaments ended on Sunday – which means we already have 14 newly-crowned champions around the country.
Some of them you probably never heard of – for instance, Itumbiara, the new kings of Goiás, or the CSA, which beat ASA in the battle of the letters to secure the Alagoas trophy.
But don’t worry, you’re not alone. Since only nine states are represented in the elite of the Brazilian championship, many of those teams are unknown even to the local fans.
So every year, when the champions are crowned, we have a surprise. This season, for instance, we happily discovered that Holanda, formerly known only as an European country, also is a football team from the Amazonas state.
And, less than a year after joining the professionals, they won their first title at the State’s elite, overcoming powerhouses Fast and São Raimundo.
So here's the list of the champions so far. Kudos to them all!
State: Champions
São Paulo: Palmeiras
Rio de Janeiro: Flamengo
Minas Gerais: Cruzeiro
Rio Grande do Sul: Internacional
Paraná: Coritiba
Santa Catarina: Figueirense
Bahia: Vitória
Alagoas: CSA
Ceará: Fortaleza
Pernambuco: Sport
Goiás: Itumbiara
Distrito Federal: Brasiliense
Mato Grosso: Mixto
Amazonas: Holanda
2007 champs Santos seek sturdy shelf in trophy cabinet
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About Celso de Campos Jr
Celso de Campos Jr is a São Paulo born writer and journalist. Back in 2002, he wrote his first piece for
FourFourTwo - a small Brazilian Championship preview. Unsurprisingly, the team he picked as champion ended up in the relegation zone. With such awesome football knowledge, he has been
FourFourTwo's man in Brazil for the past eight years.