Cruzeiro Champions

Sao Paulo had the trophy in their hands...and then they gifted it to Cruziero with a big blue ribbon on top. Sao Paulo could not only have won the match, but won it well if not for some ridiculously silly errors. Firstly, Sao Paulo could have made the match 0-2 or 0-3 easily when they had two brilliant chances in attack. These two chances were first with Alexandre when the ball hit the side netting and then again with Marcelinho when the ball again hit the side netting. In the second chance I can even go so far as to understand why he shot at goal, but in the first instance it was pure selfishness. Alexandre had dribbled a Cruzeiro player and was in the midst of a 50 meter run so he figured "I might as well shoot and score the goal of the title, and even if I miss we are leading by a goal and Cruzeiro need two to catch up". Instead if he had passed the ball in the middle where a player was free I'm quite sure that at this moment I would be hearing Sao Paulo fans celebrating outside my house. The next error of Sao Paulo was commited by Axel, who passed the ball back to Rogerio when the game was 1-1 and Cruzeiro was pressuring them. Instead he should have shot it forwards (considering it was 2 mins from the end of the game) This error by Axel led to Rogerio Pinherio's error. He let the ball go through his legs calmy and spun around to find Geovani stealing the ball from him and about to go 1 on 1 with the goalie. So he committed the foul (which was a smart thing to do, since there would be a lot more chance of Cruziero scoring going 1 on 1 with the goalie then off a 24 meter free kick. His sending off was also just since he was the last man and Geovani was in a clear goal situation. The next error, and the one that cost Sao Paulo the cup, was how the wall opened up in the free kick. The wall has to stay closed during a free kick, this is something basic to a soccer game. The same thing had happend in the first game in Morumbi when Ricardinho's free kick hit the post. At the very end Sao Paulo almost scored, with a Marcelinho header being taken off the line. Anyway Cruziero won the Copa Brasil not because of their great plays but because of these errors commited by Sao Paulo. I think if Marco Aurelio had put in Muller from the beginning Cruzeiro would have had a lot easier time winning the game. Except for Cruzeiro's first half chance on the post, all the other goal chances of Cruziero were created by Muller. Marco Aurelio made a mistake entering the game with 3 defense midfielders, and he is lucky he didnt pay for it. Anyway congratulations to Cruzeiro, the first Brazilian team in next years Libertadores, and sorry to Sao Paulo (and Atletico MG) fans.