Sao Paulo win third straight Brazilian soccer title
9/12/2008 16:50
Sao Paulo won its third straight Brazilian league title on Sunday after a
1-0 win over Goias.
Borges' 22nd-minute goal pulled off a victory for Sao
Paulo which needed only a draw to win the championship.
Gremio, which beat
Atletico Mineiro 2-0, was the only club capable of denying the champions a sixth
title by imposing a defeat.
Sao Paulo also won the Brazilian league in 1977,
1986 and 1991.
Sao Paulo trailed Gremio by 11 points just after the midway
point of the competition, but steadily moved up the table to reach the last
match in good position to become the nation's most successful club.
It could
have clinched the title one week ago with a win over Fluminense in front of the
nearly 70,000 fans that packed Morumbi stadium, but it managed only a 1-1
draw.
Besides Sao Paulo and second place Gremio, Palmeiras and Cruzeiro also
won the right to dispute next year's Copa Libertadores South American club
championship.
Sao Paulo opened the scoring on a free kick from goalkeeper
Rogerio Ceni. The ball, however, bounced off Harlei's outstretched right hand
and fell in front of Sao Paulo midfielder Hugo who sent it over to Borges for
the one and only goal of the match.
Xinhua
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