If you are wondering where in Brazil the 2014 World Cup games are going to be played - Here you go...

No surprises for at least five of the 2014 venues. The capital Brasilia was an odds-on shot, (Mane Garrincha stadium), as was, Rio de Janeiro (Maracana) and Sao Paulo (Morumbi). Belo Horizonte (Mineirao) and Porto Alegre (Beira-Rio) were fully expected to be chosen too.

The north east done quite well with Natal (Estrela dos Reis Magos), Recife-Olinda (Arena Recife-Olinda) and Salvador (Arena da Bahia). The great positive too about the north east Brazil venues is that the stadiums will be brand new - being built as I write. The other north eastern venue is Fortaleza (Castelao).

There would have been a bit of an uproar if the Amazon region hadn't have been selected. It was always going to be one from Manaus (Vivaldao) or Belem. Manaus was the chosen one.

The remaining two cities are Curitiba (Arena da Baixada) in the south and Cuiaba (Verdao) in Central Brazil.

How Soccer Came To BrazilBefore moving on to Brazil Serie A, let me tell you very briefly how Football came to Brazil. It was an Englishman, from Southampton; Charles ¨Charlie¨Miller, who's father, John, was part of a large contingent of Railway Construction Engineers working in Sao Paulo.                                                                                              It must be said however, that football (under a different guise than today)was already played in Brazil, by the Corinthians Football Club, a team largely formed through boys studying at Sao Paulo's elite Public Schools and Universities.                                                                                                                                            But on Charlie Miller's return from his education in England he brought with him some soccer equipment and a rule book and formalised the game into what it is today. An interesting aside is that in them days, football was played with the utmost chivalrous sportsmanship, for instance, when a team conceded a penalty, the goalkeeper of the offending side made no attempt whatsoever to save it - now that is sportsmanship! And the rest as they say, is history, summed up by the common saying in Brazil of "The English invented it, the Brazilians perfected it." , and when you have won the World Cup 5 times, who can argue with that?

Brazil Serie A

 

Série A (Brasileirão) is where the giants of Brazilian league soccer hang-out – in fact, 20 of them. Brazil Serie A has the usual playing format of each team playing one home and one away game – there are 2 primary objectives; to win the Brazilian Serie A title and to avoid the drop into Serie B – At the end of the season 4 teams drop into the oblivious 2^nd tier; Serie B.

  

Brazil is a massive land mass, and a flight to an away game can take a few hours, this gives home teams a distinct advantage with partisan crowds and regional differences all contributing to home advantage. However, the teams that tend to dominate Serie A are the Rio and Sao Paulo football clubs

Here are the 2009 contenders: Sao Paulo, Santos, Flamengo, Fluminense, Cruzeiro, Gremio, Porto Alegre, Palmeiras, Botafogo, Goias, Avai, Internacional , Atletico Paranaense, Figueirense, Sport Club Recife, Nautico Capibaribe, Barueri, Vitória, Corinthians and Santo Andre.

 

PS: Promoted teams are: Corinthians, Santo Andre, Avai & Barueri

          

 

                         FREE Brazil Serie A Football Ratings