Midfielders Ricardinho and Elano scored a goal each Sunday as Santos defeated Vasco 2-1 to win its second Brazilian championship in three years.
Fans poured to the streets and beaches of Santos minutes after the final whistle to celebrate the team's second national title since the Pele era.
PHOTO: AFP
Santos ended with 89 points from 46 matches.
Atletico Paranaense, which drew Botafogo 1-1 at home, finished three points behind.
Criciuma and Vitoria will join Gremio and Guarani in the second division in 2005, while Santos, Atletico, Sao Paulo and Palmeiras earned a spot in next year's Copa Libertadores.
Ricardinho put Santos ahead with a perfectly struck free kick from about 23m in the fourth minute. The playmaker hit the left upper corner of Vasco goalkeeper Everton.
Elano added to the lead in the 29th with a header from about seven meters, and striker Marco Brito scored Vasco's lone goal in the 60th.
Santos, which finished with a league-best 103 goals, saw the return of Robinho, whose mother was released unharmed Friday 40 days after being kidnapped.
The game was played in Sao Jose do Rio Preto because Santos' Vila Belmiro stadium was suspended after fans threw objects onto the field during a match against Vitoria on Sept. 9.
Nearly 40,000 fans packed Benedito Teixeira stadium after making a 400km trip from Santos to Sao Jose do Rio Preto.
"We worked hard all year for this, now it's time to celebrate," defender Leo said after the match. "I imagine people are going crazy in Santos right now."
Several streets in downtown Santos had to be closed to accommodate the throngs of fans, local media reported. Tens of thousands were expected to take part in the celebration throughout the night.
The title restores Santos as one of Brazil's most successful powerhouses. After enduring an 18-year title drought from 1984-2002, the club made famous by Pele in the late 1960s returned to its glory days after winning the 2002 championship and finishing second in 2003.
En route to the title, Santos had to overcome obstacles all year, both on and off the field.
In addition to missing Robinho for seven consecutive rounds in the final stretch, Santos also lost some of its top players in midseason transfers.
The team sold all-star playmaker Diego -- a leader of the 2002 championship -- to Portuguese champion Porto, and midfielder Renato -- a regular in Brazil's national squad -- to Spain's Sevilla.
The team also was plagued by injuries and only rarely fielded its first-choice 11.
Carlos Alcaraz on Monday powered into the French Open second round with a resounding win to start his title defense, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and three-time defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek also progressed at Roland Garros. Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz struck 31 winners in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri and is to face Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in round two. Alcaraz is now on an eight-match winning streak at the French Open and also took Olympic silver at Roland Garros last year, losing the final to Novak Djokovic. “The first round is never
TIGHT FINISH: Napoli only needed to do the same as or better than Inter, who won their game against Como 2-0 on the same day, leaving Napoli with a one-point lead The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli their second Serie A title in three years on Friday. Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari. Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams. “Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.” Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won
The journey of Taiwan’s badminton mixed doubles duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur came to an end in the semi-finals yesterday after they suffered a 2-0 loss to China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping. Ye, 25, and Chan, 20, teamed up last year and are currently ranked No. 23 in the world. The Taiwanese shuttlers took on China’s second seeds in the mixed doubles event, but proved no match for Feng and Huang, losing the match 10-21, 7-21. In the first half of the first game, the pairings were neck and neck at 6-7 until Ye
SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
RSS