Welcome To Brasilia!
FreeAh, now I have the rare pleasure of introducing everyone not of South American heritage to the most bizarre tournament(s) in the world – the Brazilian State Championships. Basically, Brazil is very unique in that it has two tournaments per year. The main tournament is the Brazilian Campeonato Serie A. The secondary tournament directly affects your starting position in the Brazilian Campeonato Serie A depending on where you finish in your respective State Championships.
Basically, in your respective State Championships, you play everyone in your state once. If my memory serves me correctly, the Brazilian FA then halve the points you’ve achieved at the end of the State Championships and carry them over into the Brazilian Campeonato Serie A before you then encounter the “bigger” teams that are top of the tree in the usual league hierachy. After that, we enter Phase 2 of this baffling setup whereby the top 4 sides play a home and away match against each other, which ultimately leads to a final and the winner is naturally the champion. However, confusingly enough, the sides that finish between 5th and 8th in the State Championship play against each other in an “Upstate Championship” (with the proviso they’re not based in Sao Paulo or Santos). The four lowest teams are thus relegated. Confused? You should be! The equivilant in European terms is like Manchester Untied being matched up against Bury or Athletic Bilbao vying with Gernika or Bayern Munich playing against 1860 Munich. Effectively, the State Championships ensure that actual league placement is utterly irrelevant so we have a whole 3 months of incredibly random but relevant games in the same vein as English FA Cup games! I find it interesting as well as amusing, although I won’t deny it’s going to test my abilities immensely to keep on top of all the State Championships there are. I hope the bookies provide coverage on all the games also!
Wednesday’s Picks
Asian Cup Qualifiers:
Hong Kong vs Bahrain (3)
China vs Vietnam (9)
Malaysia vs United Arab Emirates (5)
World Cup U20 Qualifiers – South American section:
Colombia U20 vs Peru U20 (7)
Venezuela U20 vs Ecuador U20 (4)
Brazilian Campeonato Paulista:
Santo Andre vs Palmeiras (7)
Marilia vs Sao Caetano (6)
Mogi Mirim vs Mirassol (6)
Oeste vs Ponte Preta (8)
Paulista vs Noroeste (4)
Sao Paulo vs Ituano (9)
Guarani vs Portuguesa (5)
English Carling Cup:
Burnley vs Tottenham Hotspur (5)
Spanish Segunda Liga:
Real Murcia vs Celta Vigo (4)
Welsh Premier League:
Airbus vs Newtown (5)
Enjoy your free betting tips!