Clasico Watch: Flamengo And Fluminense Prepare To Lock Horns In Rio De Janeiro's Fierce Derby Clash - Goal.com Clasico Watch: Flamengo And Fluminense Prepare To Lock Horns In Rio De Janeiro's Fierce Derby Clash Featured 0 Sep 16, 2010 21:34:00 Daniel Edwards casts an eye over one of Brazil's fiercest rivalries, as hype for the 'Fla-Flu' grudge match gathers pace in Rio... As a sport which developed in the vast Metropolises of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazilian football derbies are a lot more common than in many countries across the world. Rio for example can boast four teams in Serie A, while Sao Paulo has no fewer three - plus Santos and Guarani just outside the city in the wider state.

Some derbies are bigger than others though, and in Rio, however much the fans of Vasco da Gama and Botafogo would contest the point, there is one derby that historically, economically and in terms of sheer mind-blowing numbers blows the others out of the water - the 'Fla-Flu' encounter at the Maracana between Flamengo and Fluminense. A Record-Breaking History Nothing about this derby suggests that it will be just another game in the Brazilian calendar, as two of the biggest teams in the country face-off to continue a rivalry that has been going since the first clash in 1912. Flamengo have been named as the club with the most fans in the world; O Globo calculated that the club had 33 million followers in Brazil alone, putting them comfortably above second placed Chivas. Fluminense cannot quite match this figure; but with an estimated following of around 5 million mostly concentrated on a local rather than national level, they are more than a match for their Rio rivals. Such fanatical support and the use of the gigantic Maracana stadium prompted legendary journalist Mario Filho to dub the match 'The Crowd's Clasico'.

And in the golden age of Brazilian football in the 1960s and 70s, the Fla-Flu clash certainly lived up to its billing. In a record unlikely to ever be matched in our era of safety regulations and all-seater stadia, the 1963 Carioca Championship final attracted an incredible 194,603 spectators to watch a 0-0 draw. Attendances over 100,000 were commonplace for the two teams meetings right up until 2006, when a remodelled Maracana saw it's mammoth capacity reduced to just over 80,000. This Sunday's game will be played in the Estadio Joao Havelange, as the old Cathedral of Brazilian football is renovated in preparation for the World Cup in four years time. A Rivalry That Is Impossible To Separate Unlike many rivalries across the world, both Flamengo and Fluminense have had a remarkably similar level of success across the years. In the state-level 'Fla' just hold the advantage, winning 30 titles to the 'Flu's 30.

Flamengo also hold the advantage in terms of national achievement with a more convincing six to one advantage; and their 1981 Copa Libertadores triumph surprisingly remains the only Copa to reside in either giant's trophy cabinet - a fact which 'Rubro-Negro' supporters do not hesitate in pointing out to their rivals. This year however appears to show Fluminense firmly in the ascendancy. The 'Tricolor' are sitting pretty at the top of the table, while Flamengo languish in 14th closer to relegation worries than title dreams. Fluminense also gained bragging rights from the teams' last match, which finished 2-1 in the Maracana just before the break for the World Cup. Favourite Sons Zico, Flamengo (1971-83, 1985-89) A club legend, who never played for nor managed another Brazilian club. Zico played for Flamengo in a 12-year golden period for the 'Rubro-Negro', which saw them pick up six state and four national titles; as well as their first and only Copa Libertadores.

The Brazilian star is now back at the club as their director of football, where he is said not to draw a salary from the Flamengo coffers but instead directly from sponsors in an attempt to keep the wage bill down. Tele Santana, Fluminense (1951-60, manager from 1969-70) The player with the third-highest amount of appearances ever in the Tricolor shirt, playing 557 times and scoring 162 goals as a right winger. After a short spell managing his beloved Flu, Santana would go on to become an internationally renowned coach, famously directing the magical Brazil squads of 1982 and 1986 dubbed the 'Best teams never to win a World Cup.' Players To Watch Dejan Petkovic, Flamengo At the tender age of 38, much-travelled Petkovic continues to produce the goods on a regular basis for the 'Rubro-Negro'. Renowned as a brilliant dead-ball striker, 'Rambo' has made the 'Olympic goal', where he scores directly from a corner kick, something of a speciality - scoring nine in the Brazilian leagues alone.

Dario Conca, Fluminense Recent European arrivals Deco and Belletti might pick up more of the limelight currently in the 'Tricolor'; but ask almost any Flu supporter who the heart and soul of their team is and chances are they will point you towards the diminutive Argentine playmaker. Formed in the famous River Plate youth system alongside Andres D'Alessandro and Javier Saviola, 'El Pibito' went the other way from the established European track and spent a fruitful spell in Chile before settling in Brazil in 2008. Incredibly gifted in assisting his team-mates scoring efforts and not shy of searching for glory himself, the 27 year old was rewarded with O Globo's player of the season award in 2009, and it would be no surprise if he lifted the gong again this year. Follow Goal.com on Clásicos De Fútbol: Clube de Regatas do Flamengo vs. Fluminense Football Club | Sports | Remezcla Clásicos De Fútbol: Clube de Regatas do Flamengo vs.

Fluminense Football Club Trending By Andrea Gompf | 4 years ago A Clásico is a match between two rival teams in the world of football and there are plenty of them in el mundo hispano-hablante. Clásicos De Futbol is a monthly series that delves into the rivalry of a different set of teams. This month, we take a look at the rivalry between two of Brazilian soccer’s most famous institutions: Clube de Regatas do Flamengo and Fluminense Football Club. THE HISTORY The story begins in 1895 with the founding of Clube de Regatas do Flamengo in Rio de Janeiro. The clube, however, was not a futbol club but a rowing club! A group of young guys built the club in order to get laid. No, that’s not a joke: rowing was the elite sport back then in the late 19th century and the young founders of Flamengo wanted to impress a few of the local girls with their rowing abilities. Fast forward to 1901. Trust fund English-Brazilian baby Oscar Cox returned home from his studies in Switzerland and immediately thrust this new-fangled sport of futbol onto his friends.

He got a few friends together and they played the first official match in Rio de Janeiro. He founded Fluminense the following year and members of Flamengo’s rowing team joined Fluminense’s soccer team. Everything was pretty chill up until 1911 when captain Alberto Borgerth got into an argument with some of the higher-ups in Fluminense. Borgerth left the team and nine other members of the team who were also rowers with Flamengo left with him. They immediately voted to create a football club within Flamengo and played their first official match on May 3, 1912 where they defeated Sport Club Mangueira 16 – 2. The first match between Fluminense and its former players in Flamengo occurred two months later with Fluminense winning 3 – 2. And, thus, a rivalry was born! THE RIVALRY The rivalry, known as Fla-Flu (a term coined by Brazilian sports writer Mário Rodrigues Filho), is the most popular derby in Brazil along the same level as Barcelona/Real Madrid and Chivas/America. As with those rivalries, Fla-Flu features two of the country’s most popular and most successful teams.

Flamengo has won the Rio State Championship 32 times, the Brazilian National Championship five times as well as two Brazilian Cups and a Copa Libertadores title as well as an Intercontinental Cup title. Fluminense comes in second with 31 Rio State Championship wins, four Brazilian Championship titles, a single Brazilian Cup win and the Copa Rio and are also the current Série A champions. The rivalry is even mentioned in Lamartine Babo’s unofficial Flamengo anthem, “Hino Do Flamengo.” One of the most famous matches between the two in recent memory occurred on June 25th during the 1995 Campeonato Carioca. The tournament is played between teams from the state of Rio de Janeiro. That year’s final came down to another Fla-Flu derby at Maracanã stadium. Fluminense won the match thanks to a “gol de barriga” (belly goal) by Renato Gaúcho. Gaúcho was waiting in the penalty box and deflected an oncoming shot from a teammate using his stomach to score the winning goal and Campeonato Carioca title. Flamengo settled for second place on their 100th anniversary.

RIVAL TEAMS, RIVAL BRANDS The Fla-Flu rivalry extends off the field in a variety of ways including brand names. Fluminense currently has a deal with Adidas that will end in 2015. Rather than renew the deal, Adidas went and signed a new, 10-year deal with Flamengo. WHOOPS!!! Fluminense’s hardcore fans from the Torcido Young Club launched the #FORAADIDAS campaign in response on May 10th: Today at 6pm, we will start the #FORAADIDAS campaign. Post photos on social networks showing your indignation with the company. Don’t forget to use the hashtag #FORAADIDAS. Soon, gems such as these popped up all over twitter and instagram: — vinicius netto (@viniciusnetto42) May 11, 2013 It all sounds silly at first until you realize that rival sports brands support rival teams as well. Nike sponsors Barcelona, Boca Juniors, and Monterrey while Adidas sponsors their rivals in Real Madrid, River Plate, and Tigres UANL, respectively. Plus, no brand in their right mind would have ever sponsored Celtic AND Rangers!

O por el amor de Deus! Fla-Flu, a Carioca special - FIFA.com Fla-Flu, a Carioca special 27 Jun 2009 © Getty Images Nobody has ever summed up the origins of the Flamengo-Fluminense derby better than the sports writer and dramatist Nelson Rodrigues, who once said "the Fla-Flu was created 40 minutes before nothing." It is a sentence that captures the sheer importance of the Clássico das Multidões (Derby of the Masses) to both the city of Rio de Janeiro and Brazilian football as a whole. The latest instalment in their long-running rivalry will take place on Sunday, on Matchday 8 of the Brasileirao. And as FIFA.com reveals, few other derbies around the world can match the Fla-Flu for historical significance or for its ability to produce dramatic, defining moments. The origins The roots of the clássico stretch back years before the first meeting between the two sides on 7 July 1912.

Founded in 1895, Clube de Regatas do Flamengo was dedicated mainly to rowing in its early years and it was not until 1911 that its football team came into being. Ironically, the founders were a group of nine players from another venerable institution called Fluminense Football Club, who broke away from the then-Rio de Janeiro champions to set up their own team, creating a rivalry born from within. Despite having lost the core of their squad, Fluminense won that very first encounter 3-2, with Bartho scoring the winner after 77 minutes. The match was watched by a crowd of 800 people, a figure that was fairly respectable for the time but one that is dwarfed by the huge attendances the derby, now synonymous with a packed Estadio Maracana, would begin to attract in the decades that followed. Neither Flamengo nor Fluminense, the winner of the first four Rio championships between 1906 and 1909, would lift the league trophy that year.

The first time the teams battled it out for the championship was four years later in 1915, with Flamengo getting the better of their rivals to win the league for the second time. Ever since then the Fla-Flu has always been a distinguishing feature of Rio's footballing identity. Facts and figures This year's Rio de Janeiro state championship triumph was Flamengo's 31st in all, taking them one ahead of O Tricolor. Thanks to their Zico-inspired glory years, O Mengão also have the edge over their local rivals in other competitions, having amassed four Brazilian league titles to Fluminense's one and two Brazilian Cups to their one, not to mention one Copa Libertadores crown, a trophy that their arch-enemies have never lifted. In the 368 matches the two sides have contested over the last 97 years O Rubro-Negro also hold sway, having won 132 times and scored 543 goals in the process, with Fluminense claiming 118 wins and amassing a goal tally of 499.

The top scorer in the fixture is Arthur Antunes de Coimbra, better known as Zico, with 19 goals, while O Fluzão's leading marksmen is Hercules, their hero of 1930s and 1940s, with 15. Fluminense's biggest win over their rivals was a 5-1 thrashing in 1943, a result avenged by a 7-0 Flamengo win two years later, their most handsome victory in the fixture to date. Tales of derbies past The derby's famous name of Fla-Flu was first coined in the mid-1920s by the celebrated sports journalist Mario Filho, whose status in Brazil was such that the Maracana was renamed the Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho on his death in the mid-sixties. Filho came up with the moniker when the Rio side for the 1925 Brazilian State Teams Championship was announced.

Made up entirely of Flamengo and Fluminense players, the revered writer dubbed the side the "Fla-Flu team", and when Rio promptly went and won the tournament the term entered the country's footballing lexicon. The Maracana was officially opened in 1950, though it would be 13 years before the two sides met there in a Rio championship decider, a goalless draw securing the 1963 state title for O Rubro-Negro. That game was notable for the huge crowd it attracted. The official attendance of 177,656 is the highest in the history of the clássico and one of the largest of all time, with some sources putting the figure as high as 194,000. The history of the derby is littered with famous names, from Flamengo greats Leonidas da Silva and Junior to Fluzão legends Tele Santana and Rivelino. A number of players have even turned out for both sides, though few with quite such distinction as Renato Gaucho.

A Mengão idol in the 1980s and early 90s, Renato was sporting a Tricolor shirt when he scored one of the most famous goals in the fixture. A thrilling 1995 state championship decider was reaching its conclusion, with Flamengo seemingly on course for the title after coming back from two goals down. Fluminense refused to give up and when Ailton sent a cross into the box, Renato bundled it over the line with his stomach, an unorthodox finish that gave them a 3-2 win and the championship at their rivals' expense. The rivalry today Though Fluminense won the Copa do Brasil for the first time in 2007 and came within a penalty shootout of claiming their maiden Copa Libertadores crown last year, Flamengo are enjoying the greater success this season. Having won the Rio de Janeiro state title, they also earned a 1-0 win in the first Fla-Flu of the year in April courtesy of a goal from left-wingback Juan.

Sunday's eagerly anticipated encounter features a duel between two strikers who formed part of the Brazil squad at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™, with Flamengo's Adriano keen to outdo Fluminense's Fred in the scoring stakes. Both sides need their strikers to fire for differing reason. Coached by the legendary Carlos Alberto Parreira, O Tricolor Carioca are anxious to improve their lowly league placing of 11th, while O Rubro-Negro, with Cuca at the helm, can move into the Copa Libertadores places if they win. Yet, as this potted history of this Rio rivalry shows, there is much, much more at stake on Sunday than just three points. Sign in with Facebook Five great football derbies of the world you may not know about - BBC Sport BBC Sport Five great football derbies of the world you may not know about By Gary Rose Read more about sharing. Two huge Premier League derbies take place on Saturday as Liverpool play Everton at Anfield and Arsenal take on Tottenham at Emirates Stadium.

The tradition and history of those fixtures is well known, as are other great rivalries such as the Old Firm derby in Glasgow between Celtic and Rangers, and Spain's El Clasico - Real Madrid against Barcelona. But what about derbies elsewhere? BBC Sport uncovers tales of incognito referees in Egypt, an Irish hero in Iran, a 'Rambo-like' spy in Italy and fan 'curfews' in India, amid great fixtures around the world with which you may not be so familiar. Al Ahly v Zamalek (Cairo, Egypt) Al Ahly v Zamalek Biggest attendance 120,000 Of all the games to referee, a derby between two fierce rivals must be up there as one of the toughest. But while the officials for Saturday's Premier League derbies might find themselves the subject of chants or boos from the fans, they will probably not need to be flown in under the cover of darkness prior to the fixture. That, though, was the case for Scottish referee Kenny Clark, when he took charge of Africa's biggest - and arguably the continent's most hotly contested - derby back in 2001.

The rivalry between Al Ahly and Zamalek is so fierce that foreign referees are brought in for the games The Cairo showdown between Egyptian sides Al Ahly and Zamalek - the country's two most successful clubs - is so fierce that local officials are not entrusted with the fixture, with foreign referees instead brought in. When Clark - at that stage a veteran of four Old Firm games - answered the Egyptian Football Association's call 13 years ago, he did so after several other European officials had refused to make a referee available. "In the previous year, the French referee had abandoned the game after about 10 minutes because of crowd trouble, so we knew what we were going into," Clark told BBC Sport. "Ordinarily when we travel abroad we are suited and booted in our Scottish FA blazers, but we were told to travel incognito because we would have just got hassled from the moment we arrived at the airport otherwise.

"But even though we had travelled in casual clothes, there were people who recognised the guys from the Egyptian FA that had met up with us - they sussed we were officials and from the moment we were clear of customs, we had people shouting at us about helping Zamalek or Al Ahly." Clark and his fellow officials were assigned a bodyguard he felt was "capable of killing someone with his bare hands", who stuck with them throughout their time in Cairo. But, as strange as the experience was on their arrival at the airport, it got even stranger when they turned up at the 70,000-capacity Cairo national stadium for the game. "We arrived 90 minutes before kick-off and it was incredibly quiet. The fans were already inside - 70,000 people already inside and waiting," added Clark. "We went to perform our usual pre-match pitch inspection. We had been at one goalmouth and went down to the other, and one of the linesmen decided to take some photos with fans in the backdrop.

Scottish official Kenny Clark refereed the Cairo derby in 2001 "Our bodyguard then told us we would have to take photos at the other goal, because the other fans would have noticed we hadn't taken a photo with them in. "So, in the interest of balance, we had to go back to the other goal and take photos there, but after we had done that we were told to go back to the other goal because we had only been there once and, again, the fans would notice." The game itself passed by largely without incident until the final 10 minutes, when bottles and bricks were thrown on to the pitch, prompting Clark to tell his linesmen not to go near the corner flags. "I said go as far as the 18-yard box for offsides but don't go any further - if you get an offside wrong, you get it wrong; it is not worth getting a rock on the head for," added Clark. "We managed to get the riot police to move the fans further up the terracing and we were able to finish the game." In the end, Zamalek took the derby honours, beating Al Ahly 2-1.

Esteghlal v Persepolis (Tehran, Iran) Esteghlal v Persepolis Biggest attendance 128,000 (estimated) Historically, Persepolis were the club of the Tehran working classes with Esteghlal the team of Iran's elite So important is the city derby between Esteghlal and Persepolis in Tehran, the capital of Iran, that businesses close down on the day of the game. "Everybody, everywhere is waiting to watch the game - not just football fans," former Iran defender Mohammad Taghavi, a veteran of nine derbies who played for both teams, told BBC Sport. "Our derby is very important to the people of Tehran and it is quite different to the derbies in England. People accept the result in the Premier League but in my country, when you lose a derby, everything changes. "A whole season can depend on the derby.

You might finish fifth or sixth, but if you win the derby, it can be more important than winning the league." Arguably the biggest derby in Asia, the Tehran derby regularly attracts crowds of 100,000, while an average of 20 million people across Iran tune in to watch the game on television. So big is the pressure on the players and managers that not losing has become more important than winning, and the last four derbies have ended in goalless draws. Irish striker Eamon Zayed, left, is the only foreign player to have scored a hat-trick in the Tehran derby In fact, the last goal to be scored in the derby was in 2012, by an Irishman. Eamon Zayed, a Dublin-born striker who was on the books of Leicester City as a teenager, scored an 11-minute hat-trick as Persepolis fought back from 2-0 down to beat Esteghlal 3-2. He was the first foreigner to score three goals in the derby and it made him a celebrity in Iran.

"It was all Roy of the Rovers stuff because it was only my second game for the club," said Zayed, who is a Libya international. "The derby was front and back page news and I was asked on to their equivalent of The Late, Late Show we have in Ireland, where they count down to the new year. "I said a few words and wished the Iranian population a happy new year." Genoa v Sampdoria (Genoa, Italy) Genoa v Sampdoria Biggest attendance Not recorded The "Derby della Lanterna" ('Derby of the Lighthouse') pitches the oldest team in Italian football - Genoa, founded in 1893 - against one of the country's newest - Sampdoria, formed in a merger in 1946. Such is the rivalry that it seems both sides will go to great lengths to get any sort of edge over the other - even resorting to dressing in camouflage and spying on training. That is what happened last year, when Genoa youth team coach Luca De Pra was found hiding in bushes observing a training session held by Sampdoria.

De Pra was suspended by his club, with Sampdoria releasing a tongue-in-cheek statement which read: "Like Rambo hidden among the branches on the hill, Luca De Pra failed to overcome Sampdoria's intelligence and counter-intelligence operations. "However, no prisoners were taken and no blood was shed. You should always forgive your enemies, as nothing annoys them more." Former Chelsea striker Gianluca Vialli played for Sampdoria between 1984 and 1992 The incident, though, highlighted how important the game is to the two sides. Former Chelsea striker Gianluca Vialli played in numerous derbies during his eight years at Sampdoria from 1984. "You need to fasten your seatbelt - it's a huge rivalry," Vialli told BBC World Service's Steve Crossman. "In the city, 50% of people are mad about Genoa, the other 50% are mad about Sampdoria.

"You are in the stadium wearing your Sampdoria shirt and next to you is someone wearing a Genoa shirt and it could turn out they are your neighbour and nobody wants to fight with their neighbour." Mohun Bagan v East Bengal (Calcutta, India) Mohun Bagan v East Bengal First played Biggest attendance 131,000 Losing Saturday's north London derby is unlikely to see any of Tottenham or Arsenal's players holed up on a boat on the Thames if they are on the losing side. However, a similar scenario once unfolded in India, when Mohun Bagan lost to East Bengal in the country's biggest derby. When the Calcutta side were beaten 5-0 by their city rivals in 1975, Bagan players escaped from angry fans humiliated by the defeat by spending the night of the match on a boat on the Ganges River. "If a team loses a derby then you are basically under curfew for a week, in that you are not getting out of your homes," former India team manager Eric Benny told BBC Sport. "But if you are the player who scores the winning goal, you are a hero.

I know of instances when fans have asked players to baptise their new-born children after scoring in the game." The Calcutta derby captures the imagination of Indian fans with over 100,000 regularly attending the game The Calcutta derby is the only football match in India capable of challenging cricket for popularity. Traditionally a rivalry between the city's local inhabitants, who supported Mohun Bagan, and immigrants, who supported East Bengal, matches between the two have been fiercely contested for the past 89 years. They have regularly drawn crowds of 100,000 at the Salt Lake Stadium, with the highest being 131,000 in 1997 - still the record attendance for any sporting event in India. "It does not get bigger than this game," added Benny. "You would have whole families hopping on to lorries and travelling for four hours to watch the game. There would be over 100,000 people trying to get in. Some would sneak into the stadium without tickets. It means so much to the fans. "I knew a couple and the husband supported East Bengal, while the wife supported Mohun Bagan.

After one particular derby, which East Bengal won, the wife would not see her husband after the game or even speak to him. "It can take fans of the losing team days to recover." Flamengo v Vasco da Gama (Rio, Brazil) Flamengo v Vasco da Gama First played Biggest attendance Not recorded The Flamengo-Fluminense derby may be more well known, but Flamengo v Vasco really gets Rio going It may not be as well known as derbies such as the Superclasico in Buenos Aires [Boca Juniors v River Plate] or even Flamengo v Fluminense ('Fla-Flu') in the same city, but Flamengo v Vasco da Garma in Rio is one of the biggest in the world. Having developed from an existing rivalry between rowing clubs of the same name, it is one of the oldest in Brazil and also one of the most followed in the country, with the two teams boasting an estimated 45 million fans between them - about 20% of the population.

"Fla-Flu might be better known around the world, but the Rio derby that really gets the city going is Flamengo against Vasco da Gama, the so called 'classic of the multitudes' [Classico dos Milhoes]," says South American football expert Tim Vickery. "Introduced by the British, football in Brazil spread down from the elites and Vasco, club of the city's Portuguese immigrants, did more than anyone to give the process a push. "They won the Rio first division at the first attempt in 1923 with a team including black players and whites from poor backgrounds. Their success provoked a furious backlash from the traditional elite clubs, among them Flamengo. Leonadis won the league with Vasco before becoming one of the first black players to join Flamengo "But in the mid-1930s, seeing which way the political winds were blowing, a visionary Flamengo president signed the leading three black players of the day - among them centre-forward Leonidas, charismatic and controversial.

"At a stroke an elite club had rebranded itself, acquiring the popular touch and stealing Vasco's thunder - provoking a rivalry which grows deeper with time." Share this page a football report Football Rivalries in Brazil By Fernando Sell Brazil is a nation with a fierce and historic rivalry between clubs. However, the characteristics of the rivalries are different in comparison to European ones. As Brazil is a huge country that is composed of many states, it is rare to see a heated rivalry between two teams from different states. The most intense rivalries are those between clubs of the same state; this mainly happens in the states of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. The rivalries are primarily stimulated through state championships, also through the league known as O Brasileirão and the Brazilian Cup. When two rival teams play against each other the match is known as a derby and teams can play against each other 6 or more times in one year. Grêmio vs Internacional Grêmio and Internacional are fierce rival clubs from Porto Alegre, the capital city of the state Rio Grande do Sul. The state is practically divided in half by the clubs, half the state is painted blue and the other red.

The historic derby between the two sides is known as the Gre-Nal. Many players have played against each in the Gre-Nal, but one of the greatest player vs player moments was between Ronaldinho (Grêmio) and Dunga (Internacional). In one of the derbies, Ronaldinho destroyed Dunga with his tricks and flicks, and the Brazilian superstar scored a beautiful chip in the game. This particular state championship in which the two teams compete for is called “Campeonato Gaúcho.” In 2009 Internacional were the winners, with arch rivals Grêmio finishing in second. Inter have won the competition 39 times and Grêmio 35 times. Rio de Janeiro The state is full of fervent rivalries; the four major clubs of the state are Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense, and Vasco de Gama. The biggest matches involve Flamengo, the most popular club in the country and the most hated by all the other fans in Rio. One of the biggest derbies in Brazil and in the world is the Fla-Flu, between Flamengo and Fluminense.

The two teams have been arch rivals since the early 20th century and the match always sells out at the legendary Maracaña. In recent times the biggest rivalry has been between Flamengo and Botafogo. They have played against one another in the last 3 finals of the Rio de Janeiro State Championship, known as “Campeonato Carioca.” Flamengo won has the last three finals. The derby between the two is known as the Clássico da Rivalidade. The match disputed between Fluminese and Botago is known as the Clássico Vovô (Granddad derby) it got this name because it is the older derby in Brazil, the 4th oldest in South America. Even though I highlighted three of the derbies in Rio, the matches against the four clubs are always passionate and exhilarating matches. The rivalry between the clubs is strong and will always be that way. São Paulo The biggest rivalry in the state of São Paulo is between Palmeiras and Corinthians, the Paulista Derby. Even though it is the oldest rivalry in the big state, the intensity has decreased over the past years, but the hatred between both clubs is still incredibly strong.

Many times there have been violent clashes between the fans of the clubs. The rivalry is also evident on the pitch as the players are frequently disrespectful to one another and play aggressively. The San-São is between São Paulo and Santos, and the rivalry between the two is more recent. This is based on the big success the two clubs have had in the past years. The last final of the Campeonato Paulista was between Santos and Corinthians. Santos views Corinthians as their main rival and competition between the two is very high. The derby is also known as Confronto dos Alvinegros, the derby between the black and white. Atlético Mineiro vs Cruzeiro They are the two biggest clubs of Belo Horizonte, capital of Minas Gerais. Some areas of Minas Gerais support clubs from São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro, but in Belo Horizonte all hearts focus on the rivalry between the Azuis Celestes (Cruzeiro) and Galo (Atlético), a match full of passion and emotion. Cruzeiro won the past two Campeonato Mineiro and beat their arch rivals in 2009 and 2008.

In the smaller states there are still fierce and significant rivalries, they may not bring in huge amounts of attention, but must not be seen as an average games. In the state of Bahia, the clash between Vitória and Bahia is just as important and vital as a Fla-Flu. The battle between Coritiba and Atlético Paranense is the classic derby of the state of Paraná, this match is known as Atletiba. This match normally decides the winner of the Campeonato Paranaense. Finally, the match between Sport and Náutico is the most intense in the state of Pernambuco. What do you think about the unique set-up of Brazilian rivalries? Do you prefer a European derby or a Brazilian one? El Presidente & The Dirty Americans Take Rio! (Preview) | Well, How Did I Get Here? Well, How Did I Get Here? El Presidente & The Dirty Americans Take Rio! (Preview) Posted on by jRo Back in April 2009, I spent 10 days in Rio de Janeiro with some friends.

It was our first visit to Brazil and Rio definitely lived up to it’s title as “The Marvelous City.” We did most of the typical tourist activities you would expect. We took the tram up Sugar Loaf Mountain. We went to the world famous Maracana stadium for a local derby match between Flamengo and Fluminense. We saw Christ the Redeemer up close and personal. We even visited a favela , once for a party and again on an organized walking tour. Another memorable experience was hangliding for the first time ever. The five of us also hung out on the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema and absorbed the abundant nightlife in places like Lapa. It was an action-packed trip that left me truly exhausted, but more importantly immensely thrilled. Here is a little sample of what it was like – Brazil | Well, How Did I Get Here? Well, How Did I Get Here? Comment Last week I showed you the preview for a trip I took to Rio de Janeiro in April 2009. This week I present to you a short film giving a more inside look into the fun times that were had in “the Marvelous City”.

Check it out… Comment Back in April 2009, I spent 10 days in Rio de Janeiro with some friends. It was our first visit to Brazil and Rio definitely lived up to it’s title as “The Marvelous City.” We did most of the typical tourist activities you would expect. We took the tram up Sugar Loaf Mountain. We went to the world famous Maracana stadium for a local derby match between Flamengo and Fluminense. We saw Christ the Redeemer up close and personal. We even visited a favela , once for a party and again on an organized walking tour. Another memorable experience was hangliding for the first time ever. The five of us also hung out on the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema and absorbed the abundant nightlife in places like Lapa. It was an action-packed trip that left me truly exhausted, but more importantly immensely thrilled.

Here is a little sample of what it was like – Brazil travel: Tips for catching a soccer match in Rio de Janeiro | Toronto Star Travel Brazil travel: Tips for catching a soccer match in Rio de Janeiro It's important to stay safe and know how to buy tickets and where to go if you're going to enjoy a football or soccer match in Brazil. Attending a soccer game in Brazil is tons of fun if you plan it right. (New York Times) By Seth KugelSpecial to the Star Fri., May 3, 2013 RIO DE JANEIRO—The banner-waving, anthem-singing fans of this city’s Flamengo club formed a billowing mass of ruby-and-black-clad humanity. They moved not only in reaction to the ebbs and flows on the field far below, but also to the samba beat pounded out by musicians in the midst of the grandstand mayhem around me and my friend Doug. The bands had not stopped playing, and fans had not stopped chanting, in the 18 minutes since the game began. Then, on the field far below, a precision passer on the rival team Fluminense launched the ball straight for their top scorer.

As nonchalantly as flipping a light switch, he scissor-kicked a strike past the keeper into the far left corner of the goal. Or as it is known locally: “Goooooooooooool!” On the other side of the stadium, the Fluminense fans—outfitted in green, grenadine and white—erupted, but they were so isolated, so far away, that they looked and sounded like television static with the volume turned way up. On our side, the samba ceased. The fans slumped – for about 10 seconds. Then the Flamengo samba machine swung back into action. The fans started singing again, a love song to their team. Their banners waved like mainsails in a storm. Mourning would wait for later: Flamengo eventually lost 1-0. But in Brazil, telling fans to stop cheering because the opposing team scored would be like telling a disc jockey to stop the party because someone danced badly. Article Continued Below In Brazil, soccer is not just a game, it’s a national drama. One of Brazil’s great 20th-century playwrights and novelists, Nelson Rodrigues, recognized that the sport trumped even his own craft in defining the nation.

“Abroad, when you want to learn about a people, you examine their fiction,” he wrote. “In Brazil, football plays the role of fiction.” You can find variations on that particular brand of drama across the Brazilian soccer scene, almost all year round, in Rio and Sao Paulo and at smaller stadiums in lesser-known cities. Here’s when you probably won’t find it: During the World Cup, which Brazil will host from June 12 to July 13, 2014. It won’t be in the stands when, say, Cameroon plays Serbia, or when France squares off against the Uzbeks. The World Cup will be a good party, guaranteed – and the handful of games the Brazilian side plays will be all-out spectacles. (Good luck getting tickets for those matches.) But the best time to experience true Brazilian soccer – or, more accurately, futebol (foo-tchee-BOW) – will be outside the parameters of the Cup. That said, it is not simple to plan a soccer trip to Brazil. I had an advantage as a Portuguese speaker who had lived in the country for two years. Others might find it more difficult. The complex league schedules are largely unavailable in English.

You’ll have to find your way to the stadium, choosing between public transportation and sometimes pricey taxis. Even where to sit can be a consequential decision. And you’ll always have to be ready for the unexpected: Engenhao, the very stadium where Doug and I watched the Flamengo-Fluminense game, was closed last month for structural repairs. And there have been other black eyes for the country as it ramps up to the Cup. At the end of last month, an American woman was abducted and gang-raped in the popular Rio district of Copacabana. Police had to use tear gas recently after fans clashed when tickets ran out for the inaugural match of the new World Cup stadium in Salvador. (Six people reportedly sustained minor injuries.) As is often the case with travel in developing countries, things can be less predictable and more chaotic than you may be used to at home. But none of those should dissuade you from experiencing soccer in Brazil. The phrase “the beautiful game” did not originate in the country, but it accurately describes the fluid and frequently dazzling play you’ll see. After attending six games last fall, I concluded that Brazilians speak soccer fluently, while everyone else has an accent.

My guess is that many Americans (and other travelers) don’t explore the admittedly complicated world of Brazilian soccer because they think it’s too dangerous or, more likely, have no idea how. Here, then, is a guide on the whens, wheres and how-tos. WHEN TO GO The first thing you have to know about Brazilian soccer is that it is played nearly year-round. There’s no spring training or long, wait-till-next-year periods of inactivity. Between two consecutive league seasons and a handful of national and international tournaments, the biggest teams play virtually nonstop, except for about a month in late December and early January. The first few months of the year are dominated by state leagues: all 26 Brazilian states, as well as the Federal District in and around Brasilia, have them. (Games are generally on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.) By May or June, the more exciting four-tiered national league starts. By the time the season ends in December, there’s a national champion. But the action doesn’t end there. Top finishers in the national tournament earn berths in the next year’s Libertadores Cup and South American Cup, two regional tournaments that run concurrently with parts of the state and national seasons.

There’s also the Brazil Cup, a separate national competition with a knockout tournament format. And occasionally, the national team (that is, the one that goes to the World Cup) will play a “friendly” match against visiting foreign squads. (This year, from June 15 to 30, Brazil hosts the Confederations Cup, stopping league play.) The other good news is that you don’t always need to buy tickets in advance. There are exceptions: if it’s a game between two big teams, known as a classico (more on that below), you should be safe and buy tickets beforehand at the stadium, club headquarters or other outlets; ask your taxi driver or hotel staff members. Buying online is sometimes possible but tricky: sites usually require a Brazilian ID number and domestic address. (For tips on buying tickets on game day, see the accompanying information.) HOW TO STAY SAFE Rio is full of coddled experiences – tours of the favelas, private helicopter rides – and soccer is no exception.

In hotel lobbies in the tourist-clogged Copacabana and Ipanema neighborhoods, travelers can pay 150 reais or so (about $75 at 2 reals to the dollar), take a bus or van to the stadium, and be herded by an English-speaking guide into the pricey reserved seats. It is the most expensive and probably the most boring way to see a match. It is also unnecessary. Travel in Brazil is never entirely without risk, of course, but games are much safer than they used to be. Armed with some advance knowledge, common-sense precautions and a sense of adventure, it’s far more exciting to sit in the general-admission grandstand. In summary: arrive very early, don’t bring valuables, and sit on the edges of the grandstand, not in the middle of the mayhem. Things have changed a lot since the 1980s, when fights between opposing fan groups were common, said Bernardo Buarque de Hollanda, a professor at the Fundacao Getulio Vargas who studies the social history of sport and specializes in the highly organized fan groups, or torcidas organizadas, that dominate the grandstands.

“Instead of spontaneous violence, it was premeditated,” he said. By the 1990s stadiums began to separate fan bases for all games, although that sometimes just resulted in moving fights outside the stadium. Since then, a 2003 federal law made leagues and clubs legally responsible for fan safety, and was strengthened in 2010 to make the torcidas and their leaders criminally responsible for member actions within 5 kilometres of the stadium. State laws now prohibit alcohol sales (though those will be temporarily lifted for the World Cup). Buarque added that “there is a tendency toward building stadiums that guarantee the comfort and security of fans” – including chairs instead of concrete steps and more security personnel. Fans have complained that some of the newer stadiums are too civilized and seats too expensive, but their loss is your gain. You’ll also want to decide on whether to participate in the street festivities before the game. At most of the games I attended, street vendors hawked dirt-cheap, ice-cold beer and meat on sticks. In most places, there was a significant police presence, which was mostly reassuring.

Even at a Series B game I attended in Fortaleza, in the northeast, where rows of officers in riot gear standing guard were enough to startle me, there was no evidence of anything worse than beer-drinking teenagers. One more thing: Brazilian men are not particularly known for their shyness around women, and given the male-dominated crowds at most matches, women (and, for that matter, parents and their children) may feel more comfortable in a calmer area, away from the grandstand. And you may be glad that your children don’t understand Portuguese: chants directed at referees and opposing players can get vulgar and often homophobic. WHERE TO GO The obvious places to see games are Rio and Sao Paulo, for two reasons: first, they have multiple major teams – Flamengo, Fluminense, Vasco and Botafogo in Rio; Corinthians, Sao Paulo FC and Palmeiras in Sao Paulo, with several other less popular professional teams. In other words, there will always be a game. You also won’t run out of soccer-related things to do between games. In Rio, there’s the small museum at Maracana, Brazil’s most famous soccer stadium.

(The museum remains open during pre-Cup stadium renovations.) Elsewhere, the city’s beaches host informal games, known as peladas. One of the more regular and impressive ones is the Pelada de Siqueira Campos, on Copacabana beach just off the street of the same name, on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. It’s serious business, and looks utterly exhausting. And on both Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, you’ll find lots of impressive futevolei, a version of volleyball played soccer style, with no hand or arm contact. Probably the best place to supplement your soccer fix, though, is the Museum of Football, located within Pacaembu Stadium in Sao Paulo. The museum – where most exhibits, though not all, are translated into English and Spanish – provides historical perspective but, more important, goes pretty far in replicating the excitement in the stadiums. A samba beat follows you part of the way through the exhibits, and a raucous audio-visual display (dramatically located under the Pacaembu bleachers) is dedicated to the organized fan groups. “Everything in life changes, except for the team you choose to cheer for,” a quote reads.

Particularly appealing are the videos in which Brazilian soccer writers recall the most memorable goals of their lives. Sao Paulo also has something not common elsewhere: bars dedicated to soccer. Bar Sao Cristovao, in the middle of the bustling Vila Madalena night-life district, is a must visit. The bar, with walls plastered with memorabilia, is a popular spot on game days, and its draft beers and snacks make for great game-time refreshment. It also sells historic jerseys of the major Brazilian clubs for 140 reals. WHAT TO WATCH The Flamengo/Fluminense – or Fla/Flu – game I attended was what is called a classico, a showdown between two historically great teams. Not surprisingly, emotions run higher than usual during such games, especially, as was the case there, when both teams are local. The circus outside Engenhao on the day we went was intense – beer was plentiful, crowds were thick and rowdy. It’s kind of like Carnival with far fewer women. That’s not for everyone, but those up to the challenge will enjoy the spectacle.

“A foreigner should try to see a classico,” said Alexandre Nobeschi, the sports editor for Folha de S.Paulo, the country’s largest-circulation newspaper. “It’s there that you can see the true impact soccer has on the life of Brazilians.” At the five non-classico games I attended, the atmosphere was a tad more mellow, but probably not to a degree noticeable to a novice. At another Fluminense game versus Ponte Preta, a team from Sao Paulo state, I sat in a packed (but not sold-out) San Januario, a charmingly crumbling 17,000-capacity stadium that rocked with fervor as Flu came back against an early Ponte Preta lead. (Female travelers, take note: I observed that Fluminense attracted far more women to the grandstand than any other team I saw.) By far my favorite place to see soccer, though, was in Santos, a port city of 420,000 an hour (or three, depending on traffic) from Sao Paulo, where coffee has floated out of Brazil since the 19th century, and much more – soybeans, sugar, automobiles – floats out today.

Santos is a storied club – it has won eight national championships and was Pele’s team from 1957 to 1974. On two World Cup teams, in 1962 and 1970, eight of the 11 starting players played in Santos, and although that is unlikely ever to happen again (most top Brazilian players now make millions for European clubs), it is, at least for now, the squad of Neymar, the 21-year-old Instagram-using star who many consider the best player in the country. The stadium in Santos is tiny and intimate, so the seats are very close to the action. (Cubs and Red Sox fans will recognize the appeal.) And pretty soon, Santos will be home to a brand-new museum dedicated to Pele, in a renovated mansion known as the Casarao do Valongo. It’s scheduled to be open by the World Cup. But no need to rush – it will still be there when the World Cup ends and real Brazilian soccer starts up again.

The New York Times 11 of football's biggest rivalries | : The World Game 16 Oct 2014 - 4:58pm 11 of football's biggest rivalries Youssouf Hersi of the Wanderers is challenged by Hagi Gligor of Sydney FC during the round 22 Sydney derby last season. (Getty) Audio It's rivalry round in the A-League this week with interstate foes Adelaide United hosting Melbourne Victory on Friday night, before Sydney FC welcomes Western Sydney in a local derby on Saturday. Whet your appetite for those matches, and all the others in Round 2 with 11 of the best rivalry contests football has to offer. By Tweet 1. PARTIZAN BELGRADE V RED STAR BELGRADE Punch the two protagonists of this Serbian grudge match into Youtube and you'll be there for hours, watching the fans. Luckily we've done it for you. This is why the 'eternal derby' is one of Europe's most intense. 2. ROMA V LAZIO Italy is full of rivalries and it would always take a big one to knock out the glamorous Milan derby from our list.

Step up the two teams from the capital, who do not like each other one bit. And it shows. 3. REAL MADRID V BARCELONA 'El Clasico' is huge: the world's best players, two of the world's best club teams and more spiteful history than a war documentary. Heaven help the player who jumps from one to the other, just ask Luis Figo. 4. LIVERPOOL V MANCHESTER UNITED Liverpool has its Merseyside derby against Everton and then it has its rivalry with Manchester United, the similar industrial heavyweight which wrestled the mortgage on the trophy cabinet from the Reds in the early 1990s. Tensions have escalated in recent seasons. 5 OLYMPIACOS V PANATHINAIKOS In Australia we may call it 'silvertails' versus 'fibros'. In Greece this city stoush is known as the 'derby of eternal enemies.' In one corner of the tinderbox sits Olympiacos, from the working class port town of Piraeus and with a swag of titles and cup wins to its name. In the other corner is the equally storied Panathinaikos - the rich boys.

This is what happens when the two meet. 6 RANGERS V CELTIC The Old Firm is not just about opposing sides of a class divide or a city. There are religious divisions – catholic or protestant, political divisions – loyalist or republican, ideological divisions – conservative or socialist - and background divisions. When it's on it's on and none more so than when opposing fans invaded the pitch in 1980 after the Scottish Cup Final, duking it out in a battle that led to alcohol being banned from matches in Scotland. 7 BOCA JUNIORS V RIVER PLATE A visit to Buenos Aires and the iconic stadium of working class Argentinian club Boca Juniors, la Bombonera, should be on the bucket list of every football fan. If you can get there when fierce city rival River Plate is in town for 'Il Superclasico', even better. This is why: 8 TEHRAN DERBY - PERSEPOLIS V ESTEGHLAL This derby, considered the biggest in Asia, has a familiar story: working class Persepolis up against establishment Esteghlal. Over the years the matches have been punctuated by violence between fans, fights between players and damage to property.

Contested at venues throughout Iran, these stoushes have been officiated by foreign referees since 1995 due to fan concerns over bias. In a direct link with the A-League, Central Coast Mariners goalkeeper Liam Reddy played for Esteghlal in a derby. Look for him in this clip. 9 FLUMINENSE V FLAMENGO 'Fla-Flu' holds the world record for attendance at a football match, the fierce Rio de Janeiro rivals attracting 194,603 people to the iconic Maracana Stadium in 1963. Hostilities kicked off between the two clubs in 1911, when a bunch of fed-up Fluminense players defected to Flamengo. Just like that a rivalry was born. These days the renovated Maracana only holds a tick under 75,000, but boy do they know how to make some noise. 10 GALATASARAY V FENERBAHCE Australia legend Harry Kewell described Galatasaray fans as the best he has played in front for. This might be why .

Both Turkish clubs - the protgonists of the 'intercontinental derby' have the requisite amount of mutual disrespect to ensure the usual array of fan hostility that heightens these rivalries. But when they choose to use their powers for good, the result can be spectacular. 11 AL AHLY V ZAMALEK These two Cairo-based rivals have squared off 213 times in a derby match World Soccer Magazine has described as the eighth-most fierce in football. More than 100,000 fans square off in the stands and in many cases, outside them. During the 1970s one clash caused the entire league to be cancelled. Like with the Tehran derby, the match is refereed by a foreigner and often in a neutral venue. Advertisement Brazil, Where the Beautiful Game Struts - The New York Times The New York Times Travel |Are You Ready for Some Futebol? Search Continue reading the main story Photo Clockwise from top left: Fans in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo; Pacaembu Stadium in São Paulo; fans in Santos; on the beach in Rio; Museum of Football in São Paulo.

Credit Lalo de Almeida for The New York Times; Lianne Milton for The New York Times The banner-waving, anthem-singing fans of Rio de Janeiro’s Flamengo club formed a billowing mass of ruby-and — black-clad humanity. They moved not only in reaction to the ebbs and flows on the field far below, but also to the samba beat pounded out by musicians in the midst of the grandstand mayhem around me and my friend Doug. The bands had not stopped playing, and fans had not stopped chanting, in the 18 minutes since the game began. Then, on the field far below, a precision passer on the rival team Fluminense launched the ball straight for their top scorer. As nonchalantly as flipping a light switch, he scissor-kicked a strike past the keeper into the far left corner of the goal. Or as it is known locally: “Goooooooooooool!” On the other side of the stadium, the Fluminense fans — outfitted in green, grenadine and white — erupted, but they were so isolated, so far away, that they looked and sounded like television static with the volume turned way up. On our side, the samba ceased.

The fans slumped — for about 10 seconds. Then the Flamengo samba machine swung back into action. The fans started singing again, a love song to their team. Their banners waved like mainsails in a storm. Mourning would wait for later: Flamengo eventually lost 1-0. But in Brazil, telling fans to stop cheering because the opposing team scored would be like telling a D.J. to stop the party because someone danced badly. In Brazil, soccer is not just a game, it’s a national drama. One of Brazil’s great 20th-century playwrights and novelists, Nelson Rodrigues, recognized that the sport trumped even his own craft in defining the nation. “Abroad, when you want to learn about a people, you examine their fiction,” he wrote. “In Brazil, football plays the role of fiction.” Continue reading the main story You can find variations on that particular brand of drama across the Brazilian soccer scene, almost all year round, in Rio and São Paulo and at smaller stadiums in lesser-known cities. Here’s when you probably won’t find it: during the World Cup, which Brazil will host from June 12 to July 13, 2014.

It won’t be in the stands when, say, Cameroon plays Serbia, or when France squares off against the Uzbeks. The World Cup will be a good party, guaranteed — and the handful of games the Brazilian side plays will be all-out spectacles. (Good luck getting tickets for those matches.) But the best time to experience true Brazilian soccer — or, more accurately, futebol (foo-tchee-BOW) — will be outside the parameters of the Cup. That said, it is not simple to plan a soccer trip to Brazil. I had an advantage as a Portuguese speaker who had lived in the country for two years. Others might find it more difficult. The complex league schedules are largely unavailable in English. You’ll have to find your way to the stadium, choosing between public transportation and sometimes pricey taxis. Even where to sit can be a consequential decision. Advertisement Continue reading the main story And you’ll always have to be ready for the unexpected: Engenhão, the very stadium where Doug and I watched the Flamengo-Fluminense game, was closed last month for structural repairs. And there have been other black eyes for the country as it ramps up to the Cup.

At the end of last month, an American woman was abducted and gang-raped in the popular Rio district of Copacabana. Police had to use tear gas recently after fans clashed when tickets ran out for the inaugural match of the new World Cup stadium in Salvador. (Six people reportedly sustained minor injuries.) As is often the case with travel in developing countries, things can be less predictable and more chaotic than you may be used to at home. But none of those should dissuade you from experiencing soccer in Brazil. The phrase “the beautiful game” did not originate in the country, but it accurately describes the fluid and frequently dazzling play you’ll see. After attending six games last fall, I concluded that Brazilians speak soccer fluently, while everyone else has an accent. My guess is that many Americans (and other travelers) don’t explore the admittedly complicated world of Brazilian soccer because they think it’s too dangerous or, more likely, have no idea how. Here, then, is a guide on the whens, wheres and how-tos. When to Go The first thing you have to know about Brazilian soccer is that it is played nearly year-round. There’s no spring training or long, wait-till-next-year periods of inactivity.

Between two consecutive league seasons and a handful of national and international tournaments, the biggest teams play virtually nonstop, except for about a month in late December and early January. The first few months of the year are dominated by state leagues: all 26 Brazilian states, as well as the Federal District in and around Brasília, have them. (Games are generally on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.) By May or June, the more exciting four-tiered national league starts. By the time the season ends in December, there’s a national champion. But the action doesn’t end there. Top finishers in the national tournament earn berths in the next year’s Libertadores Cup and South American Cup, two regional tournaments that run concurrently with parts of the state and national seasons. There’s also the Brazil Cup, a separate national competition with a knockout tournament format. And occasionally, the national team (that is, the one that goes to the World Cup) will play a “friendly” match against visiting foreign squads. (This year, from June 15 to 30, Brazil hosts the Confederations Cup, stopping league play.) The other good news is that you don’t always need to buy tickets in advance.

There are exceptions: if it’s a game between two big teams, known as a clássico (more on that below), you should be safe and buy tickets beforehand at the stadium, club headquarters or other outlets; ask your taxi driver or hotel staff members. Buying online is sometimes possible but tricky: sites usually require a Brazilian ID number and domestic address. How to Stay Safe Rio is full of coddled experiences — tours of the favelas, private helicopter rides — and soccer is no exception. In hotel lobbies in the tourist-clogged Copacabana and Ipanema neighborhoods, travelers can pay 150 reais or so (about $75 at 2 reais to the dollar), take a bus or van to the stadium, and be herded by an English-speaking guide into the pricey reserved seats. It is the most expensive and probably the most boring way to see a match. It is also unnecessary. Travel in Brazil is never entirely without risk, of course, but games are much safer than they used to be. Armed with some advance knowledge, common-sense precautions and a sense of adventure, it’s far more exciting to sit in the general-admission grandstand.

In summary: arrive very early, don’t bring valuables, and sit on the edges of the grandstand, not in the middle of the mayhem. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Things have changed a lot since the 1980s, when fights between opposing fan groups were common, said Bernardo Buarque de Hollanda, a professor at the Fundação Getúlio Vargas who studies the social history of sport and specializes in the highly organized fan groups, or torcidas organizadas, that dominate the grandstands. “Instead of spontaneous violence, it was premeditated,” he said. By the 1990s stadiums began to separate fan bases for all games, although that sometimes just resulted in moving fights outside the stadium. Since then, a 2003 federal law made leagues and clubs legally responsible for fan safety, and was strengthened in 2010 to make the torcidas and their leaders criminally responsible for member actions within five kilometers of the stadium. State laws now prohibit alcohol sales (though those will be temporarily lifted for the World Cup). Mr.

Buarque added that “there is a tendency toward building stadiums that guarantee the comfort and security of fans” — including chairs instead of concrete steps and more security personnel. Fans have complained that some of the newer stadiums are too civilized and seats too expensive, but their loss is your gain. You’ll also want to decide on whether to participate in the street festivities before the game. At most of the games I attended, street vendors hawked dirt-cheap, ice-cold beer and meat on sticks. In most places, there was a significant police presence, which was mostly reassuring. Even at a Series B game I attended in Fortaleza, in the northeast, where rows of officers in riot gear standing guard were enough to startle me, there was no evidence of anything worse than beer-drinking teenagers. One more thing: Brazilian men are not particularly known for their shyness around women, and given the male-dominated crowds at most matches, women (and, for that matter, parents and their children) may feel more comfortable in a calmer area, away from the grandstand. And you may be glad that your children don’t understand Portuguese: chants directed at referees and opposing players can get vulgar and often homophobic.

Where to Go The obvious places to see games are Rio and São Paulo, for two reasons: first, they have multiple major teams — Flamengo, Fluminense, Vasco and Botafogo in Rio; Corinthians, São Paulo F.C. and Palmeiras in São Paulo, with several other less popular professional teams. In other words, there will always be a game. You also won’t run out of soccer-related things to do between games. In Rio, there’s the small museum at Maracanã, Brazil’s most famous soccer stadium. (The museum remains open during pre-Cup stadium renovations.) Elsewhere, the city’s beaches host informal games, known as peladas. One of the more regular and impressive ones is the Pelada de Siqueira Campos, on Copacabana beach just off the street of the same name, on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. It’s serious business, and looks utterly exhausting. And on both Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, you’ll find lots of impressive futevolei, a version of volleyball played soccer style, with no hand or arm contact. Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter.

You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up Privacy Policy Probably the best place to supplement your soccer fix, though, is the Museum of Football, located within Pacaembu Stadium in São Paulo. The museum — where most exhibits, though not all, are translated into English and Spanish — provides historical perspective but, more important, goes pretty far in replicating the excitement in the stadiums. A samba beat follows you part of the way through the exhibits, and a raucous audio-visual display (dramatically located under the Pacaembu bleachers) is dedicated to the organized fan groups. “Everything in life changes, except for the team you choose to cheer for,” a quote reads. Particularly appealing are the videos in which Brazilian soccer writers recall the most memorable goals of their lives. São Paulo also has something not common elsewhere: bars dedicated to soccer. Bar São Cristovão, in the middle of the bustling Vila Madalena night-life district, is a must visit. The bar, with walls plastered with memorabilia, is a popular spot on game days, and its draft beers and snacks make for great game-time refreshment.

It also sells historic jerseys of the major Brazilian clubs for 140 reais. What to Watch The Flamengo/Fluminense — or Fla/Flu — game I attended was what is called a clássico, a showdown between two historically great teams. Not surprisingly, emotions run higher than usual during such games, especially, as was the case there, when both teams are local. The circus outside Engenhão on the day we went was intense — beer was plentiful, crowds were thick and rowdy. It’s kind of like Carnival with far fewer women. That’s not for everyone, but those up to the challenge will enjoy the spectacle. Advertisement Continue reading the main story “A foreigner should try to see a clássico,” said Alexandre Nobeschi, the sports editor for Folha de S.Paulo , the country’s largest-circulation newspaper. “It’s there that you can see the true impact soccer has on the life of Brazilians.” At the five non-clássico games I attended, the atmosphere was a tad more mellow, but probably not to a degree noticeable to a novice.

At another Fluminense game versus Ponte Preta, a team from São Paulo state, I sat in a packed (but not sold-out) San Januário, a charmingly crumbling 17,000-capacity stadium that rocked with fervor as Flu came back against an early Ponte Preta lead. (Female travelers, take note: I observed that Fluminense attracted far more women to the grandstand than any other team I saw.) By far my favorite place to see soccer, though, was in Santos, a port city of 420,000 an hour (or three, depending on traffic) from São Paulo, where coffee has floated out of Brazil since the 19th century, and much more — soybeans, sugar, automobiles — floats out today. Santos is a storied club — it has won eight national championships and was Pelé’s team from 1957 to 1974.

Two World Cup championship teams featured multiple Santos players — the 1962 team had 4 starters, including Pelé, who was injured early on in the tournament, and the 1970 team had 3 — and although that is unlikely ever to happen again (most top Brazilian players now make millions for European clubs), it is, at least for now, the squad of Neymar, the 21-year-old Instagram-using star who many consider the best player in the country. The stadium in Santos is tiny and intimate, so the seats are very close to the action. (Cubs and Red Sox fans will recognize the appeal.) And pretty soon, Santos will be home to a brand-new museum dedicated to Pelé, in a renovated mansion known as the Casarão do Valongo. It’s scheduled to be open by the World Cup. But no need to rush — it will still be there when the World Cup ends and real Brazilian soccer starts up again. IF YOU GO The most complete listings for games across Brazil is at globoesporte.com . It’s difficult to navigate without some Portuguese, so here are tips: • Click on the “futebol” tab.

• Choose either the national leagues on the left or the appropriate state league along the right. (Note: carioca = Rio de Janeiro; paulista = São Paulo; gaúcho = Rio Grande do Sul) • The resulting page lists the next round of matchups (to the right of the standings) and you can click through to later dates. MATCH DAY • Look up team colors on Google and avoid wearing them. • Eat before you go; food options in and around the stadium are limited and not necessarily good. Advertisement • Leave backpacks and valuables at home, but bring sunscreen and small bills for beverage vendors. • Wear comfortable shoes and be prepared to stand the whole game. • Allow more time than you think to get to the stadium and arrive a minimum of an hour in advance. • If two local teams are playing, exercise extra caution outside the stadium as tensions between opposing fans can run high. • Different ticket booths may sell different kinds of tickets; if you’re going grandstand, ask around for “arquibancada” (ar-key-ban-CA-da). • Enter the stadium well before the game to find seats. •Sit toward the edges of the grandstand at first, edging in depending on the level of mayhem desired.

SCHEDULE The top professional soccer clubs play virtually year-round, with a brief break in late December and early January. Roughly the first half of the year is dominated by state-level competitions, and the second half by the four-tiered national league; games for both are usually on Wednesdays and weekends. GLOSSARY futebol (foo-tchee-BOW): soccer Uma (duas) inteira(s), por favor One (two) full-price ticket(s), please. Uma (duas) meia(s), por favor One (two) half-priced ticket(s), please.

(For students and those over 60, though there’s no guarantee foreign proof of age or student status will be accepted.) arquibancada grandstand (the cheapest seats, open seating) social, cadeira, numerada more expensive, calmer seating categories; the term varies by stadium torcida organizada organized fan group dérbi a derby, or “clássico” between two local teams Correction: May 5, 2013 The cover article on April 14 about going to soccer games in Brazil misstated the number of starting players from Santos on Brazil’s World Cup championship teams in 1962 and 1970. There were seven starters from Santos, not eight. (The 1962 team had four starters, and the 1970 team had three.)

Question: If you are attending a local derby match between 'Flamengo' and 'Fluminence', in which city would you be?
Answer: RIO DE JANEIRO