2005 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A

The 2005 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (officially the Taça Nestlé Brasileirão 2005 for sponsorship reasons) was the 49th edition of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. Corinthians claiming their fourth national title. The season officially kicked off on April 23, 2005 and concluded on December 4.

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
Season2005
ChampionsCorinthians
4th Campeonato Brasileiro title
4th Brazilian title
RelegatedCoritiba
Atlético Mineiro
Paysandu
Brasiliense
Copa LibertadoresCorinthians
Internacional
Goiás
Palmeiras
São Paulo (as the Libertadores title holders)
Copa SudamericanaFluminense
Atlético Paranaense
Paraná
Cruzeiro
Botafogo
Santos
Vasco da Gama
Matches played462
Goals scored1,448 (3.13 per match)
Top goalscorerRomário (22 goals)
Average attendance17,536
← 2004
2006 →

New teams for 2005

Brasiliense and Fortaleza

Relegated in 2004

Criciúma, Guarani, Vitória, Grêmio

The season

Champion and contenders

Pre-season favorites Corinthians captured their fourth national championship edition despite a turbulent early season and a campaign that went through 3 different head coaches. Key players Carlos Tevez, Carlos Alberto, Roger and Gustavo Nery led the team to a result of 81 points in 42 games. Despite early season turmoil, Corinthians benefited from being one of the few teams in Brazil who could afford to maintain their talent base throughout the season without having to sell key players. The legitimacy of their title was disputed late in the season due to several scandals on and off the field. As 2005 champions, Corinthians received berth into the first round of the Libertadores Cup as well as the South American Cup in 2006.

Internacional of Rio Grande du Sul executed a strong campaign, finishing with a total of 78 points. Coach Muricy Ramalho led a team with Rafael Sobis, Fernandão, and Tinga to the best performance of any team in the second half, narrowly missing the opportunity for their own fourth national title, but also securing a place in the first round of the Libertadores.

Goiás and Palmeiras were awarded pre-Libertadores qualifying matches with teams to be determined by Conmebol for their 3rd (Goiás's best ever) and 4th-place finishes.

Consolation prize

In the top middle of the pack Fluminense, Atlético/PR, Paraná, Cruzeiro, Botafogo, Santos, and São Paulo were awarded allocations in the 2006 Copa Sul-Americana; with São Paulo, who cannot participate due to Libertadores commitments, ceding their spot to 12th placed Vasco da Gama. Santos in particular saw their season nose-dive as star player Robinho was transferred to Real Madrid mid season (a similar fate encountered by Cruzeiro as striker Fred was shipped off to Lyon). Atlético/PR and São Paulo both suffered for having to dedicate their primary attention to the 2005 Libertadores Finals.

The bottom

Finishing in the bottom four and relegated to Série B for 2006 are storied franchise Atlético Mineiro as well as perennial mid-majors Coritiba, Paysandu, and Brasiliense. Série B champions and runner-up Grêmio and Santa Cruz took their place.

New teams for 2006

Grêmio and Santa Cruz

Relegated in 2005

Coritiba, Altético/MG, Paysandu, and Brasiliense

Turmoil on and off the field
Main article: 2005 Brazilian football match-fixing scandal

The season experienced significant turmoil off the field, marred by a match fixing scandal, which resulted in the replay of 11 série A matches between rounds 31 and 37.

Miscellaneous
  • At 39 years young, World Cup 1994 hero Romário won the title of leading goal scorer in the league with 22 goals for Vasco da Gama.
  • 2005 noticed a marked impact by foreigners in the Brazilian league. Corinthians contracted 3 Argentine players (with Carlos Tevez becoming the 3rd “gringo” to captain a Brazilian team to the championship) and started the season with Daniel Passarella, of Argentina as coach. Native Serbian Petkovic led Fluminense to a respectable result and won the Silver Ball for the second year in a row as the best midfielder in the Brazilian tournament.
  • This season also marked a sponsorship boom for Brazilian football clubs. After the success of Pepsi’s marketing campaign for Corinthians, Korean electronics brand Samsung came on as Corinthians’ shirt sponsor within the season, with Siemens as a secondary sponsor. At the same time, electronic giants Panasonic signed a new sponsorship deal with Santos Futebol Clube, whilst Italian tyre manufacturer Pirelli and Chinese handset maker LG continued their sponsorships with Palmeiras and São Paulo, respectively. Siemens also became a main shirt sponsor for Cruzeiro, whilst also having a contract with Spanish giants Real Madrid.
  • Bola de Ouro (Golden Ball), awarded by Placar magazine for best overall player of the year: Carlos Tevez of Corinthians.
  • Bola de Prata (Silver Ball), awarded annually by Placar magazine for best player at each position: Fábio Costa (Corinthians); Cicinho (São Paulo), Lugano (São Paulo), Gamarra (Palmeiras), and Jadílson (Goiás); Mineiro (São Paulo), Marcelo Mattos (Corinthians), Petkovic (Fluminense) and Juninho Paulista (Palmeiras); Tevez (Corinthians) and Rafael Sobis (Internacional).

Statistics

Final standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Corinthians[lower-alpha 1] 42 24 9 9 87 59 +28 81 Qualified for the 2006 Copa Libertadores
2 Internacional 42 23 9 10 72 49 +23 78
3 Goiás 42 22 8 12 68 51 +17 74
4 Palmeiras 42 20 10 12 81 65 +16 70
5 Fluminense 42 19 11 12 79 70 +9 68 Qualified for the 2006 Copa Sudamericana
6 Atlético Paranaense 42 18 7 17 76 67 +9 61
7 Paraná 42 17 10 15 59 51 +8 61
8 Cruzeiro 42 17 9 16 73 72 +1 60
9 Botafogo 42 17 8 17 57 56 +1 59
10 Santos 42 16 11 15 68 71 −3 59
11 São Paulo[lower-alpha 2] 42 16 10 16 77 67 +10 58 Qualified for the 2006 Copa Libertadores
12 Vasco da Gama[lower-alpha 2] 42 15 11 16 74 84 −10 56 Qualified for the 2006 Copa Sudamericana
13 Fortaleza 42 16 7 19 58 64 −6 55
14 Juventude 42 15 10 17 66 72 −6 55
15 Flamengo 42 14 13 15 56 60 −4 55
16 Figueirense 42 14 11 17 65 72 −7 53
17 São Caetano 42 14 10 18 54 60 −6 52
18 Ponte Preta 42 15 6 21 63 80 −17 51
19 Coritiba 42 13 10 19 51 60 −9 49 Relegated to série B in 2006
20 Atlético Mineiro 42 13 8 21 54 59 −5 47
21 Paysandu 42 12 5 25 63 92 −29 41
22 Brasiliense 42 10 11 21 47 67 −20 41
Source:
Notes:
  1. As champions, Corinthians retain the right to participate in both Libertadores Cup and Copa Sul-Americana in 2006.
  2. Despite qualifying for the Copa Sul-Americana, São Paulo cannot participate in 2006 as they are already classified for the Libertadores Cup as defending champions. The seed has already been reallocated to Vasco da Gama.

Top goal scorers
Scorer Goals Team
Romário 22 Vasco da Gama
Róbson 21 Paysandu
Carlos Tevez 20 Corinthians
Alex Dias 19 Vasco da Gama
Borges 19 Paraná
Rafael Sóbis 19 Internacional

Mid-season transactions

While the CBF and Clube dos 13 continue to modify the league format in the hopes of decreasing the number of mid-season departures and improve the overall quality of play, the 2006 edition saw a significant number of players depart for Europe and elsewhere.

Team Player(s) Arriving Player(s) Departing
Atlético Mineiro Euller, Luís Mário and Catanha César Fábio Júnior and André Luiz
Atlético-PR Finazzi Aloísio and Felipe Baloy
Botafogo Zé Roberto, Ruy and Reinaldo César Prates, Túlio and Jefferson
Brasiliense Dill Oséas and Agnaldo
Corinthians Javier Mascherano and Nilmar Anderson and Gil
Coritiba Caio and Renaldo Rafinha, Fernando and Miranda
Cruzeiro Alecsandro and Louzada Fred, Athirson and Ruy
Figueirense Edmundo and Fernandes Fábio Mello and Creedence Clearwater
Flamengo Augusto Recife and César Augusto Ramírez Henrique and Jean
Fluminense Dejan Petković and Milton do Ó Felipe, Fabiano Eller and Antônio Carlos
Fortaleza Rinaldo and Lúcio Danilo and Nélio
Goiás Roni, Dodô and Mário Jardel Danilo Dias and Válber
Internacional Iarley, Márcio Mossoró and Wason Rentería Felipe Soares
Juventude Caíco and Daniel Naldo and Túlio Souza
Palmeiras Marcinho, Washington and Juninho Paulista Magrão, Osmar, Ricardinho
Paraná Chiquinho and Maicossuel Renaldo
Paysandu Felipe Saad, Carlos Alberto and Luiz Carlos Flávio Tanajura, Alex Pinho and Luiz Carlos
Ponte Preta Evando Harison, Roger and Kahê (sold)
São Caetano Claudecir, Somália, Edílson Marcinho
São Paulo Christian and Roger Luizão
Vasco da Gama Adán Vergara, Fábio Braz and Morais Dominguez, Anderson Costa and Coutinho
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.