Fuck Charles Krauthammer

I have not posted on this blog since shortly after Nathan died. Sport are having an awful season in Serie A, Tottenham Hotspur have had their usual run of bad luck (losing world-class playmaker Luka Modric and most of the back line early in the season after a hot start), the Redskins suck so badly that even the DC faithful are finally turning on them (a close friend of mine attended their latest debacle against the Iggles on Monday Night, echoing a Jeff George-led loss to Philly that Nathan and I attended together that left Nathan cursing the ownership just as Josh is doing today), and it's all too goddamn depressing to write about.

Yet still there is some asinine bullshit, if I may paraphrase that great sage and eminent fool Winston Churchill for a moment, up with which I will not put.

Charles Krauthammer wrote recently as follows:

There used to be a cruel joke that said Brazil is the country of the future, and always will be; Obama is the Brazil of today's politicians. He has obviously achieved nothing.

The comparison is apt. Brazil has done, and continues to do, nothing except provide an example of steady, flawed progress in the face of constant triumphal noises from its ideologically hidebound neighbors, authoritarian Colombia and increasingly totalitarian Venezuela (I still love you Hugo, but you are, like Amanda Marcotte, a fabulously wonderful and vital voice about whom your legion of detractors are almost entirely correct.)

Obama is a steady, flawed man. His policies on the bank bailout were mostly wrong, but dogged and consistent in the way that Capablanca used to pursue lost positions, until finally wringing a staid draw from the ragged noose of defeat. His commitment to universal healthcare has proved transient and ephemeral, yet it has (as of this writing) produced a political landscape which appears to offer the promise of progress far beyond what could have been anticipated before his improbable rise to the position of the most powerful executive in the world.

Obama has been, so far, the worst possible president except for all the other available alternatives. He has run the country, with all its contradictions and impossibilities, the way an adult runs the organization in which he has been put in charge. As Ali once said, "Birds fly. Grass grows. Waves pound the sand. I beat people up. It's just a job."

Like Obama, Brazil does its job. In fifty years, will the United States be what it is today? What of Argentina, and its wreckage of a laissez-faire capitalist experiment? Russia? China? India? Qatar?

Perhaps. But Charles Krauthammer will be long dead before the issue is decided. The day Brazil falls apart, I will pour out an ounce of OE on his grave in Nathan's name. He'll have scored one on the both of us. Until then he can rot away alone, above ground or below. Viva Brazil. Viva Lula. And fuck Charles Krauthammer.

Strike Em Out - Throw Em Out

MY favorite double play just happened in the Mets game at Commercialstick. Juan Uribe on first, one out, 3-2 count. Bobby Parnell deals to Travis Ishikawa, runner goes! Ishikawa swings and misses on a fastball away as Ramon Castro guns it to second to get Uribe stealing. Strikeout to the pitcher, putout and assist to the catcher, putout to the shortstop, Alex Cora.

Sport Out

Palmeiras advances, Sport eliminated. Crushing.

Palmeiras In, Sport Miss

2-1 now and it's looking bleak.

Marcao In, Igor In

1-1 after 2

Palmeiras Miss, Sport Miss

Penalty shootout still knotted at zero. Ugly.

Correction

Looks like they are going straight to penalty kicks. In just a few minutes we will know if Sport will advance or if they have been eliminated from the Copa Libertadores 2009.

It's been a great ride but I don't want it to end. Valeu Sport!

Oh My

Palmeiras just had a man sent off. This will be controversial.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLL

OK, so I'm behind. My bad.

Sport lost the opening leg of their home-and-home tie with Palmeiras 1-nil. That means that they need to win the match in Ilha do Retiro. The match proceeded without any great chances for either side until the 75th (or so) minute when Ciro broke through and hit Wilson with a perfect pass for an easy goal. I can't go further because I'm watching but suffice it to say it was thrilling as all hell.

Now, if this match ends 1-0 we go to extra time, then penalty shootout if two ET's fail to decide the issue. In other words, the next team to score will almost certainly advance.

Valeu Sport!

3-6-1

I'm a bit too lazy to go through the box scores, but the other night I was watching a Blue Jays game I think and they turned a 3-6-1 double play. I hadn't thought of it in years but that was Nathan's favorite baseball play. It made me smile to think of him extolling its virtues.

It is, indeed, virtuous.

Victory is Sweet

Very sorry I wasn't able to get a more thorough liveblog of the game, but two things intervened. First, I was working on a project for a charity auction that is way behind schedule (not my fault, for once - I was given the project on Tuesday and when I asked the deadline, the woman said "yesterday" and I laughed, but then when I looked at the materials the deadline really was Monday). Second, it's a peculiarity of liveblogging that when there's nothing happening it's very easy to liveblog and when it starts to heat up you're too busy watching.

Here's how it went down - Colo Colo missed so many chances in the first half, you knew that unless Sport somehow turned their defense around at the half they would break through. Indeed, Colo Colo got a two-on-one break inside the box and Rodrigo Millar barely squeezed it past a diving Magrao into the goal.

Things looked bleak after Paulo Baier blew a perfect chance from about eight yards out, blasting it over the goal when he had only the keeper to beat. Just a few minutes later, though, a run by Dutra set up a square pass to Fumagalli, who in turn set up Hamilton on a wide-open shot from about twenty-five yards. It was a nice-looking low drive that unluckily hit off the left post and bounded out of the goalmouth to the right side of the box, but a streaking Moacir pounced on the ball and stuck it first-time into the back of the net!

Just like that all the wind went out of Colo Colo's sails, and a previously subpar Moacir was infused with new life. Colo Colo's only hope seemed to be to hang on and split the points, but it was not to be as a streaking Dutra popped the ball into the middle of the box for Vandinho, who got by with a push in the back before getting a nifty flick on the ball and sneaking it past a bewildered Christian Munoz.

The rest of the match was mostly made up of Sport just missing chances to go up 3-1. All in all, hard to argue with a hard-fought win to secure a spot in the knockout round, but Sport still have some questions to answer on defense. If they are going to use Igor to bolster the attack as they did through much of this match, they need to be sharper in their communication and discipline on the back line.

Victory!

Full report as soon as I can get a download of the match and comment on it. The bottom line is Sport are through to the knockout stage - they defeated Colo Colo 2-1 in a great finish.

Valeu Sport!

The Good News

It's still 0-0 at the half. Here's hoping Sport come out with more in the second. Only Hamilton and Magrao look decent. Moacir's not been bad but not up to his usual standard. Sport's forwards are nearly invisible and their back line play is a mess.

Ugh.

Igor Creates a Chance...

But it's denied. Then another, but it too comes to nothing. Still, things are looking up in the 25th minute.

Magrao Magical in the Seventh

Colo Colo got a free run at the goal and somehow Magrao kept his cool and caught the shot taken at point blank range. Great play by the keeper but this doesn't look good.

Colo Colo Dominate First Five Minutes

Sport got nothing in the run of play in the first five minutes; their best moves were a couple repeated Hamilton ground passes to Moacir, one of which yielded a free kick just outside the attacking third.

Colo Colo had a couple decent moves but never got a good look at the goal.

It's On

ibid

...or Not

Turns out the game is at 8:50, not 8:30. My bad.

...and Away We Go

Sport have Colo Colo in about 10 minutes. I'm not sure if I might incur some problems by openly posting a link to a site that shows bootleg broadcasts but since almost no one in the US actually gets these games, as far as I know, I would think it's not that big a deal.

This match is Sport's best chance to make the knockout stage - if they win they are in. If not, there could be trouble.

Valeu Sport!

Magrao Shines

Though Palmeiras was blasting open shots at the net all night, somehow Magrao let in only one goal, on a penalty that never should have been called. A finer performance could scarcely be imagined.

Unfortunately, that's about the only positive you can take from this admittedly decent result. Moacir was fluid and smart, like always, but the degree to which he stuck out as the ONLY player with his head in the match for long stretches doesn't bode well for Sport's chances to win the cup.

They need to find some consistency and upgrade their defensive play during these last two group matches. If they head into the knockout stage as a group winner, it will be because someone besides Moacir, Magrao, Paulo Baier or Ciro steps up his game. At that point, they'll be darkhorse darlings to win the cup; if it stays like it is now, forget it.

Starting to Heat Up

Sport look much better since Paulo Baeir went off for Fumagalli just before the previously mentioned Magrao save.

Not to run the guy down - I love the man - but it wasn't Paulo Baeir's night and things are clicking much better now. Game on.

Oh! Magrao!

Magrao just made the save of the cup so far, stopping a wicked free kick with a desperation dive, only to rise up to the sight of a wide open player shooting at the upper half of his net from two yards. The shot was fired right at Magrao's face, but he didn't flinch from the blow and it ricocheted harmlessly to the back of the box, catching several players offside and ending the threat.

Regardless of the outcome of the match, a save for the ages.

Sport Foils Attempted Robbery - For Now

Sport have played so horribly in three halves against Palmeiras that I've so far been too angry to blog about it, but my spirits were just lifted when Wilson got a cheap stickback off a free kick to even the second match with Palmeiras at 1-1.

Sport went into their two Palmeiras matches needing nothing more than one win to make it highly likely that they would advance to the knockout stage of the cup.

Instead, Sport played terribly at home against Palmeiras, losing 2-0, and spent much of the first half of the away leg down 1-0 after an AWFUL, INDEFENSIBLE, BORDERLINE CORRUPT penalty call by the idiotic and/or dishonest pathetic excuse for a referee.

Given the loss at home, an away draw would be a decent result of Sport here - it would put them three points clear of the two teams below them in the standings with two matches yet to play. That's not automatic but it's very close.

A win would be great, but let's at the very least hang onto this point. It's a big one.

Valeu Sport!

Sport v. Liga de Quito - Segundo Tiempo

Sport clearly controlled the first period after going up 1-0. Their style favors playing from ahead - keep control, don't hurry, stay tight at the back and take shots when they present themselves.

Liga is in a more difficult position, but the way forward seems clear enough - drop the ball into the attacking third and wait for their forwards' aerial superiority to pay dividends. The trouble they had through most of the first half was they spent the whole time defending, so they couldn't execute their offense. Trying to play on the ground through Sport's superior midfield seems fairly hopeless - they've got to make their money in the air.

Players who looked good - Moacir, Paulo Baier, Daniel (he didn't do much except score, but hey, it's easy to look good celebrating a goal.)
Players who looked bad - Wilson (no worse than usual, sadly), Ciro (perhaps still feeling cobwebs after getting his bell rung early on.)

With that, let's start the second half.

46' Sport takes the kickoff and tries to force it to Moacir along the right side, but he's being tightly marked and there's nothing there. Good adjustment by Liga.

48' A moment of levity as the referee seems amused by Calderón's attempt to argue that he shouldn't be booked for trying to knock the ball into the goal with his outstretched right hand. Walter, you're no Maradona.

50' Nice piece of skill by Moacir to flip the ball over his marker sets up a short buildup on the left and a low shot by Hamilton from over thirty yards out. A bit optimistic.

51' Manso takes a dive in the box. No call. Glad the ref wasn't fooled but at some point we have to think about a card, yes? This is getting a bit silly.

52' Ciro wastes a brilliant ball from Hamilton with a poor first touch. He's just not right. May be time to get him off in favor of Guto.

53' Manso unforgivably shanks a point-blank shot at an open net. That's what negative play will get you, kids. Fortune does not smile on wimps and whiners.

54' Not sure if I've mentioned this, but Wilson really is not good. He does win a free kick with a shameless dive near midfield so, ah, I guess he's got that going for him.

57' Araujo is booked for a cynical challenge on Hamilton. Bad play, good call.

60' Nice play by Cevallos to knock away a dangerous ball in from Paulo Baier after Daniel wins a free kick near the front right corner of the box.

62' Ciro gets it all wrong on a square pass from Wilson after Wilson actually makes a nice play along the sideline. The manager has finally seen enough - here comes Guto on for the struggling Ciro. About time.

65' Reasco is booked for no real reason that I can tell. Better them than us, I suppose. Liga bring Morales on for Calderon; not sure what good that's going to do, but fine by me.

69' A nice punt by Magrao finds the head of Guto, who flicks the ball on to Wilson... Oh! Confusion at the back for la Liga as both central defenders pick up Wilson as he runs onto the ball! NO ONE HAS PAULO BAIER racing up from midfield and Wilson slides an easy pass into his path. Only the keeper to beat and Cevallos trips Baier in the box - must be a card and a penalty! And the card is red!

70' On replay it looks to have been a harsh decision as Cevallos thought he had a play on the ball, but Paulo Baier could have dribbled it in from there, so you can understand the ejection. Cevallos will miss la Liga's next match as well - very tough break.

71' Now the match would seem to be on Paulo Baier's foot at the mark; it's impossible to see Liga storming back from 0-2 a man down, with their backup keeper in the game. Daniel Viteri is the new netminder and he looks uncomfortable, jumping around on his line as Paulo Baier considers what play to make. Here's the strike and it's low and straight at Viteri, but the keeper leaps out of the way! He gets a boot on it as it goes by, but it's in the net for a goal as Baier read the keeper and made the easy play. Can't fault Viteri there as he was asked to come in cold in an extremely difficult position, but you know he's kicking himself for moving too early.

76' Paulo Baier comes off for Fumagalli in a positive move - the aging midfielder has done all that was asked of him and more. A bravura performance and a virtual lock for man of the match.

77' Liga finally look alive, creating a couple good chances, but they don't get a shot on target. One wonders why they didn't play this way the rest of the match.

78' Fox's imaginary group table, which now shows Sport with six points, at least is starting to resemble something that is likely to happen soon.

79' Sport kill a few minutes with a long, slow buildup. Fumagalli seems to have been sent in with instructions to hold the ball and work the clock, because he's not trying to make use of his fresh legs even though there are runs available all over the place. Finally Moacir breaks free along the right channel but eventually Wilson is flagged for being offsides for no reason.

80' Ooh, on replay, Wilson looked to be onside when the ball was hit through. Doesn't matter - he wouldn't have scored anyway.

81' After Moacir wins a free kick in the right corner, Fumagalli's ball in finds César Lucena's head right in the goalmouth and he nods it down... NO! Just the wrong side of the far post. Tough break for the Sport defender as a few degrees to the right he would have been in, and a few degrees to the left Wilson would have had an easy play to knock it in from one yard out. As it is, it's a loud goal kick.

82' Another positive substitution, Sport's last, as Sandro Goiano comes on and Daniel leaves the field to lusty cheers, signaling his appreciation to the fans. A nice moment for the unheralded defensive midfielder. Then Liga play a long ball into the box and it's in! But the flag's up for offsides - yes, he left early. Close one, but it remains 2-0. Maybe Liga should have played with ten men the whole match.

85' Here comes Larrea on for Bieler. Looking close to over now. Oh, Dutra with a dangerous tackle just outside the box, and he's going to be booked! Will it be red? No, just yellow, and on replay it looks like a harsh decision even still - the play appears to have been legal as he got the ball before the man. Certainly looked bad in real time though, so hard to complain. He seems to have a sense of humor about it, and why not? Up 2-0, nothing hurts.

87' A delay as something's wrong with Liga's goal. They're jumping up and down and messing with the roof of the net. Not clear what the problem is. After a while they decide it's OK and get back to the game.

88' This free kick looks like the last chance to salvage something from this game. Here's the strike from Manso and it's hooking toward the near post... Magrao is badly beaten... OH! But the crossbar is the keeper's best friend and the ball bounces out past the 18 yard line to a waiting Moacir, who hits it forward to a streaking Sandro Goiano... ugh. He loses the ball on a weird-looking move. Not clear what he was going for there.

89' Renán Calle is booked for a rough challenge as Liga are getting desperate. They need to be careful - that could have been red. No need to throw the next match away chasing one that already got away.

91' Five minutes of added time to kill, so it's not totally over, but Liga seem to be out of gas. They've looked lost most of the match - most of their good play has come off of free kicks. Manso's not ready to give up, but the rest of his team is, and Wilson takes the opportunity to make a long run under a bounding ball... and then whiff on a header. Nice.

93' Manso hits a good ball in on a corner, but Magrao eats it up. The keeper has been good, not great, but he'll get a clean sheet for his efforts it seems. Manso trying to pressure the ball by himself, but he has no support and the referee decides the fifth minute of injury time is academic. Sport 2 - 0 LDU and Sport takes a commanding position in Group 1.

All in all, a good performance with some ragged edges. Hamilton and Dutra show flashes but don't seem to be able to put it together for significant stretches. The back line played very well, and the midfielders, especially Moacir and Paulo Baier, combined for some inventive moves. Forwards were lackluster but they picked the right day for it as Sport got goals from two midfielders.

Paulo Baier was the man of the match going away, with honorable mentions to Moacir and Daniel. Great match and I look forward to our next one in Sao Paolo against struggling Palmeiras.

Valeu Sport!

Sport v. Liga de Quito - Primiero Tiempo

Many apologies for not getting a true match report up for the Colo Colo win but other responsibilities impeded my ability to block out the three hours or so necessary to do the match justice.

I did, however, find the time to watch the complete match between Sport and la Liga, and it was a wonderful and emotional contest. I hope my report gives a sense of how it went for those who weren't able to watch.

Valeu Sport!

1' Liga take the kickoff and right away they blast the ball forward - they have good size so they may be looking to bully Sport in the air. Sure enough Reasco makes a very rough play trying to head Sport's clearance back in and is called for a foul on Dutra. Could have been an early card - he definitely had the elbow up.

4' The foreign-language Fox broadcasts have a weird (to me, at least) convention of showing the group table as if the current game had already concluded at the current score. Took me a minute to figure this out as Sport definitely does NOT have 4 points after only one match.

5' Ciro obstructed and dumped in the box, but not enough for a penalty. Good no-call. Moacir looks good early, quick feet and decisive with the ball.

6' Ciro carted off after a painful-looking noggin-knocker on a header just outside the Liga box. Both defenses having trouble in the air, giving up lots of free kicks in dangerous positions.

9' Wilson is not good.

12' Paulo Baier's steal near the center circle sets up the first really good buildup of the day for Sport. After a couple of ball reversals Ciro finds daylight in the right half of the box and his flick-on of a high ball causes some confusion but it's covered by Cevallos before Wilson can get to it. Cevallos is yelling at one of the defenders for crowding him.

14' Liga inexplicably botches a throw-in and suddenly they are on the back foot. Moacir does his best to set Dutra up on the overlap down the right-hand channel, but Dutra makes a mess of it and Moacir has to swoop in to win the ball back along the endline. After Liga knocks it into touch, the ball is swung around to Daniel, who sees an opening and slides it in to Ciro. The ball is knocked away by a well-timed slide, but Daniel is on it, running toward the box! His pass to a well-marked Paulo Baier is knocked straight back to him and he hits a right-foot shot first time... GGGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLL!!!!!!!!!! Daniel, listed on the roster as a defender, but apparently playing as a defensive midfielder, has gone in and Sport is in front 1-0. It looked as if Cevallos may have had a chance to knock it away but if so he was not up to it as it bounded past him into the net.

15' La Liga must be shellshocked. After they had perhaps the slightly better of the play in the first third of the period, to go behind so suddenly is a real killer. Still, they have to be optimistic that they will have their chances to get back into the match as Sport haven't shown they can keep LDU out of the attacking zone.

18' OK, no, Fox is just confused. Now they're showing Sport with 7 points. Wha?!?!

20' Fox makes a third attempt to show the group table - wrong again. How about just show the match?

22' Sport settling into a strategy I like when ahead - long driving shots from behind the formation. Unfortunately Hamilton and Dutra seem to be terrible at long distance shooting so they aren't causing any problem.

23' Manso, for his part, seems to have decided that Liga's best chance is for him to flop around on the ground like a speared fish any time someone comes near him. So far the referee doesn't seem to be buying it.

27' Dutra makes a nice move to free himself on the left side, but Paulo Baier can't catch up to the pass and Ciro, who looks a step slow today, isn't in position to get off a good shot coming back to the ball.

31' The momentum is all with Sport as Liga seem to have lost a bit of steam. The intensity level is still high, but now it's taking the form of hard fouls. You wonder if a yellow card is coming soon.

32' Paulo Baier wins the sweepstakes! He's booked for a clumsy challenge on Manso, who of course makes a meal of it. It was, admittedly, a rough play.

33' Now it's Hamilton who's booked, again for fouling Manso. The official gives a stern warning - he's decided the play has gotten too rough. I can't say I disagree, but I would point out that cuts both ways.

34' Liga looking very ragged as they twice allow Ciro freedom to work inside the penalty area, but only the second yields a shot - nice save by Cevallos and a corner.

35' Wilson is not good.

36' After Manso finally gets a warning for his shameless flopping, Liga has their first good chance in a while on a shot by Bieler just outside the area, but he pushes it wide. Magrao didn't appear beaten but it would have been a difficult save.

43' Moacir with a brilliant run into the center of the box, but he took on one too many people. The ensuing struggle yields a shot by Wilson that might have hit the goal if the goal were the size of Lagoa Dos Patos.

45+' Paulo Baier decides to get in on the flopping act and wins a ridiculous free kick on the right edge of the area, but the free kick is hit into the wall and the half ends with Sport up one-nil.

Taking, Um, a Breather

I've downloaded the Colo Colo vs. Sport match that went down on the 17th, but I haven't yet had time to sit down and watch it all the way through. I plan to do a full match report at some point, but I've got to straighten up the house and start the week so it may be as late as next Saturday before I can get back to it.

The short version is that Sport is definitely going with the strategy, mentioned by Nathan on The Lion's Roar some weeks ago, of counting on a packed-in defense that doesn't give up quick goals to score by counterattack with Paulo Baier and Ciro and thus outscore opponents despite spending a lot of time defending for long stretches of the game.

Whether the strategy can be said to be a success is still an open question, at least to me. Sport won, but against a team with better strikers than Colo Colo, they might have been in serious trouble.

The commitment I'm making is that I will have a synopsis posted before the next cup match goes off on the 4th. Until then, Valeu Sport!

Profiling Ciro

The full name of Sport's most promising young player is "Cirohenrique Alves Ferreira E Silva." In Brazil, however, it is common for players to adopt a single short name, so he is known to all simply as "Ciro."

Ciro is a homegrown Sport product; he was called up from the B team near the end of the 2008 Serie A campaign. Ciro scored four goals in nine appearances - an impressive pace for any player but particularly so for a 19 year old midseason callup.

Brazillian club soccer being what it is, it's probable that Ciro will be purchased by a European club if he indeed makes the leap and becomes a world-class forward, but in the meantime Sport fans can comfort themselves that he is under contract with the club until 2013.

In his first cup match Ciro notched a goal and an assist - doubly impressive given that there isn't another forward on the team who has any real flair for putting the ball into the back of the net.

Regularly Scheduled Programming

Stevo pointed me to a site a while back that, looking at the old listings, appears to be carrying the Copa Libertadores.

The site is www.atdhe.net and it seems to be pretty reliable. Sport's next match is on March 1st, but that's a regular Campeonato Pernambucano match, not a cup match so it may not be on.

Sport's next Copa Libertadores match will be on March 4th when Sport hosts la Liga at Ilha do Retiro (Sport's home stadium in Recife.)

Small Craft Warning - Heavy Seas

I'll warn any readers of this blog that what follows is a bit heavy - it's a poem I wrote last night about my experience of Nathan's funeral.

If that's not something you're feeling right now, come back later. Otherwise, I hope you find it meaningful.

---

Contents of Mourners' Pockets

Ring the bell
For across the bridges of this Unreal City flow the multitudes
And in their pockets they carry the remains of the dead

Son of the city
The mothers bring his heart, swollen and pulsing
Love, pain, truth, ruin

The fathers bring his eyes, luminous beneath streetlights
Where hard men walk, not swaggering,
Listing under the sallow glow of obligation

Brother of the city
The sisters carry his books, heavy and uncountable
Dragging dry pages that will not be read again
To the inferno that blackens the paper to match the ink

The brothers carry his music
It rings out over the roofs at dusk
The words woven into the chatter of one hundred tongues
The beat primal, insistent, thundering in the synchronic footfalls of the massing crowd

Here we will make a golem from these things we carry
With our ancient magic we will blow lion's breath
Into the mouth of this dead man, and he will walk among us
Until sleep drags us from this cold sweet night into the damp grey morning
Where we must arise with empty pockets
To tell the news of our great city
Now only ashes

Valeu Sport!

Nathan Raff was without much question the biggest US-born fan that Sport Club do Recife has ever had. He started two blogs about the team, Country of the Future and the Lion's Roar. His last post before he died concerned the likelihood of Sport's winning the Campeonato Pernambucano (they now have the championship sewn up) and the team's upcoming participation in the Copa Libertadores.

I am not always reliable when it comes to sticking with projects over the long haul, so I'm making no promises. But I feel a lot of regret that Nathan will not get to see his team participate in Brazil's most prestigious club tournament. So I'm going to do my best, using the means available to me, to follow the cup as closely as I can and to chronicle the path of Sport through the early stages and hopefully into the knockout stage.

First, a little background. The Copa Liberatadores, or "Liberator's Cup," is a South American championship much like the Champion's League in Europe. Top club teams from the various South American countries (and, for some reason, Mexico) are invited to participate in the cup. Sport is included in 2009 because in 2008 they won the Copa do Brasil, Brazil's national championship tournament.

Yesterday evening Sport played its first match of the group stage against Colo Colo, Chile's top team. The group stage consists of three home-and-home ties. Away victories are priceless in any home-and-home tie situation, and Sport came away with hard-fought 2-1 win.

All of Sport's scoring action was thanks to their star forward, the sublime Ciro. In the seventh minute a ball came into the box from Wilson and onto the head of midfielder Paulo Baier. He gave the ball just the barest graze with the top of his head, which was apparently not what anyone - except Ciro - was expecting. Two defenders and the goalkeeper were wrongfooted as the ball trickled tantalizingly across the left half of the six yard box. It looked as if Christian Munoz, the goalkeeper, would get there just in time, but instead Ciro knocked a quick left-footed shot effortlessly over him and into the open net.

Later in the first half ("primiero tempo" in Portuguese) Colo Colo lost possession in the midfield and the ball was quickly hit forward to Ciro, setting up a dangerous 2 on 2 break for with Wilson. Riquelme, the Chilean defender marking Ciro, was completely undressed by a quick fake to the outside and suddenly Ciro found himself alone, dribbling toward the box at pace. The second defender had no choice but to cheat over toward Sport's best forward, now completely unmarked, and Ciro calmly hit a gentle right-footed pass to a wide open Wilson, who slotted it home for what had to be one of the easiest goals of his career.

Magrao's clean sheet was spoiled in the second half ("segundo tempo") when some lazy defending by a packed-in Sport led to a cheap goal by Lucas Barrios, but in the end Sport prevailed, notching the full three points at Colo Colo's facility.

Sport must now be considered one of the favorites to come out of Group 1, though there is of course a lot of futbol left to be played.