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Fabregas, Cesc |
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Handanovic, Samir |
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Messi, Lionel |
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Baptista, Julio |
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Robben, Arjen |
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Walcott, Theo |
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Gourcuff, Yoann |
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Crespo, Hernan |
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Gallas, William |
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Higuain, Gonzalo |
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Brazil is a very big country... A federative country and we have almost as many states as the USA. Some of these states are bigger then whole countries in Europe. At the beginning of the 20th century, our major clubs were still amateurs. It was very expensive to travel for them, in order to play outside of their states. This was the time, when the age of States Championships began. Rio de Janeiro is the name of my state, and also the name of my city. Those who were born in Rio are called “Carioca”. So we have a Carioca Cup which stands for the State Championships of the state of Rio de Janeiro. The same counts in the state of São Paulo, where we have the “Paulista Cup”. Those who are born in São Paulo are called “Paulista”.
Here is a list of the most important clubs in the most important states:
Rio de Janeiro (Carioca Cup): Flamengo, Fluminense, Vasco and Botafogo.
São Paulo (Paulista Cup): Corinthians, Santos, Palmeiras and São Paulo
Minas Gerais (Mineiro Cup): Cruzeiro and Atlético
Rio Grande do Sul (Gaúcho Cup): Inter and Grêmio.
The fact of having four clubs "isolated" in the same city had created rivalries bigger than usual. For instance, if Fla (Flamengo) lost to Flu (Fluminense) in the so called “Fla-Flu” - derby, you may see Vasco and Botafogo supporters making fun of Fla supporters, even if the game has nothing to do with them. Neighbours 'hating' each other, families divided on derby days, etc. Some credit the success of Brazlilian football in general a little bit on this and rivalry in each city…
So in a championship like the Carioca Cup we may have more than 10 derbies a year, depending on its formula! And by the way, in Brazil we rarely use the word 'derby'. We call these games a "classic". A “Fla-Flu” is a classic; a Vasco vs. Botafogo is a classic and so on. Until to the early 1960´s only the States Cups were played. We also had a Rio vs. São Paulo Cup. But the National Championships for whole Brazil started in the 1960´s. Until to the 1990´s we used to divide the year: first half of the year for the regional Cups, second half of the year for the Brazilian Championships. Commercial interests have made, through the years, the Brazilian Championship more important and bigger. The State Cups were getting smaller and less important, but they are loved by supporters, due to having so many of the “classics”.
