Santos take upper hand in Brazil final

Santos, chasing their first domestic title since 1984, took the upper hand in the Brazilian championship final on Sunday with a 2-0 first-le...

Santos, chasing their first domestic title since 1984, took the upper hand in the Brazilian championship final on Sunday with a 2-0 first-leg win over favourites Corinthians.

Teenagers Diego and Robinho, the inspirations of a team which has an average age of only 23, set up a goal apiece for Alberto and Renato respectively as their team refused to be overawed by the occasion and the mainly pro-Corinthians crowd. Pele’s former club, who have struggled to live up to the reputation in the last few years, won despite having to play their “home” leg on enemy territory. Santos’s Vila Belmiro stadium holds only 20,000 fans, 5,000 below the minimum required to host a Brazilian championship final. The nearest stadium which meets the 25,000 rule is the Morumbi in Sao Paulo — 70 kilometres from Santos and where Corinthians play most of their big matches.

Corinthians, led by Brazil’s 1994 World Cup winning coachCarlos Alberto Parreira, are aiming for a treble after winning the Copa Brasil and Rio-Sao Paulo tournaments earlier in the year.

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Santos went straight onto the attack and took the lead in the 15th minute when Diego threaded a pass through the Corinthians defence and Alberto, a relative veteran at the age of 27, slid the ball under goalkeeper Doni.

Corinthians created only one real first-half chance but it was wasted when striker Guilherme — who scored twice in their semi-final second leg win over Fluminense — fired the ball over the crossbar. Santos continued to dominate in the second half but Robinho and Alberto both wasted excellent chances, the latter rounding Doni but then diving and attempting to win a penalty instead of trying to finish the move off.

Alberto was booked, for which he will miss the second leg through suspension, while coach Emerson Leao erupted with rage at the decision on the touchline.

Diego also went close after exchanging passes with Alberto but Santos finally got their reward in the 88th minute when Robinho picked up a loose Corinthians pass and chipped the ball over the defence to Renato, who lobbed the ball into the net.