After filling the vacant coach’s role left by Abel Braga in June last year, Tite is now subject to pressure from a growing number of fans after last night’s demoralising defeat against Ecuador’s LDU.
Two cup final defeats in the space of a week could have dire consequences on the former Grêmio coach with Inter. Despite dominating the 2009 Gauchão and a promising start to the Brasileirão, Inter’s only hopes of adding silverware are in the club’s centenary year are the Série A title and the Japan based, Copa Suruga.
Tite began his spell at Inter guiding the Colorado to the 2008 Copa Sudamericana despite being unable to arrest a desperately poor away record in the Brasileirão. Inter’s Sudamericana success was based upon a resilient defence whilst at the other end the likes of D’Alessandro, Taison and Nilmar provided Inter with creativity, pace and clinical finishing in a forward line which ranks amongst the best in world football.
As Inter deservedly qualified for the Copa do Brasil final and the Recopa, Inter’s defence looked a shadow of the resilient and unforgiving back four who restricted the likes of Boca Juniors and Estudiantes. Two disappointing performances against Corinthians ended Colorado hopes of the Copa do Brasil whilst a surprise 1-0 defeat at the Beira-Rio against LDU was worsened as Inter last suffered an embarrassing 3-0 defeat with the eyes of South American football watching.
The result now leaves many people raising the question over Tite’s long term future at the Beira-Rio and one must wonder whether the ears of a certain 53 year old in São Paulo are burning – Muricy Ramalho.
Ramalho who is no stranger to the Beira-Rio having coached Inter on two separate occasions (2002-03 and 2004-05) was sacked last month as coach of São Paulo. Despite a disappointing and uncharacteristic start to the season with the Tricolor Paulista, Ramalho has led São Paulo consecutively to the last three Brasileirão titles. With many suggesting that Tite’s time at Inter should come to an end, is the time right to bring back Muricy to bring fresh ideas into the team and steer the Rolo Compressor to the 2009 Campeonato Brasileiro title?
Inter have lost their second final in a week after a 3-0 defeat against LDU ended their hopes of the Recopa title in Quito last night.
Following an unexpected 1-0 defeat in the Beira-Rio two weeks ago, things went from bad to worse for Inter as defender Espinola (9) headed LDU in front inside the first ten minutes.
Despite Inter pressure with Nilmar twice going close thanks to a exquisite pass from D’Alessandro, LDU extended their advantage as Danny Morais was easily beaten by Bieler (39) who headed past Lauro to make it 2-0.
In the second half, Inter continued to defend poorly as Vera (53) found space as he struck the ball into the bottom corner to secure LDU the Recopa title with a comfortable 4-0 aggregate scoreline.
Inter now out of the Copa do Brasil and Recopa must now focus solely on the Campeonato Brasileirão where they face Atlético Paranaense this weekend.
LDU (4) 3-0 (0) INTERNACIONAL Espinola (9) Bieler (39) Vera (53)
LDU: Dominguez (Cevallos); Jairo Campos, Araujo e Espinola; Reasco, De La Cruz, Urrutia, Enrique Vera (W. Araujo), Lara (Graf)e Ambrossi; Bieler. Técnico: Jorge Fossati
INTER: Lauro; Danilo Silva, Índio, Danny Morais e Kléber; Glaydson (Andrezinho), Guiñazu, Magrão e D´Alessandro (Bolaños); Taison (Alecsandro) e Nilmar. Técnico: Tite
Sorry for the recent lack of updates here on the blog.
Unfortunately I’m very busy with work commitments at the moment and whilst I love writing about Inter, my job is what pays the bills at the end of month!
Almost every text here, I have to translate then rewrite and then find images etc so as you can imagine, it is very time consuming. I am finding it increasingly difficult to commit so much time to Inter UK.
I’ll do my best to share important news and I wish Inter all the best for match against LDU tomorrow. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions feel free to share them!
Two second half strikes from Nilmar was enough to seal Inter a 2-0 victory over Náutico at the Estádio dos Aflitos and put Inter top of the Campeonato Brasileirão after Atlético-MG were held by Botafogo.
More to follow.....
NÁUTICO 0-2 INTERNACIONAL D’Alessandro missed pen 30 Nilmar 70, 77 Asprilla sent off 72
NÁUTICO: Eduardo; Nilson, Vágner, Asprilla, Anderson Santana; Galiardo, Johnny (Eduardo Erê), Juliano (Márcio Barros), Carlinhos Bala; Anderson Lessa (Aílton), Gilmar
Brazil striker Nilmar scored twice as Internacional bounced back from their midweek defeat in the Copa Brasil to beat Náutico 2-0 away and go top of the Brazilian championship on Sunday.
Inter, beaten by Corinthians in the Copa Brasil final, are two points ahead of Atlético Mineiro, who were held to a 1-1 draw at home by lowly Botafogo. Inter have 20 points from nine matches.
Nilmar, a member of Brazil's Confederations Cup winning squad, struck in the 71st minute with a low shot after a corner and placed his second seven minutes under the crossbar following a pass by Andrezinho.
Inter's Argentine playmaker Andres D'Alessandro, sent off in the Copa Brasil final, had a penalty saved by keeper Eduardo in the first half.
"We know the importance of winning away from home in this Brazilian championship and so build a good cushion... but it will be hard to keep up our success away," Nilmar told reporters.
At home in front of a crowd of 50,000 in the Mineirão in Belo Horizonte, Atlético Mineiro went ahead after 15 minutes when Eder Luis headed past Botafogo's Uruguayan keeper Juan Castillo.
However, Botafogo captain Juninho silenced the home fans with the equaliser eight minutes later when he blasted in a free kick from outside the box.
Palmeiras, under interim coach Jorginho following the sacking of Vanderlei Luxemburgo, beat bottom team Avaí 3-0 away to climb to fourth with striker Obina scoring twice.
Cruzeiro, resting several key players for their trip to La Plata on Wednesday to play Estudiantes of Argentina in the first leg of the Libertadores Cup final, went down 1-0 at Goiás.
Adriano played in Flamengo's 2-1 home win over third-placed Vitoria on Saturday despite having missed their last practice before the match saying he had stomach pains.
It was the third practice Adriano has missed since he returned to the club in April after leaving Inter Milan over similar problems in Italy.
Saturday’s results-Santos 1-0 Sport Santo André 1-1 Barueri Flamengo 2-1 Vitória
Sunday’s fixtures- Coritiba 2-0 São Paulo Goiás 1-0 Cruzeiro Atlético-MG 1-1 Botafogo Grêmio 4-1 Atlético-PR Avaí 0-3 Palmeiras Náutico 0-2 Internacional
After Wednesday’s Copa do Brasil disappointment, Inter’s campaign in the Campeonato Brasileirão continues in the city of Recife, where struggling Náutico await the Colorado (18:30 local time).
Despite a poor run of results in recent weeks, Inter have managed to maintain an impressive position in the Série A table and go into the championship’s ninth round in second place, with just goal difference separating them from leaders Atlético-MG.
Tite appears to have resisted from selecting a mixed team despite Inter having to travel to Ecuador midweek for the second leg of the Recopa although Sorondo did not make the journey to Recife as Inter struggle to meet the required criteria of a maximum of three non Brazilians, with D’Alessandro, Guiñazu and Bolaños all included in the squad.
Bolaños who scored a hat-trick in Inter’s last Brasileirão match is expected to start on the bench tonight as Nilmar and Taison set to start in a side which is likely to be the same as which played Corinthians midweek.
Sandro continues to miss out through injury and is also a major doubt for Wednesday’s Recopa tie. Magrão meanwhile is set to make his 100th appearance for Inter after joining the club in 2007 from Palmeiras.
“I have great pride in defending the Colorado shirt. I have the identification at Inter as I did with Palmeiras”, explained the popular midfielder.
Náutico meanwhile have struggled to make an impact so far in this year’s Brasileirão with just two wins to their name. Coach, Márcio Bittencourt is set to have Vágner and Anderson Lessa available once again after last weekend’s 2-0 defeat away to São Paulo but Derley and Gladstone are unavailable.
NÁUTICO: Eduardo; Juliano, Vágner, Asprilla , Anderson Santana; Galiardo, Johnny, Aílton, Carlinhos Bala; Anderson Lessa, Gilmar
Ronald Gordo returns with another well written piece this week looking at another of Inter’s greats’ Valdomiro.
The awkward coal miner
I usually say I do not like football. I like Internacional.
So, I never write about players... my passions are the club, the team, the fans, the Beira-Rio Stadium or the old Eucaliptos Stadium - where I go occasionally, to imagine the ancient Roller. I do not care who is wearing shirt of Inter... what interests me is the red shirt.
But this is something special.
Matt, your town had coal mines and you know coal mining is a very tough profession. In Brazil, in the 60's, a miner would be happy to reach 35 years old before destroying the lungs.
You know coal carts too. They are heavy and run on tracks. It is almost impossible for a cart to turn.
One day, in the city of Criciúma, a cart full of coal overturned by accident. The boy who was pushing the cart was fired.. To avoid starvation, he started to play football.
He had strength but nothing more. He knew nothing about tactics, positioning and - crucially - how to control the ball... but poverty is a great incentive to make all things possible.
In 1968, a manager of the Internacional was in Criciúma, to buy Edson Madureira, a good defender. While discussing the price, club Metropol (presently known as Comerciário) offered a striker. To close the matter, the director bought the two. So, he came to Inter... as a simple counterweight.
He was bad. To speak the truth, it was very bad. In his crosses, the ball goes to the corner flags. His shots do not come even close to goal. The fans hated him... and they are right.
In one match, he scored a goal. Colorado's were afraid that he would never leave the team... and answer with boos and whistles.
Oppressed by the dissatisfaction of the fans, he began to train. He used rudimentary techniques, like walking with weights on his legs to strengthen muscles. After training, he would remain on the field. He put a shirt on the cross bar to practice shooting... he never hit the shirt, but he never gave up. All afternoon, he was there ... he, the shirt and the ball.
And - thanks to a combination of effort, anger, enthusiasm and passion - he started to hit the shots on target.
In 1974, Inter won all their games in Gaúcho Championship. At this time, he was regular right striker, wearing the number 7 shirt.
In 1975, in Elias Figueroa’s famous "Illuminated Goal", he sent the ball into the box which led to the goal. Against Corinthians, in 1976, he scored one goal and set up the other. He was a part of the undefeated team of 1979.
With the red shirt and his right leg, he achieved two hundred go als in 803 games. Nobody knows how many goals were created by his passes and crosses. He won 10 Gaucho’s Championships (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978 and 1982) and 3 Brasileiro titles (1975, 1976, 1979).
For the Brazilian team he played 23 matches, and scored 5 goals, playing in 1974 World Cup, featuring in 5 matches, scoring once.
In February 10, 1980, when he left Internacional to earn - in twelve months - the money he never earned in twelve years, the Gaúcho newspaper ‘Correio do Povo’ published on its front page: "Old Valdomiro go away."
At the time, I was 13 years old and I kept this newspaper for almost 30 years. Sometimes, when things do not go well, I read again to remember Valdomiro Vaz Franco, the awkward coal miner, and his ability to overcome challenges, to deal with opponents and to face own limitations. This is the true face of Sport Club Internacional.
Have a nice weekend, my friend, and remember: Inter never gave upPicture: The mentioned Correio do Povo article
Speaking to Bandeirantes Radio, Nilmar’s agent Orlando da Hora has once again confirmed that there is interest in Nilmar and that an offer from a great Italian club will soon be presented to Inter.
Without disclosing the club’s name, the agent did confirm that it was neither Palmero nor Napoli who have previously shown interest in the Inter striker and was a club who regularly compete in the UEFA Cup and Champions League.
Nilmar Is thought to be wanted by several major European clubs with Manchester United linked last week with the Inter number nine.
Picture: Nilmar's future appears to lie away from the Beira-Rio
Captain Pablo Guinazu has published an open letter to Inter supporters on his official site following Wednesday’s Copa do Brasil defeat.
The letter roughly translates as:
I would like to thank the support which was given to the team last night, from the 50,000 supporters and others around the world that appeared in the Beira-Rio for the Copa do Brasil final. The greatest teams and greatest men are forget with victories and defeats. We do not win the Cop do Brasil but, my Colorado friends can know with certainty that we are still strong to continue fighting for the Campeonato Brasileiro. Since yesterday, in the dressing room after the game our focus turned towards winning the Brasileirão and returning to the Copa Libertadores.
We along with Atletico are in the lead and need your Colorado support each time. Our mission will resume this Sunday in Recife against Náutico. I am certain that our centenary will still contain many joys. I ask for your help which has always been fantastic at Inter to continue until victory!
Hugs,
Cholo Guiñazu
A special feature about Guiñazu will be appearing in the blog in the near future!
Inter goalkeeper Lauro, visited his former team-mates yesterday as Cruzeiro prepared for their Copa Libertadores semi final with Grêmio in Porto Alegre.
The visit must have brought good luck to the Raposa (Fox) as they defeated Grêmio 5-3 over two legs after drawing 2-2 at last night at the Olímpico.
Cruzeiro will now face Inter’s Copa Sudamericana final opponents, Estudiantes in the Copa Libertadores final after they eliminated Uruguay’s Nacional.
Picture: Lauro in action against Estudiantes last year
Former Inter categorias de base midfielder Rodrigo Possebon is set to move from Manchester United on a season long loan.
With English club’s West Ham and Bolton apparently interested in Possebon, the Pubico newspaper is reporting that a deal has been agreed with Portuguese outfit Sporting Braga.
The report claims that Possebon, who has an Italian passport, has already pass a medical examination and the deal is expected to be completed by the weekend.
Possebon joined Manchester from Inter in 2008 where he did not feature for the first team.
Inter have lost in the final of the 2009 Copa do Brasil after Corinthians took full advantage of a poor performance to score twice before half time to effectively kill off any Inter hopes. Substitute Alecsandro did ensure that Inter were not defeated on the night however, after coming off the bench to score twice but it was not to be enough. In a scrappy affair, D’Alessandro and Elias both saw red late on as Corinthians book their place in next year’s Copa Libertadores.
From Reuters-
Corinthians lifted their second trophy of the season when they won the Copa Brasil on Wednesday. A 2-2 draw at Internacional in the second leg in Porto Alegre, in which two players were sent off and both coaches dismissed, earned Corinthians a 4-2 aggregate victory.
Inter's Argentine midfielder Andres D'Alessandro was shown a straight red card in the 78th minute for fighting. Corinthians, who won the first leg 2-0 in Sao Paulo two weeks ago, had midfielder Elias sent off for a second booking five minutes later.
Victory handed Corinthians, who won the regional Paulista championship earlier in the season, the first of five Brazilian berths in next year's Libertadores Cup.
"We achieved our main objective of the year," said Ronaldo, referring to the Libertadores Cup berth. The striker had a quiet game on Wednesday after scoring in the first leg.
"I think this team showed fighting spirit, strength, unity and above all tactical discipline. It was a great final. Pity about the provocation but that doesn't take the shine off our victory," he told reporters.
Striker Jorge Henrique out-jumped Inter's taller central defenders to head home Andre Santos's cross in the 20th minute to put Corinthians in front.
Andre Santos, who helped Brazil win the Confederations Cup in South Africa, increased their lead with a low shot from the left eight minutes later.
Substitute Alecsandro gave Inter a glimmer of hope with goals in the 71st and 75th minutes but it was too little too late.
It was Corinthians' third Copa Brasil win after success in 1995 and 2002.
Internacional (2) 2-2 (4) Corinthians Jorge Henrique 19 André Santos 28 Alecsandro 70, 74 D’Alessandro sent off 78 Elias sent off 83
Feel free to email me any news at matbur59@hotmail.com
Brasileirão table
Fixtures: Campeonato Brasileiro 2009
* denotes Copa do Brasil ** denotes Recopa
06/05 Inter 3-0 Nautico* 10/05 Corinthians 0-1 Inter 13/05 Flamengo 0-0 Inter* 17/05 Inter 2-0 Palmeiras 20/05 Inter 2-1 Flamengo* 23/05 Goiás 0-1 Inter 27/05 Inter 3-1 Coritiba* 31/05 Inter 2-1 Avaí 03/06 Coritiba 1-0 Inter* 07/06 Cruzeiro 1-1 Inter 14/06 Inter 0-0 Vitória 17/06 Corinthians 2-0 Inter* 21/06 Flamengo 4-0 Inter 25/06 Inter 0-1 LDU Quito** 28/06 Inter 3-0 Coritiba 01/07 Inter 2-2 Corinthians* 05/07 Náutico 0-2 Inter 09/07 LDU Quito 3-0 Inter** 12/07 Atlético-PR v Inter 15/07 Inter v Fluminense 19/07 Grêmio v Inter 22/07 Inter v São Paulo 25/07 Botafogo v Inter 29/07 Inter v Barueri 01/08 Santos v Inter 06/08 Inter v Atlético-MG 09/08 Inter v Sport 15/08 Santo André v Inter 19/08 Inter v Corinthians 23/08 Palmeiras v Inter 30/08 Inter v Goiás 05/09 Avaí v Inter 13/09 Inter v Cruzeiro 20/09 Vitória v Inter 27/09 Inter v Flamengo 04/10 Coritiba v Inter 07/10 Inter v Náutico 10/10 Inter v Atlético-PR 18/10 Fluminense v Inter 25/10 Inter v Grêmio 28/10 São Paulo v Inter 01/11 Inter v Botafogo 08/11 Barueri v Inter 15/11 Inter v Santos 22/11 Atlético-MG v Inter 29/11 Sport v Inter 06/11 Inter v Santo André
Continuing with the A-Z of Inter, we end the year reaching a key letter. The letter ‘F’ represents many of the club’s most historic and celebrated figures.
In the second part written by Flávio Bonfiglio, we look at the one and only Falcão.
Born in Abelardo Luz, in Santa Catarina state on November, 16th, 1953. Paulo Roberto Falcão, after turning two years, moved down to Rio Grande do Sul and spent all his childhood in Canoas (one of the cities that composes the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre). His father, Bento, encouraged Falcão’s football career at an early stage, making sure the footballs were occasional gifts for the kid. Falcão began playing as a goalkeeper, but after a ball hit him in his eye, he decided he would play outfield.
Playing considerably better than most children of the same age during school time, Pedro, his elder brother, took the slim boy to the “Factory of Aces” to see whether Falcão could cut it at Inter.
He could and became one of the club’s crafted aces. His eventual success as a footballer was no surprise for those who had had the opportunity to watch him playing. Summoned to play for the Seleção “juniors” at that time he was already impressing with his football, and after the negotiation of Carbone, Falcão signed his first professional contract when he was only 19, in 1973.
Inter supporters found that it was easy to identify the star to come. With a remarkable sense of positioning, Falcão helped his side defensively by helping cover spaces, not to mention his astonishing technique with the ball in possession where he would provide the forwards with lethal short passes and long balls. His golden curly hair became iconic. When Falcão was with the ball, he would stride through the field with his head up, developing a very classy way of playing as a defensive midfielder at that time (some say Falcão was the prototype of the modern defensive midfielder, going against the trend of the classic ‘volante’ who knew a lot about man-marking but little about passing). He was such a good player with the ball once he entered a very important game against Botafogo with an injury on his right foot (his good foot), therefore he spent all the time touching the ball with his left foot and he even managed to be chosen as the ‘man of the match’!
With all these tools, Falcão played a key role in Internacional from 1973 to 1980, scoring 78 goals, some of them of rare beauty and crucial to Inter campaigns, like the one against Atlético-MG, on the semifinal match of the 1976 Campeonato Brasileiro, when he and Escurinho entered the penalty area exchanging passes using their just thier heads, scoring one of the most beautiful goals in the competition’s history.
At Inter he won the state championship in 1973, and again consecutively from ‘76 to ‘78. He also was part of the Inter side which won three Brazilian champion (‘75, ‘76 and ‘79). In 1980, Falcao left Inter for a very high fee to join A.S Roma where he became an idol in the Italian capital, leading Roma towards the ‘scudetto’ in 1983, their first major title since the 1940’s. He also won the Copa Italia in ’81 and ’84 and became known by Roma supporters as “The 8th King of Rome” or just “The King”.
For the Seleção, he played in the 1982 and 1986 World Cup’s, being part of the galactic midfield composed of Toninho Cerezo, Sócrates, Zico and himself in 1982, a side which is often remarked as the greatest ever team not to win a World Cup.
In 1985, he returned to Brazil with São Paulo F.C, to treat a serious knee injury, incidentally the club had the most advanced medical technology available at the time which was one of the reasons why Falcão didn’t return to Internacional. In 1986, Facoa retired from football and later coached Brazil national team, América (Mexico) and even Internacional during early 90’s. Nowadays he is a sports commentator for Rede Globo and he has a daily column in Zero Hora newspaper.
Falcão has always been a very intelligent and well-articulated person, skills which made it easy for him to be a appreciated and highly respected football commentator. On the other hand, his coldness and lack of emotion towards all things Inter has raised a debate amongst supporters. Usually younger supporters don’t consider him an idol at all (with Fernandão being a modern day comparison, always showing his love and gratitude for the club at every opportunity). Older supporters hold Falcão at the highest esteem and debate may continue for the decades to come, but both sides eventually end up recognizing him as the greatest football player ever to wear our loved red shirt.
Sources: Goool Magazine - special edition for the 100th year (with adaptations of the translator) and Flávio Bonfiglio.
Beginners Guide to Inter! / Guia do Inter para iniciantes!
Since forming in 1909, Internacional are one of most respected clubs in Brazil with a rich history and a proud repuatation of producing talented players. The club has a historic and fierce rivalry with neighbours Gremio. The derby between Inter and Gremio is regarded as one of the most passionate in Brazilian football and is widely known as GreNal.
The club play the Estádio Beira-Rio (56,000) in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul which is often shortened to just RS. People from RS are commonly known as Gaúcho's and this is reference which is oftened referred to when discussing the club and it's supporters. The club and it's supporters are nicknamed Colorado (translates literally as The Red) or the club is also known as O Clube do Povo (The Peoples Club).
In the Brazilian calender (see below) the club competes in two main competitions each year- the regional state championship, Campeonato Gaúcho and also Brazil's top division- Campeonato Brasileiro.
Inter have won a record 38 state championships and have also won the Brasileiro on three occassions (1975,76 and 79) as well as winning the Copa do Brasil (Brazilian Cup) in 1992.
To the delight of the red half of Porto Alegre, Inter have recently had somewhat of a golden era. In 2006 Inter won their first Copa Libertadores title (equivilant to Champions League). This was followed later that year by arguebly the clubs greatest achievement, the 2006 Fifa World Club Cup. Inter travelled to Japan where they beat Barcelona 1-0. The club then lifted the Recopa (South American Super Cup) in 2007. In 2008 the club celebrated success again, this time in the Dubai Cup- an invitational only tournament for current or former champions of national and international competitions. Inter were victorious after defeating VfB Stuttgart and then Inter Milan in the final. It would only be a matter of time before the Colorado achieved another international title as later this year, Inter became the first Brazilian club to win the Copa Sudamericana. Without losing a single game in the competition, Inter saw off the likes of Gremio, Boca Juniors, and Chivas before defeating Estudiantes over two legs in the final. 2009 is again set to become another historic year for the club as Inter mark their centenary.
The Brazilian football calender / O Calendário Brasileiro
The Brazilian football calender is unique to most other countries. Running from Jan-Dec the Brazilian football season has two main competitions.
The season begins with the State Championships, due to sheer size of Brazil these competitions have a rich history where the clubs fiercely compete for local pride. The standard of these competitions vary greatly as does the format of each competition. There is often a mismatch in standard during matches as a top clubs will often need to play a third division or non league side. Despite this the championships are of great significance to the Brazilian people.
The Paulista (Sao Paulo) and Carioca (Rio de Janierio) state championships are well followed and considered to be strongest. The Campeonato Gaúcho in which Inter competes is considered to be one of the more important state compeitions but it is dominated by Inter and Gremio (73 titles between them!) who are by far the biggest clubs competing. Juventude and Caxias are probably the next two strongest clubs but they both have only won a single title each.
Once state competitions finish the Campeonato Brasileiro (national league) begins and run from May until Decemeber. There are three divisions (Serie A, B and C) with promotion and relegation from each. The format is more recognisable with 20 clubs playing each other twice to decide the champion with the bottom 4 clubs being relegated. The top 4 clubs qualify for the all important Copa Libetadores (equivilant of Champions League) whilst 5th-12th qualify for the Copa Sudamericana (similar to UEFA Cup).
In addition to all of this, there is also a knockout cup competition - Copa do Brasil which runs from Jan - June with it's winners gaining a place in the Copa Libertadores.
10,160 Km (6,313 miles) from the home of Sport Club Internacional, Estadio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre is the small country of Wales. Despite the enormous distance, the Gaúcho passion which has made Inter such a great club has caught the imagination of Colorado living in the UK.
I have created this blog to try and share my love of Inter in the English language. I hope this blog is not purely for Brazilian English speaking Inter fans but will also attract non-Brazilians to the beautiful Brazilian game.
Welcome, Bem-Vindo!
About Me
Colorado Matt
Swansea, País de Gales, United Kingdom
I began supporting Internacional over ten years ago and began this site in June 2008.
Since then I have featured in the official club publication 'Revista do Inter', Zero Hora newspaper and I also now write a weekly article on Globo.com Blog do Torceda Internacional.
My aim is to get some of my writing published and to finally visit Porto Alegre and the Beira-Rio!!
After filling the vacant coach’s role left by Abel Braga in June last year, Tite is now subject to pressure from a growing number of fans after last night’s demoralising defeat against Ecuador’s LDU.
London Time
Porto Alegre Time
