goalscrounger
Well-known member
I went to my first ever Brazilian football match this evening to see Botafogo play Atletico Mineiro in the Olympic Stadium in Rio.
Considering Mineiro are the reigning Brazilian champions and newly promoted Botafogo sit 10th in Serie A, it was a poor game. I went with the amusing notion that I could scout a couple of decent players for Boro to investigate, but in all honestly, not a single player on the pitch would get anywhere near the Boro team.
The best player on the pitch for Botafogo was a 70th minute sub who they have on loan from a lower league Rio team and has o ly played twice for them before (Jeffinho if anyone is interested).
Mineiro had Hulk starting up front for them, but apart from an outrageous rabona cross, he didn't do much, neither did Eduardo Vargas (the Chilean international striker) and both sides spent an inordinate amount of time rolling around on the floor.
This was the first live game I've seen with VAR and the delays while it was used went on for ever (it also missed a glaring handball for a Mineiro penalty and also ruled out a literal "last kick" goal for the away team, much to the delight of the the Botafogo fans (even though they lost one nil).
Lastly, the Olympic Stadium is way too big for Botafogo, but the 20,000 or so in the ground (including about 1,500 from Atletico Mineiro) made for a decent atmosphere at times and the experience was well worth doing (the 2 dollar beers delivered to your seat helped too!).
Considering Mineiro are the reigning Brazilian champions and newly promoted Botafogo sit 10th in Serie A, it was a poor game. I went with the amusing notion that I could scout a couple of decent players for Boro to investigate, but in all honestly, not a single player on the pitch would get anywhere near the Boro team.
The best player on the pitch for Botafogo was a 70th minute sub who they have on loan from a lower league Rio team and has o ly played twice for them before (Jeffinho if anyone is interested).
Mineiro had Hulk starting up front for them, but apart from an outrageous rabona cross, he didn't do much, neither did Eduardo Vargas (the Chilean international striker) and both sides spent an inordinate amount of time rolling around on the floor.
This was the first live game I've seen with VAR and the delays while it was used went on for ever (it also missed a glaring handball for a Mineiro penalty and also ruled out a literal "last kick" goal for the away team, much to the delight of the the Botafogo fans (even though they lost one nil).
Lastly, the Olympic Stadium is way too big for Botafogo, but the 20,000 or so in the ground (including about 1,500 from Atletico Mineiro) made for a decent atmosphere at times and the experience was well worth doing (the 2 dollar beers delivered to your seat helped too!).
