First Brazilian Championship without Pelé starts this Saturday – 04/12/2023 – Juca Kfouri

Somewhere, I heard someone call the Brazilian Championship that starts this Saturday (15) “Brasileirão Rei” and I liked the idea.

Much better than the repeated and useless attempts to associate commercial brands with tournaments, not least because they change according to the offers.

The 2023 national championship will be the first without the presence of King Pelé among us and, well explored, it could be “an extra plus”, as marketers say.

As it was, for example, back there, and going back there, to give a special flavor to the 1954 Paulista Championship, the 4th Centenary of São Paulo, which later earned Corinthians the name of “champion of centenaries” for years, an allusion to the fact that he had also won the championship of the hundred years of the proclamation of Independence, in 1922, whose cup bore the name of the event.

Pelé will certainly be remembered once again this opening weekend of the event, which has giants such as Bahia, Cruzeiro, Grêmio and Vasco, champions who were in Série B last year, back.

What to expect from them is an unknown question that also haunts almost all the other 16 competitors, with the exception of Palmeiras —about whom there may be doubt as to whether he will be champion again, but he will certainly be among the first.

There are many questions about all the others.

Does anyone believe that Flamengo, which has the most starred and millionaire squad, will do well amidst the tsunami revealing the moral and managerial fragility of its commanders?

And will Atlético Mineiro, another whose spending is not matched by good performances, be competitive again?

In his infinite arrogance, Renato Gaúcho ensured that Grêmio was on the same level as the favorites despite the fact that, with the exception of Luis Suárez, he owed quality football.

What to expect from Athletico Paranaense, the only undefeated team in 2023 among the 20 in Série A, with 15 wins and three draws, although without having faced truly respectable opponents yet? Will it be the year of your confirmation as a power?

The rare reader, no matter how special they are, and they are, always want to hear from poor journalists their predictions, hints about who will win, who will fall, who will qualify for Libertadores, etc.

They want to know, as a rule, to throw the mistakes made when the competitions are over in our faces.

As nothing obliges me to make predictions, I make the ones I want, and if I had to bet everything I have, which is little, on a champion, I would bet on Palmeiras for the second time.

Of course, I would love to be able to make another bet, on my team, but with an aging squad, and depending on an excellent midfielder who lives in the shipyard, the maximum to be conquered, and even then subject to rain and thunderstorms, it is a knockout tournament. kills, like the Copa do Brasil last year, when it reached the finals.

Risk of falling, at least, this time he doesn’t run, a fear that assails, with a certain exaggeration, the people of São Paulo and, with good reason, of Santos.

Bahia, Botafogo, Cuiabá, Goiás and Vasco have more reasons to fear, in this Brasileirão that promises balance in the middle and at the bottom of the leaderboard.

There are 15 champions among 20 competitors, and only Guarani, among those who have already won the biggest title, outside of Série A —because the one awarded to Sport, in 1987, is one of those aberrations that still happened as a result of the dictatorship.

May the Brasileirão Rei honor the name.

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