The Gigante da Colina, Champion of the 2011 Mundialito de Clubes, edges Flamengo to bag the first edition of the Rio de Janeiro Championship
After a breath-taking final, Vasco da Gama secured their fifth win in the tournament, the one that would give the Tren Bala da Colina the glory on the sands of the Arena do Praião, at the Barra de São João, Casimiro de Abreu disctrict (Região dos Lagos).
Vasco got to the final of the tournament in an amazing shape, without having been defeated by any of their opponents, and the Cruzmaltinos stayed unbeatable to clinch the cup in this opening edition of the Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janiero de Beach Soccer. Flamengo in turn, had suffered a defeat, precisely against Vasco da Gama, in the group stage of the competition, and they wanted to avenge it. On that occasion it was a tight 5-4 for the Tren Bala, and, again this time, just one goal made the difference.
The Rubronegro hit first, but after Vasco’s equalizer, the champions would manage to get things on their side, with two goals that made the score 3-1 by mid second period. On two occasions, ‘Fla’ managed to cut the distance, but Vasco knew how to keep their advantage safe until the final hooter.
Besides the cup, Vasco da Gama did also capture all the individual awards: Bokinha was awarded as the tournament’s MVP, at the time he parallelled teammate Lucão at the top of the scorer’s chart; Jordan was named “Rookie” of the tournament, and Cesinha earned the Best Goalkeeper award.
CAMPEONATO ESTADUAL DO RIO DE JANEIRO DE BEACH SOCCER 2014
GROUP A – Vasco da Gama, Flamengo, Búzios and Cabofriense
GROUP B – Fluminense, Botafogo, Prado Júnior and Casimiro de Abreu
Wednesday, 19th February
17:00 – Vasco da Gama 14-5 Búzios
18:15 – Fluminense 2-3 Prado Júnior
19:30 – Botafogo 7-0 Casimiro de Abreu
20:45 – Flamengo 6-2 Cabofriense
Thursday, 20th February
17h – Fluminense 10-3 Casimiro de Abreu
18:15 – Flamengo 8-3 Búzios
19:30 – Botafogo 5-3 Prado Júnior
20:45 – Vasco da Gama 14-6 Cabofriense
Friday, 21st February
17h – Búzios 8-6 Cabofriense
18:15 – Botafogo 1(5)-1(4) Fluminense (pso)
19:30 – Casimiro de Abreu 1-10 Prado Júnior
20:45 – Flamengo 4-5 Vasco da Gama
Saturday, 22nd February
19:30 – Vasco da Gama 5-4 Prado Júnior (semi-final 1)
20:45 – Botafogo 2-5 Flamengo (semi-final 2)
Sunday, 23rd February
15:00 – Flamengo 3-4 Vasco da Gama
Final Standings
Champions: Vasco da Gama
Runners-up: Flamengo
3rd place: Botafogo
4th place: Prado Júnior
Individual awards
MVP: Bokinha (Vasco da Gama)
Top Scorer: Bokinha and Lucão (Vasco da Gama)
Best Goalkeeper: Cesinha (Vasco da Gama)
Rookie of the tournament: Jordan (Vasco da Gama)
pic by Thiago Ribeiro
