The Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, namely the second level of Brazilian football league system, was contested by 20 teams in 2008. Giants Corinthians played Série B for the first time after its poor season in Série A in 2007. Also, former Série A champions Bahia returned from Série C.
The tournament started on May 9 and Corinthians begun defeating CRB 3-2 in São Paulo. Due to its tradition and huge number of supporters, Corinthians attracted most of the attention from the media. The club won the first six matches and never left the top of the table. Promotion came on round 32 - six matches before the end of season - after defeating Ceará 2-0 in São Paulo. They were crowned champions two rounds later, beating Criciúma 2-0 as visitors.
Avaí was the second team to reach Série A as they defeated Brasiliense 1-0 on Round 35. One week later, Santo André also reached promotion after their 3-2 win as visitors against Ceará. Finally, Barueri completed the G4 (as the group of promoted teams are called) on Round 37 after beating América de Natal 3-0 at home.
On the other side of the table, CRB's poor record caused the club relegation on Round 33. Gama saw their hope comes to an end three weeks later. In the last round, on November 29, Criciúma and Marília could not escape as Fortaleza and América de Natal won their last matches and managed to stay out of the bottom four.
Vila Nova and former Brazilian international Túlio was the top scorer of the competition with 24 goals in the age of 39 years.
Team information
Team City Stadium 2007 Season Ranking CBF ABC Natal Frasqueirão 4th in Série C 53rd América Natal Machadão 20th in Série A 30th Avaí Florianópolis Ressacada 15th in Série B 43rd Bahia Salvador Jóia da Princesa 2nd in Série C 18th Bragantino Bragança Paulista Marcelo Stéfani Série C Champions 42nd Brasiliense Taguatinga Boca do Jacaré 9th in Série B 68th Ceará Fortaleza Castelão 16th in Série B 25th CRB Maceió Pajuçara 8th in Série B 36th Corinthians São Paulo Pacaembu 17th in Série A 2nd Criciúma Criciúma Heriberto Hülse 7th in Série B 28th Fortaleza Fortaleza Castelão 5th in Série B 29th Gama Gama Bezerrão 12th in Série B 48th Barueri Barueri Arena Barueri 13th in Série B 131st Juventude Caxias do Sul Alfredo Jaconi 18th in Série A 27th Marília Marília Bento de Abreu 6th in Série B 67th Paraná Curitiba Vila Capanema 19th in Série A 23rd Ponte Preta Campinas Moisés Lucarelli 11th in Série B 24th Santo André Santo André Bruno José Daniel 14th in Série B 59th São Caetano São Caetano do Sul Anacleto Campanella 10th in Série B 45th Vila Nova Goiânia Serra Dourada 3rd in Série C 44th
Standings
Results
Top scorers
#ScorerTeamGoals1 TúlioVila Nova242 NunesBragantino153 DentinhoCorinthians14 HerreraCorinthians Márcio MixiricaSanto André6 PedrãoBarueri137 Luiz CarlosCeará12 TutaSão Caetano JéfersonSanto André10 MendesJuventude11 Last Updated: 2008-11-29, *
See also Série A 2008 Série C 2008 Copa do Brasil 2008
References
External links Official site - Classification (pt) Official site - Games (pt)