Neymar and Ganso Fire Santos To 3-0 Victory Over Guarani In Campeonato Paulista Final, First Leg

Santos defeated Guarani 3-0 in the first leg of the final of the Campeonato Paulista, Sao Paulo’s professional soccer league. Playing away, Santos went ahead in the 42nd minute thanks to a spectacular left-footed strike by Paulo Henrique Ganso. The ever dangerous Neymar set up Ganso’s goal by cutting the ball back after bursting down the left flank. Ganso sent a rocket into the top left corner of the net from just outside the penalty box. Neymar made the score 2-0 in the 65th minute by coolly finishing off an attacking play involving Ganso in the box. The Guarani keeper did well to force the ball away from Ganso, but was unable to stop Neymar’s shrewd placement of his shot in the lower right corner of the net. Finally, in the dying minutes of injury time, Neymar collected a cross delivered from the right flank, in the box, beat his defender and unleashed a thunderous shot to create a bulge in the roof of the net for his second goal of the evening. The spiky haired Santos sensation celebrated his second goal by collapsing on the field in a gesture of exhaustion after a heroic performance in the crucial first leg of the Paulista championship final.

Santos have now all but secured the Paulista championship for the third consecutive year. The second leg of the final will be played at Santos on May 13. Neymar and Ganso will then likely be called up for international duty in Brazil's friendly against Denmark in Hamburg, Germany on May 26. Santos's recent run of form has revealed Ganso's ability to function not just as a playmaker, but also as an attacking midfielder with the courage and ability to score from long range in ways that recall the genius of Rivaldo.

Roberto Carlos Scores from Corner Kick in "Olympic Goal" for Corinthians

Roberto Carlos scored direct from a corner kick in a 2-0 victory for Corinthians against Portuguesa in the opening week of the Sao Paolo, "Paulista" championship. In South America, goals scored direct from corner kicks are known as "Olympic Goals". The Corinthians left-back curled the ball in direct from the left flank corner flag in the 20th minute after Paulinho opened the scoring in the 12th minute. Captain Ronaldo played for most of the match in a highly encouraging start to the season where he appeared to have recovered from injuries sustained late last year. Roberto Carlos's "Olympic Goal" marks the second spectacular goal in his career after his famous banana free kick at the 1997 Tournoi de France.