Despite only having 10 men on the field for most of the game, on Saturday the Corinthians soccer team defeated ABC 4-0.
The team has begun to countdown the remaining games of the second division (Serie B) of the Brasileiro Championship with the anticipation of returning to the first division (Serie A) and the soccer elite of Brazil.
In Saturday's game, Corinthians scored their 100th goal in this year's competition and achieved their 48th point of the tournament. The team stands alone atop the leader board in the second division.
In Saturday's 22nd round of the second division of the Brasileiro Championship, the Corinthians soccer club faced a difficult adversary. The ABC team is ranked the fourth best offense while away from home.
However, the Corinthians head coach, Mano Menezes, has his sights on the first division. He told the team that if they were able to put together a 6-game winning streak, they would guarantee their presence in the first division of next year's competition. Saturday's victory was their first step in the right direction.
The team's first goal came in the 21st minute of play. Herrera punched the ball through to a wide open Elias who had no difficulty in tapping the ball into the ABC net.
In the 27th minute, Herrera assisted on the team's second goal. The Argentinean served the ball up to Douglas who easily placed the ball into the back of the net, scoring the last goal of the first half.
Just before the half came to a close, the forward for Corinthians, Nilton, was expelled from the game after committing a hard foul on ABC's fullback, Paulo Cesar. However, the disadvantage did not slow down Corinthians.
The second half's first goal came in the 20th minute when Douglas let the ball roll past him and onto Andre Santos. Santos fired a ball through the legs of the ABC defender and past the goalkeeper, Raniere.
The fourth and final goal of the game came by way of a penalty kick. In the 41st minute, Lulinha was taken down by Jean. Chicao, who made his return to the team after finally recovering from an injury, took the penalty kick and sealed the 4-0 victory.
(Xinhua News Agency August 31, 2008)