Brazil to kick off main nationwide football tournament

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's top 20 clubs will participate in the 2008 Brazilian League starting on Saturday and ending in December with a total of 38 rounds.

The teams play against each other home and away, and the team with most points is declared champion at the end of the championship, with no final game.

The four best ranked clubs in the nationwide competition classify to next year's Libertadores Cup, while the ones that finish in the fifth to the 11th positions classify to the 2009 South American Cup, which the 2008 League winner also gets to play.

With so many rounds to go, it is still early to set the favorites for this year's national title. However, the current scenario displays the title winners of the state championships held in Brazil's four main football centers: Flamengo (Rio de Janeiro's champion), Palmeiras (Sao Paulo's champion), Cruzeiro (Minas Gerais' champion) and International (Rio Grande do Sul's champion).

In Rio, two other teams deserve attention from fans during the tournament. Fluminense this week moved on to Libertadores Cup's quarterfinal round, and remains as one of the favourite teams to win the 2008 title of the continental competition. Besides, Botafogo ranked second in the state championship, and has showed stability in its performances, as it ended as vice leader in the two phases of the regional tournament.

In Sao Paulo, the club that carries the name of the state is never off the table when it comes to the Brazilian League. Sao Paulo won its fifth title in the competition last year, the second in a row, and, despite the elimination in the state championship's semifinals last week, it is regarded as the best structured club in the country. Another club in Sao Paulo state to be considered for the national title is Santos, the 2007 Brazilian League's runner-up.