First semester: Close to perfection. Won both championships they participated in – the Copa do Nordeste (the Northeast’s most prestigious tournament) by beating Campinense (2013 CDN champions) in the final & also snatched a back-to-back Pernambucano State Championship by defeating eternal crosstown Recife rivals, Sport Clube do Recife in the final.
Status: Santa Cruz already showed us what they’re capable of doing this year by pummeling fellow Nordestinos, Vitória by 4-1. Despite being labeled a team who yo-yo between divisions, lately they’ve been going a single way, and that way is up:
*promoted from 4th to 3rd division in 2011
*won 3rd division & earned promotion to 2nd in 2013
*finished runners-up last year, finding themselves back in the Série A for the first time since 2006.
Milton Mendes’ squad which counts on the experience and goal-poaching capabilities of the great, mythical striker Grafite – who scored twice against Vitória – has all the ingredients of adding an unexpected edge to an already competitively unpredictable league such as the Brasileirão. Regardless of how they finish, it’s great to see a more evenly-dispersed league with now three clubs as opposed to just one, from the football-crazy Nordeste region of Brazil.
2015 Brasileirão (Série B): 2nd (20-7-11)
Strength: Home ground advantage. Year in, year out, their massive 64,000-capacity Estádio Arruda finds itself packed to the brim, no matter what tier they’re in. Santa Cruz’s fanbase are often labeled “a mais apaixonada do Brasil” (the most passionate in Brazil), and rightfully so – for the past 5 years, attendance average at the Arruda has matched, and even surpassed most in the Série A, except the usual two giants of the masses – Corinthians and Flamengo. Mark my words, it’s going to be very tough to beat Santa Cruz in Recife.
Coach Milton Mendes. The highly strategical, military style tactician finds himself at the forefront of the new school of Brazilian managers. Alongside a couple of others, in this new vanguard, the tough-skinned, 51-year-old Catarinense who’s managerial career was molded in the old continent (Portugal) has already captured the attention of the press by showing us great things with a very technically-limited roster last year, while at Atlético Paranaense. With a group as united as this Santa Cruz, one he’s already won two titles with in 2016, he could do even better.
Weakness: Money (or lack thereof). From a financial perspective, of the 20 teams in the league, “Santinha” find themselves as minnows in an ocean full of sharks. Alongside the also recently-promoted América Mineiro, they have the least expensive roster in the Brasileirão, totaling €12 million. But hey, so did Osasco Audax and Leicester City, and look at them now.
Prediction: Mid-table. But I predict they could surprise us in yet another knockout style competition, maybe the Copa do Brasil or better yet, Copa Sudamericana.
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