Whereas Sao Paulo won the league championship yet again, local rivals Corinthians were relegated to the second division. The second most popular club after Flamengo (according to a survey) in the country of five-time world champions had won the league in 2005 under the leadership of Argentinians Javier Mascherano (now playing for Liverpool) and Carlos Tevez (now with Manchester United). They and other players had been sponsored by the MSI investment company, which only 30 months later lost interest in the four-time Brazilian league champions. As a result, the best players were sold off (including Carlos Alberto, currently with top German club Werder Bremen, in addition to Mascherano and Tevez), condemning them to meltdown. After relegation, Corinthians promptly dismissed coach Nelsinho Baptista.

Another former international player, on the other hand, is turning his back on coaching. Oleg Blochin accepted responsibility for failing to qualify for EURO 2008 in Austria and Switzerland by stepping down as Ukraine’s national coach. Twelve months previously Blochin had steered Ukraine to the quarter-finals of the 2006 FIFA World Cup™, where they lost to eventual champions Italy.

LAJOS DETARI
Born: 24 April 1963 in Budapest (Hungary)
Height: 1,83m
Nationality: Hungarian
Position: midfielder
Playing career: 1972: Aszfaltutepitoe (Hungary). 1972-1987: Honved (Hungary). 1987-1988: Eintracht Frankfurt (West Germany). 1988-1990: Olympiakos (Greece). 1990-1992: Bologna (Italy) 1992-1993: Ancona (Italy). 1993: Ferencvaros (Hungary). 1993-1994: Genoa (Italy). 1994-1995: Neuchatel Xamax (Switzerland). 1996-1998: St. Polten (Austria). 1998-1999: BVSC (Hungary). 1999: Dunakeszi (Hungary). 2000: Felsopatony (Horna Poton, Slovakia).
Honours as a player: Hungarian league champion (1984,1985, 1986); Hungarian cup winner (1985); German cup winner (1988); Greek cup winner (1990); Hungarian super cup winner (1993); player of the year in Hungary (1985); player of the year in Greece (1990); player of the year in Switzerland (1994); best foreign player in the Bundesliga (1988); top goalscorer in Hungary (1985, 1986, 1987). 61 international appearances for Hungary, 13 goals.
Coaching career: 2000: FC Bihor (Romania). 2001: Csepel (Hungary). 2002: Kispest-Honved (Hungary). 2003: ACB (Vietnam). 2003: Szombathelyi Haladas (Hungary). 2004: Tatabanya (Hungary). 2004: Diosgyori (Hungary). 2004-2005: Nyiregyhaza (Hungary, consultant). 2005: Panserraikos (Greece). 2006: Hungary (assistant coach). 2007: Felsopatony (Horna Poton, Slovakia). 2007: Sopron (Hungary).
Miscellaneous: Detari was married to Andrea Komora, the daughter of his former coach, Imre Komora. Together they have two daughters, but they are now divorced. Detari was nominated five times for a World XI, and once in a European select team. He is the only player since World War II to have been top goalscorer in the Hungarian league for three consecutive seasons. Neither Ferenc Puskas nor Florian Albert managed such a feat. Olympiakos signed him for USD 10 million in the summer of 1988. The transfer is still a record for a Hungarian player. For a short time, he was the third most expensive player in the world behind Diego Armando Maradona and Ruud Gullit.