Hooligans Take Center Stage as Gre-Nal Ends Scoreless

Hooligans took center stage in Gre-Nal #366 as the game was twice interrupted by Grêmio fans that set fire to port-o-potties at Beira-Rio Stadium. Referee Wilson Luís Seneme halted the action in the second half when smoke from the fires made it impossible to continue play. Firefighters put out the blaze as the military police fought off the hooligans.

As for the game itself, the scoreless draw left Grêmio in dire straights. The Tricolor’s winless streak has now reached five games as they dropped yet another spot in the standings to 13th. The fact that Inter fielded a reserve team makes the inability to win even more disappointing. Grêmio (17 pts) will now return home for a must-win game against 9th-place Juventude. Internacional (26 pts), who moved up into 2nd place thanks to a Cruzeiro loss, will face 6th-place Santos at Vila Belmiro.

Grêmio played a good first half, maintaining the majority of the possession and creating a few scoring opportunities. Inter’s offense, meanwhile, consisted mainly of counter-attacks led by the agile Rentería. But the Colorado reserves lacked cohesion, allowing Grêmio to easily defend Inter’s advances. The best scoring opportunity of the half belonged to Grêmio when Rômulo’s blast hit the left post in the 31st minute.

The Tricolor suffered a severe blow late in the half when Alessandro had to leave the game after twisting his ankle. The initial prognosis of the medical staff is the wingback suffered a fracture.

During the break, Abel Braga replaced Adriano with Michel, a move that greatly improved Inter’s offensive production. But just 12 minutes into the final half, the game was stopped when Grêmio hooligans knocked the port-o-potties into the moat separating the crowd from the field and set them aflame. A fire truck entered to stadium to fight the blaze and the game was restarted. But no sooner had play recommenced than three more port-o-potties were lit up. The game was halted once again as smoke covered the playing field. The military police was called in as hooligans pelted the firefighters with bottles and other objects.

After another eight-minute delay, the game was restarted again. But neither team was much in the mood for football. The remainder of the contest saw no clear scoring opportunities by either side as both teams resorted to fouls and unsportsmanlike tactics. The game ended 0-0 as the rivals combined for over 50 fouls. Truly a Gre-Nal to forget.

And this forgettable Gre-Nal could mark the beginning of the end for Grêmio. The Tricolor has not won a game since May 31st, two months ago, and is now a mere 2 points ahead of Ponte Preta who occupies the top spot in the relegation zone. This Grêmio team is not very good. They overachieved in winning the Gaúcho State title earlier in the year, but now are struggling against the tougher competition of Série A. Forget a South American Cup berth. This team needs to concentrate on just remaining in the top flight.

That task just became a lot more difficult thanks to the reckless acts of a few hooligans. Grêmio will most likely be held accountable for the conduct of its fans and could lose homefield advantage for up to 10 of its remaining games. Homefield advantage is huge in football and its loss, coupled with the Tricolor’s struggles on the field, could lead to a descent into the relegation zone.

Grêmio was lucky last year when it escaped Série B after only one year in the lower division. With its current mediocre roster and inability to attract good talent due to financial woes, it is unlikely the Tricolor could survive another descent to the second division. Should the Tricolor fall again, it may find itself in the company of other disgraced clubs like Bahia, a former Série A champion and Club of 13 member that is currently playing in Série C.

All this makes Saturday’s match against Juventude critical. Fail to win and the season may be over already as it could be the last home game the Tricolor will play for a while.

Internacional (0)	Grêmio (0)
Adriano (38') Álvaro (48') Iarley (54')	Pereira (44') Bruno Telles (62') Herrera (85')
Venue:  Beira-Rio Stadium, Porto Alegre (RS)
Internacional: Renan; Ceará, João Guilherme, Ediglê and Rubens Cardoso (Ramón, 89'); Wellington Monteiro, Maycon, Álvaro and Adriano (Michel, 50'); Iarley (Mossoró, 82') and Rentería. Coach: Abel Braga	Grêmio: Marcelo Grohe; Alessandro (Patrício, 34'), Evaldo, Pereira and Bruno Telles (Valdeir, 89'); Jeovânio, Lucas, Tcheco and Rafinha; Hugo (Herrera, 80') and Rômulo. Coach: Mano Menezes