The Copa João Havelange finals was the final two-legged match that determined the winner of the

Copa João Havelange The 2000 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (officially the Copa João Havelange) was the 44th edition of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the top-level of professional football in Brazil. Due to legal complications, the championship was organized ...

, the 45th season of the

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian" or "Great Brazilian"), the Série A or the Brazilian Série A (to distinguish it from the I ...

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

won the championship for the fourth time by defeating São Caetano 4–2 (

aggregate score There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

). Vasco da Gama, for the Blue Module, and São Caetano, for the Yellow Module, contested the final. The

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

club, who reached the final as the competition surprise after winning expressive Brazilian soccer clubs, had Adhemar striker who scored 22 goals, also a competition surprise. In turn, the Rio de Janeiro club had a cast made up of players of the Brazilian team of the past and present and world champions, but had recently changed coach, which in disagreement with the vice president Eurico Miranda was fired, was hired to place

Joel Santana Joel Natalino Santana (born 25 December 1955) is a Brazilian football coach and former player. He was recently in charge of Vasco da Gama in 2014. Biography Born in Rio de Janeiro, Santana played his entire career as a central defender in his n ...

. Joel was in charge of the team a few weeks ago, but he had the merit of ensuring a place in the final by beating Cruzeiro in

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte is the List of largest cities in Brazil, sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population of around 2.3 million, and the third largest metropolitan area, containing a population of 6 million. It is the List of cities in Sout ...

The second match accident

The return leg at

São Januário Estádio Vasco da Gama, popularly known as São Januário owing to its location on a street of the same name, is the home ground of Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama, CR Vasco da Gama. It is located in the Vasco da Gama (neighborhood), Vasco da Gama ...

on 30 December 2000, was marked by the incident in which about 150 people were injured. 23 minutes into the match there was a commotion in the middle of the stands after

Romário Romário de Souza Faria (born 29 January 1966), known simply as Romário (), is a Brazilian politician and former professional association football, footballer who is currently a Senator for Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro and the presi ...

was substituted because of an injury (witnesses said it all started with a turmoil in the bleachers) and it made many people fall over each other on the steps of the bleachers. Fans who fell ended up huddled in the lowest depart area, and the number of people crowded in was so great that the grid surrounding the lawn ended up falling (i.e.: the fall of the grid was not the cause but a consequence). The lawn was taken by the crowd and the game became paralyzed as incoming ambulances and helicopters attended the wounded. After about two hours the last wounded were being removed and the referee wanted to resume the game, but then came an order from the governor

Anthony Garotinho Anthony William Matheus de Oliveira (born 18 April 1960), also known as Anthony Garotinho, is a Brazilian politician, radio broadcaster and convicted felon. He legally adopted his stage name "Garotinho" (Little Boy in Portuguese), originally a n ...

(who had seen it on TV) determining that the match should be suspended. There has been the suspension of the game and marking a new match for the day 18 January 2001. After the accident, an expert inspection was made at the stadium by the Institute of Criminology Carlos Eboli (ICCE). The report released by the institute revealed that the stadium had a number of public high above the permitted area, and if it were not so, the number of casualties would be much smaller. According to the expertise the stadium had a capacity of just over 20,000 seating positions or 27,306 standing 5,231 less than tickets sold. With that Vasco da Gama was eventually blamed for the incident. In addition to overcrowding, the institute concluded that the grid that collapsed was in poor condition and suffering from corrosion.

First match

Suspended match

Second match

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Copa Joao Havelange finals 2000 in Brazilian football 2001 in Brazilian football Copa João Havelange São Caetano Futebol matches CR Vasco da Gama matches Stadium disasters Man-made disasters in Brazil