Football Season Guide

'Furacão' finished 9th last season, just one point short from qualifying to Libertadores. It was nevertheless a step down from the previous two seasons where Athlético got impressive performances, challenging the classic hierarchy of the country. Currently in quarter-finals stage of Paranaense State Championship. Good chances of winning it, since their traditionally strongest rivals of the region have been knocked-out already. Have been using reserves in that competition. Club kept quiet on the transfer market, bringing just a couple of moderately known names to fill in some gaps on the squad. Full-back Marcinho and all-round forwards David Terans and Matheus Babi are decent addings, but aren't expected to be immediate starters. Contrary to previous seasons, 'Furacão' didn't lose any important player for the next season. Other than the holding midfielder Wellington, the club only let go of exceeding attacking players like Jorginho, Ravanelli and Geuvânio. The biggest strength is the fact that they will be able to keep the backbone of last season. International goalkeeper Jandrei, defensive boss Heleno, skillful winger Nikão and accurate striker Kayser are expected to be key players. The biggest weakness is that the club doesn't look stronger than last season, so they're not expected to be challenging for the top 6 positions. Only chance for that is if youngsters like Erick, Jaderson or Vinícius explode into stardom, which isn't very likely to happen just yet. Portuguese António Oliveira carries the hope that he'll do as great as recent Portuguese phenomenons Jesus and Abel did in the country. His ideas are certainly more advanced than the usual Brazilian coach, but will he be able to make the proper adaptation to the particular Brazilian league?