Football Season Guide

A bad month of October made last season look a lot worse than what really was. Ceará was generally strong in 2021, and held a top-half position for most part of the season. Even with a less regular form by their star ‘Vina’, ‘Vozão’ were able to have more good moments than bad ones. 2022 didn’t star very well for ‘Vozão’, as they were knocked-out in quarter-finals both from Nordestão (Regional competition) and Campeonato Cearense (State Championship). Ceará are used to be favourites in both competitions. To make it worse, they will have to watch their arch-rivals Fortaleza play both finals. Coach Tiago Nunes didn’t resist after these two major upsets and was sacked in March. Dorival Júnior is the new man in the job. He will have his debut with Ceará in a Sul-Americana match days before Série A first round. João Ricardo and Richard interchanged in goal, last season, with perhaps some advantage for the first. The fans will be relieved to have two capable set of hands to hold their goal for the second season in a row. Luiz Otávio is the defensive leader and a great asset in the squad. However, his advanced age and constant injuries may bother him once again. Luckily, there’s the reliable Messias, the young hot prospect Lacerda and the new signing Lucas Ribeiro, arriving determined to retain the excellent form shown while at Vitória in 2018. Nino Paraíba and Victor Luís arrived for the full-back positions. Richard and Lindoso are important arrivals for the holding midfielder position, where the former winger Fernando Sobral seems more and more a firm option. Richardson and Wescley return after good spells elsewhere, but the main reference for playmaking is the team’s star Vinícius Goes, or simply ‘Vina’. At 33, Dentinho is the big name signing for the season, but perhaps the striker Matheus Peixoto will be a more important arrival (both coming from Ukrainian exile). Peixoto reached an impressive mark of 15 goals in 19 appearances while at Metalist. Stiven Mendonza seems determined to retain the great form from early months of 2021. Zé Roberto and Iury are also important new faces in attack.