Barbosa double fires Cruzeiro to 4-0 win over Juventude
Christian Cardoso put the hosts ahead by volleying home from close range and Barbosa doubled the lead with an assured finish following Kaio Jorge's cross on Sunday.
Barbosa converted from the penalty spot after Marcos Paulo stamped on Kaio Jorge while contesting a loose ball. Carlos Eduardo completed the rout in stoppage time, latching onto Yannick Bolasie's nodded pass to send a looping header into the top-left corner.
The result leaves Cruzeiro with 33 points from 15 games, three points ahead of second-placed Flamengo, while Juventude sits 18th, 22 points further back.
Despite his team's impressive start to the season, Barbosa said talk of a title challenge was premature.
"I've won two Brazilian Serie A titles and I know that nobody is champion after 15 rounds," the former Flamengo striker said.
"There is a long way to go. No team is going to be thinking about the title at this stage of the season. We are taking things game by game. Our next game against Corinthians on Wednesday is going to be tough away from home and we're going to do our best to win."
In other Brazilian Serie A fixtures on Sunday, Flamengo won 1-0 at home to Fluminense, Palmeiras prevailed 3-2 at home to Atletico Mineiro, Botafogo won 1-0 at Sport Recife, Vitoria edged Bragantino 1-0 at home and Internacional beat Ceara 1-0 in Porto Alegre.
UNI/XINHUA BM
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
At £150 million price tag, why Alexander Isak is the hot striker available in transfer window
One evening, a teenaged striker for the Swedish club AIK received a video call from an unknown number. He casually picked it up, only for his eyes to leap out of the orbit. At the other end was Ronaldo Nazario, one of his idols. The Brazilian requested him to join Real Madrid. He stumbled for words and just kept nodding his head. But a month after the call, he ignored Madrid and signed for Borussia Dortmund, the lapidarist club where raw stones are polished to shining gems. Madrid, his parents reasoned, was a step too soon. His parents, migrants from Eritrea who fled the war and settled in the Bagartorp just outside Stockholm in the late 80s believed in steady rather than spectacular promise. Eight years later, tracing unconventional paths with stops at Dutch Club Willem II (loan spell), Real Sociedad and Newcastle United, and suffering occasional setbacks, he could become the third most expensive transfer in the world after PSG recruits Kylian Mbappe and Neymar. His services would come at an eye-popping 150 millions pounds. Add agent fees, add-ons and transfer levy, he could cost around 200 million pounds. Yet, Alexander Isak is not a name that rolls off the tongues of football audiences with as much marvel as those of Mbappe or Neymar. Eyebrows are twitched, chins are stroked, and sometimes heads are banged. It could be that he turns up for Newcastle, a club that has more cult than mainstream adulation, or that he is not a face that screams from advertisement hoarding, or that he keeps an obscenely low profile off the pitch. The first question that swims in the head is whether his price is inflated? Is he or the club living a delusional neverland? Naysayer would pour his supreme but inferior numbers (26 goals and six assists in 42 games) as compared to some of the inflows in this season of gluttonous spending spree. Arsenal, after protracted negotiations, have landed Viktor Gyokeres, for half the sum (73 millions pounds) and twice the number of goals (54 goals and 13 assists) last season. Liverpool's latest fetch Hugo Ekitiké struck 22 times and assisted 12 goals and cost 79 million pounds. Pure economics suggests Isak's price-tag is a rip-off. But footballing intelligence suggests that Newcastle are not bound by greed. Rather, it's a peep into how the transfers work. Foremost, he is among the best in the business, just behind Erling Haaland and Mbappe in finishing but more hardworking than them off the ball. Last season, he skinned the Premier League's most trustworthy centre-back pairing of William Saliba and Gabriel of Arsenal in both legs of the League Cup semi-final with his pace, intelligent pressing and precision. By the end of the second leg, Arsenal supporters were pleading with Arteta to buy him the next season. That could yet be a reality, as the Gunners, if they squeeze the account book could orchestrate the wish of the fans. But at this stage, Isak remains a glint-eyed temptation and not a concrete plan. In Newcastle, he is deservingly hailed as the best player they had on the rolls since Alan Shearer, the highest goal-scorer in the league. Like Shearer, he has the immaculate sense of the goal, to process the patterns of the game and anticipate the ball's passing sequence. The craft of poaching is oversimplified to just being at the right place at the right time. Ignored are their vision and intelligence to be at that place, to weave past his markers, to wander invisibly like a phantom. Last season, Isak was exceptional inside the box. He possessed a conversion rate of 30.26, nearly double as much as Ekitiké. Rewatching both legs of the Arsenal game would offer an affirmation of his poise when hounded by defenders or the onrushing goalkeeper growing big on him, his knack of throwing defenders (Saliba, no less) off-balance is exemplary. He is not averse to scoring from long range either. A 25-yard screamer against Liverpool was vintage EPL stuff. He is not a see-ball-hit-ball type either. The movements are balletic, he dribbles but with minimalistic precision, he drifts out and slithers in with a casual swivel that throws the frantic marker off-kilter. He was first compared to Thierry Henry because they wore the same jersey No (14); two years in the league, it doesn't seem like a silly hyperbole. Like ex-Liverpool centre forward Roberto Firmino, he drops deeper into the pockets, between the lines of defence and midfield. An acute shortage of centre forwards adds a few millions. Premier League experience adds a few more. He is Premier League proven, Ekitiké is not, Brighton did not consider Gyokeres rounded enough to feature in the league and loaned him out to Bundesliga and Championship sides. Whereas he has improved in recent years and excelled against English teams in Champions League, there are still lingering doubts of him setting the goalscoring charts on fire. Besides, he is 25, just about hitting the peak. Other factors too are at play. Like the desperation of a club to sell a player. Newcastle is not a club that grooms and sells players, it's ambitious and desperately tried to keep Isak at St James' Park. It's utterly reasonable that the club has stuck a tag that limits his acquisition to only a handful of Europe's elites. Only that his timing of his transfer request came a trifle too late. The big spenders had already exhausted a bulk of their budget. A heated bidding war is unlikely; it could be just one ambitious club making a decisive swoop. Or a legend making an impromptu video call.
United News of India
2 hours ago
- United News of India
Pant ruled out of England series: Gambhir
Manchester, July 28 (UNI) Star wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant has been officially ruled out of the ongoing Test series against England, India head coach Gautam Gambhir confirmed today, even as he praised Pant's unmatched grit and character displayed during the campaign. 'Rishabh has already been ruled out of the series,' Gambhir said, ending speculation about a potential return for the final Test. But the former opener reserved special words for the injured cricketer, recalling the unforgettable moment when Pant batted despite a fractured foot. 'What he's done for the team, and for the country, is something generations will speak of. Batting with a broken foot isn't something many have done. Any amount of praise won't do justice to that courage.' Gambhir added that Pant's contribution has laid a strong emotional and cultural foundation within the current Indian team setup. 'This team's character is being built on efforts like those. His fighting spirit has inspired the entire group,' he said. While Pant's absence will be felt, the Indian camp received a major boost on the fitness front, with Gambhir confirming that all fast bowlers are currently fit and available for selection. 'There are no injury cases among the quicks. Everyone is match-fit,' he stated. With India trailing 1-2 in the series and one match to go, the team will head into the Oval Test with momentum from their gritty fourth-Test draw and the assurance of a full-strength pace attack—even if one of their biggest match-winners watches from the sidelines. UNI BDN RKM
United News of India
5 hours ago
- United News of India
Uganda wins Pearl of Africa Cricket T20 Series 2025
Entebbe, Uganda, July 28 (UNI) Host Uganda won the Pearl of Africa Cricket T20 Series 2025 after beating the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by eight runs in the final at the Entebbe Cricket Oval on Sunday. Going into the match, Uganda was comfortably leading the standings with five wins. The hosts batted first and scored 170/7 in 20 overs. The UAE side attempted the chase but collapsed to 162/9 in 20 overs. The pairing of Alpesh Ramjani and Raghav Dhawan was instrumental for Uganda, with scores of 61 and 56 runs respectively. For the UAE, Ethan D'Souza top-scored with 32 runs, while Muhammad Zohaib and Muhammad Wassem contributed 30 and 5 runs, respectively. "We tried to play tight and only lost out in the later stages of the match. The Series have helped us get a lot of match practice," said UAE's Ethan D'Souza. Uganda's head coach Abhay Sharma said that he was very proud of his players who won all the six matches. "We played well, and the Series have helped us a lot," said Sharma. Uganda's second team only lost to Namibia's second team in a match that did not carry world ranking points. In an earlier fixture, Kenya defeated Nigeria by 6 wickets. Kenya, led by Sachin Gill, chased Nigeria's 113/9 in 20 overs and scored 116/4 in 19.1 overs. Gill scored 35 runs off 42 balls, while Rakep Patel contributed 33. Nigeria's captain, Systever Okpe, scored a team-high 35 runs, and Abdulmumuni Mohammed added 26. Uganda finished the series with 12 points, followed by the UAE in second place with 6 points. Kenya was third with 4 points, and Nigeria finished with no points. Uganda's and Namibia's second teams did not score any points. The teams used this series to prepare for the upcoming ICC T20 Men's World Cup Qualifier in September. UNI XINHUA RKM
