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Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
Season	2005
Champions	Corinthians; 4th Campeonato Brasileiro title; 4th Brazilian title
Relegated	Coritiba; Atlético Mineiro; Paysandu; Brasiliense
Copa Libertadores	Corinthians; Internacional; Goiás; Palmeiras; São Paulo (as the Libertadores title holders)
Copa Sudamericana	Fluminense; Atlético Paranaense; Paraná; Cruzeiro; Botafogo; Santos; Vasco da Gama
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,448 (3.13 per match)
Top goalscorer	Romário (22 goals)
Average attendance	17,536
	← 2004 2006 →

The 2005 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (officially the Taça Nestlé Brasileirão 2005 for sponsorship reasons) was the 49th edition of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. Corinthians claiming their fourth national title. The season officially kicked off on April 23, 2005 and concluded on December 4.

New teams for 2005

Promoted in 2004

Brasiliense and Fortaleza

Relegated in 2004

Criciúma, Guarani, Vitória, Grêmio

The season

Champion and contenders

Pre-season favorites Corinthians captured their fourth national championship edition despite a turbulent early season and a campaign that went through 3 different head coaches. Key players Carlos Tevez, Carlos Alberto, Roger and Gustavo Nery led the team to a result of 81 points in 42 games. Despite early season turmoil, Corinthians benefited from being one of the few teams in Brazil who could afford to maintain their talent base throughout the season without having to sell key players. The legitimacy of their title was disputed late in the season due to several scandals on and off the field. As 2005 champions, Corinthians received berth into the first round of the Libertadores Cup as well as the South American Cup in 2006.

Internacional of Rio Grande du Sul executed a strong campaign, finishing with a total of 78 points. Coach Muricy Ramalho led a team with Rafael Sobis, Fernandão, and Tinga to the best performance of any team in the second half, narrowly missing the opportunity for their own fourth national title, but also securing a place in the first round of the Libertadores.

Goiás and Palmeiras were awarded pre-Libertadores qualifying matches with teams to be determined by Conmebol for their 3rd (Goiás's best ever) and 4th-place finishes.

Consolation prize

In the top middle of the pack Fluminense, Atlético/PR, Paraná, Cruzeiro, Botafogo, Santos, and São Paulo were awarded allocations in the 2006 Copa Sul-Americana; with São Paulo, who cannot participate due to Libertadores commitments, ceding their spot to 12th placed Vasco da Gama. Santos in particular saw their season nose-dive as star player Robinho was transferred to Real Madrid mid season (a similar fate encountered by Cruzeiro as striker Fred was shipped off to Lyon). Atlético/PR and São Paulo both suffered for having to dedicate their primary attention to the 2005 Libertadores Finals.

The bottom

Finishing in the bottom four and relegated to Série B for 2006 are storied franchise Atlético Mineiro as well as perennial mid-majors Coritiba, Paysandu, and Brasiliense. Série B champions and runner-up Grêmio and Santa Cruz took their place.

New teams for 2006

Promoted in 2005

Grêmio and Santa Cruz

Relegated in 2005

Coritiba, Altético/MG, Paysandu, and Brasiliense

Turmoil on and off the field

The season experienced significant turmoil off the field, marred by a match fixing scandal, which resulted in the replay of 11 série A matches between rounds 31 and 37.

Miscellaneous

At 39 years young, World Cup 1994 hero Romário won the title of leading goal scorer in the league with 22 goals for Vasco da Gama.
2005 noticed a marked impact by foreigners in the Brazilian league. Corinthians contracted 3 Argentine players (with Carlos Tevez becoming the 3rd “gringo” to captain a Brazilian team to the championship) and started the season with Daniel Passarella, of Argentina as coach. Native Serbian Petkovic led Fluminense to a respectable result and won the Silver Ball for the second year in a row as the best midfielder in the Brazilian tournament.
This season also marked a sponsorship boom for Brazilian football clubs. After the success of Pepsi’s marketing campaign for Corinthians, Korean electronics brand Samsung came on as Corinthians’ shirt sponsor within the season, with Siemens as a secondary sponsor. At the same time, electronic giants Panasonic signed a new sponsorship deal with Santos Futebol Clube, whilst Italian tyre manufacturer Pirelli and Chinese handset maker LG continued their sponsorships with Palmeiras and São Paulo, respectively. Siemens also became a main shirt sponsor for Cruzeiro, whilst also having a contract with Spanish giants Real Madrid.
Bola de Ouro (Golden Ball), awarded by Placar magazine for best overall player of the year: Carlos Tevez of Corinthians.
Bola de Prata (Silver Ball), awarded annually by Placar magazine for best player at each position: Fábio Costa (Corinthians); Cicinho (São Paulo), Lugano (São Paulo), Gamarra (Palmeiras), and Jadílson (Goiás); Mineiro (São Paulo), Marcelo Mattos (Corinthians), Petkovic (Fluminense) and Juninho Paulista (Palmeiras); Tevez (Corinthians) and Rafael Sobis (Internacional).

Statistics

Final standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Corinthians^[a]	42	24	9	9	87	59	+28	81	Qualified for the 2006 Copa Libertadores
2	Internacional	42	23	9	10	72	49	+23	78
3	Goiás	42	22	8	12	68	51	+17	74
4	Palmeiras	42	20	10	12	81	65	+16	70
5	Fluminense	42	19	11	12	79	70	+9	68	Qualified for the 2006 Copa Sudamericana
6	Atlético Paranaense	42	18	7	17	76	67	+9	61
7	Paraná	42	17	10	15	59	51	+8	61
8	Cruzeiro	42	17	9	16	73	72	+1	60
9	Botafogo	42	17	8	17	57	56	+1	59
10	Santos	42	16	11	15	68	71	−3	59
11	São Paulo^[b]	42	16	10	16	77	67	+10	58	Qualified for the 2006 Copa Libertadores
12	Vasco da Gama^[b]	42	15	11	16	74	84	−10	56	Qualified for the 2006 Copa Sudamericana
13	Fortaleza	42	16	7	19	58	64	−6	55
14	Juventude	42	15	10	17	66	72	−6	55
15	Flamengo	42	14	13	15	56	60	−4	55
16	Figueirense	42	14	11	17	65	72	−7	53
17	São Caetano	42	14	10	18	54	60	−6	52
18	Ponte Preta	42	15	6	21	63	80	−17	51
19	Coritiba	42	13	10	19	51	60	−9	49	Relegated to série B in 2006
20	Atlético Mineiro	42	13	8	21	54	59	−5	47
21	Paysandu	42	12	5	25	63	92	−29	41
22	Brasiliense	42	10	11	21	47	67	−20	41

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

^ As champions, Corinthians retain the right to participate in both Libertadores Cup and Copa Sul-Americana in 2006.
^ ^a ^b Despite qualifying for the Copa Sul-Americana, São Paulo cannot participate in 2006 as they are already classified for the Libertadores Cup as defending champions. The seed has already been reallocated to Vasco da Gama.

Top goal scorers

Scorer	Goals	Team
Romário	22	Vasco da Gama
Róbson	21	Paysandu
Carlos Tevez	20	Corinthians
Alex Dias	19	Vasco da Gama
Borges	19	Paraná
Rafael Sóbis	19	Internacional

Mid-season transactions

While the CBF and Clube dos 13 continue to modify the league format in the hopes of decreasing the number of mid-season departures and improve the overall quality of play, the 2006 edition saw a significant number of players depart for Europe and elsewhere.

Team	Player(s) Arriving	Player(s) Departing
Atlético Mineiro	Euller, Luís Mário and Catanha	César Fábio Júnior and André Luiz
Atlético-PR	Finazzi	Aloísio and Felipe Baloy
Botafogo	Zé Roberto, Ruy and Reinaldo	César Prates, Túlio and Jefferson
Brasiliense	Dill	Oséas and Agnaldo
Corinthians	Javier Mascherano and Nilmar	Anderson and Gil
Coritiba	Caio and Renaldo	Rafinha, Fernando and Miranda
Cruzeiro	Alecsandro and Louzada	Fred, Athirson and Ruy
Figueirense	Edmundo and Fernandes	Fábio Mello and Creedence Clearwater
Flamengo	Augusto Recife and César Augusto Ramírez	Henrique and Jean
Fluminense	Dejan Petković and Milton do Ó	Felipe, Fabiano Eller and Antônio Carlos
Fortaleza	Rinaldo and Lúcio	Danilo and Nélio
Goiás	Roni, Dodô and Mário Jardel	Danilo Dias and Válber
Internacional	Iarley, Márcio Mossoró and Wason Rentería	Felipe Soares
Juventude	Caíco and Daniel	Naldo and Túlio Souza
Palmeiras	Marcinho, Washington and Juninho Paulista	Magrão, Osmar, Ricardinho
Paraná	Chiquinho and Maicossuel	Renaldo
Paysandu	Felipe Saad, Carlos Alberto and Luiz Carlos	Flávio Tanajura, Alex Pinho and Luiz Carlos
Ponte Preta	Evando	Harison, Roger and Kahê (sold)
São Caetano	Claudecir, Somália, Edílson	Marcinho
São Paulo	Christian and Roger	Luizão
Vasco da Gama	Adán Vergara, Fábio Braz and Morais	Dominguez, Anderson Costa and Coutinho