Recife Pirates and Vitória FA secure last two places this past weekend
The list of eight teams that will contest the second round of Superliga Nordeste has just been finalized after round robin play this past weekend. After winning their home games, the Recife Pirates and Vitória FA qualified for the second stage, and rounded out the list which already contained the Ceará Caçadores, América Bulls, Ufersa Petroleiros, João Pessoa Espectros, Recife Mariners and Sergipe Bravos.
The Recife Pirates beat the Roma Gladiadores 13-6 on Saturday, April 9th, at the Stadium of the Aflitos, in Recife. On Sunday, April 10th, Vitória FA secured a place defeating Aracaju Imortais 35-0. The match, which was scheduled to be played in the town of Lauro de Freitas, was transferred to neighboring Camaçari, due to the heavy rains that fell in the metropolitan area of Salvador City throughout the weekend.
The Pirates return to the second stage of the competition after finishing in last place last season, falling in the qualifying stage, while the Vitória FA returns to elite in the Northeast after three years. The last appearance by the Bahia team was in 2012, then with the old name of Salvador All Saints. In 2013 the team chose to compete in another competition, the Torneio Touchdown, and last year tried to place in the final stage of the Superliga Nordeste, but were eliminated in the first round.
The first round of the second stage will be played on June 20th and 21st, with the following matchups: João Pessoa Espectros v. Recife Mariners, Ceará Caçadores v. América Bulls, Vitória FA v. Segipe Bravos and Recife Pirates v. Ufersa Petroleiros.
Brazilian Championship
Superliga Nordeste is the regional phase of the Brazilian Championship. The champion of the Northeast faces the winner of the Superliga Centro-Sul in the Brazil Bowl, which this year will be played in the Northeast, The host city has not yet been determined.
Standings
