Brazil’s Santos FC Get Historic Relegation
Brazil’s most successful premier league side Santos FC have been relegated for the first time in their 111 years of history after their defeat to Fortaleza in their final match of the season.
The club went into the game against Fortelaza with 3-0 losses in their last two games against Fluminense and Athletico-PR.
The visitors got onto the scoreline when Marinho took advantage of the host’s empty defence and struck home the ball past lacklustre Philco in the 39th minute.
An equalizer came in the 58th minute through Santos forward Messias but a breathtaking injury-time goal by Juan Lucero decided the game throwing Santos to 17th place on the league log.
Santos which have trained world-class footballers like Neymar Junior and O Rei Pelé in the just-ended season lost 17 of their 38 games, won 11 and had 10 draws ending their season with 43 points.
The highest goal-scoring club in the Brasileirão have been relegated together with Goias, Coritiba and America MG and will now play in division two.
Until now, they were one of only five clubs never to have been relegated from the top level of Brazilian football aside from São Paulo, Flamengo, Internacional and Cruzeiro since 2010.
They won the Brasileirão six times, including a record-consecutive five titles from 1961 to 1965, and the Campeonato Paulista 11 times.
