Brazil's Botafogo Rehires Fired Coach

Today's strange but true item: Rio de Janeiro side Botafogo (official shield at left) have rehired Cuca as their manager, only nine days after replacing him with Mario Sergio, reports German Web site kicker.de (sorry folks, German language only, though I'm sure an English language report is out there somewhere). Sergio didn't do very well--three losses in three games, including a costly one to River Plate in the Copa Sudamericana. Perhaps the club's board felt Cuca couldn't do any worse than that. As for what happens if Botafogo lose their next three games, that's anybody's guess.

Red Bull New York fans may be able to identify with the club for a different reason: Despite being known in official capacity as a Rio de Janeiro club, 'Fogo play their home games in the neighboring city of Niterói. They even have to cross a body of water--Guanebara Bay--to get there. They do not, however, have to cross state lines; Both cities are still in the state of Rio de Janeiro.