SANTOS’ relegation to Serie B sparked scenes of despair and fury in the Brazilian port city.
The club, who were made famous through Pele’s stint with them from 1956 until 1974, had never been relegated in their 111 year history until now.
Their 2-1 defeat to Fortaleza saw them finish the season one point short of survival.
Fortaleza netted a 96th minute winner through Juan Martin Lucero, who lobbed Joao Paulo after the Santos goalkeeper came up from a corner to try to net a winner that would have kept the side in the top flight.
Santos had gradually dropped from mid-table to just above the relegation zone after going without a win in their last five games.
Santos needed many factors to go against them to go down, and, remarkably, everything did.
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Santos were 15th as they went into the final day with Vasco da Gama on 42 points and Bahia on 41 points both below them in the table.
But with both sides winning their games and Santos losing in the last minute, they ended the day below the dreaded dotted line.
To make matters worse, cross-city rivals Palmeiras won the title on the same day.
Their defeat and subsequent relegation sparked scenes of despair and disbelief in equal measure.
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CBS coverage showed fans and players alike breaking down in tears and many shaking their heads in confusion.
Emotions of sadness soon turned to anger as police had to keep fans from breaking onto the pitch and flares were thrown onto the field.
A banner unfurled by fans in the stadium read: “Second, sometimes. In the second [division], never.”
Furious fans sought to show the team just how unacceptable their relegation was by rioting in the city.
Multiple videos on social media showed cars being set on fire in the city as Sao Paolo fell into a collective sense of grief.
According to reports in Brazil, one of the cars set alight belonged to Santos forward Stiven Mendoza.
Santos will also miss out on a place in Brazil’s domestic cup next season after failing to qualify through either their place in Serie A or Sao Paulo’s state championship.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
