Grenal

The Grenal (also Gre-Nal, plural Grenais) is the rivalry between Grêmio and Internacional, the biggest Brazilian football clubs in the city of Porto Alegre. Ongoing since 1909, it is usually contested in the Campeonato Gaúcho, the Rio Grande do Sul premier state league that both teams have won regularly since 1940, and in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the top-level national championship. Being among the football derbies in Brazil, South America and the world, Grenais are considered a key cultural aspect of the Southern region of Brazil and particularly Rio Grande do Sul. High reactions and occasional violence accompany such matches. In December 2020, FourFourTwo ranked the Grenal as the football world's 8th biggest derby.

The Grenal (also Gre-Nal, plural Grenais) is the rivalry between Grêmio and Internacional, the biggest Brazilian football clubs in the city of Porto Alegre. Ongoing since 1909, it is usually contested in the Campeonato Gaúcho, the Rio Grande do Sul premier state league that both teams have won regularly since 1940, and in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the top-level national championship. Being among the football derbies in Brazil, South America and the world, Grenais are considered a key cultural aspect of the Southern region of Brazil and particularly Rio Grande do Sul. High reactions and occasional violence accompany such matches. In December 2020, FourFourTwo ranked the Grenal as the football world's 8th biggest derby. ===The first Grenal=== of the first Grenal in 1909]] On June 21, 1909, four representatives of Internacional met with their Grêmio equivalents in the Leopoldina Portoalegrense building to arrange the first meeting between the two clubs. Internacional, founded two months before, invited Grêmio to be its first opponents. The first match was held on June 27. With a game of previously arranged, Grêmio's president, Major Augusto Koch said that his team would face Internacional with the second table (reserve team). The leaders of Internacional demanded that their opponents played with their first team. Grêmio's board agreed. However, as the club's fixture list was full, the game would be held only in the following month. The first Grenal occurred on Sunday, July 18, 1909, at Grêmio's Baixada Stadium. At 15:10, both teams entered the field of Baixada, preceded by the Presidents and the military band of the Brigade. The Grêmio players wore Sorority shirts divided vertically in half blue and half white, with black shorts. Internacional wore vertically striped shirts in red and white, with white shorts. The audience was estimated to be at 2000. The referee was Waldemar Bromberg, assisted by João de Castro e Silva and H. Sommer, as well as "goal judges" Theobaldo Foernges Bugs and Theodoro. As there were no nets, said goal judges sat on a stool beside the goals indicating whether the ball had entered the goal or not. After 10 minutes, Edgar Booth scored the first goal of the game and in the history of the derby. Edgar Booth went on to score four more goals. Four goals were scored by Júlio Grünewald and one by Moreira. The match ended at 10–0 to Grêmio, the biggest win in the history of Grenal. ===Grenal of the Century=== This match took place at Beira-Rio Stadium on February 12, 1989, being the 297th confrontation between these rival clubs, and it is called "Grenal of the Century" due to its unprecedented importance: it was the second leg of the semi-finals of 1988 Brazilian Championship, soon after the first leg, played at Olímpico Stadium, had ended with no goals. Both teams came from great campaigns in the league. Internacional had a slight advantage, for if the match ended in a draw, Inter would qualify for the finals and 1989 Copa Libertadores. Teasers and agitation ruled in Porto Alegre. The attendance was 78,083, in spite of the scorching heat of the summer afternoon: the thermometers marked 40 °C (104 °F). Grêmio started the match playing better and, at the end of the first half, was winning the match by 1–0 with a goal scored by Marcus Vinicius at 25 minutes. With the red card showed to Inter's right back Casemiro at 38 minutes by referee Arnaldo Cézar Coelho, Grêmio's victory seemed very close. Inter got better in the second half. At 61 minutes, a free kick favored Inter. Midfielder Edu Lima crossed the ball and Nílson, top scorer of the league, scored to make the match even. It was Inter who kept pressing, and minutes after, in a counter-attack from the right side, midfielder Maurício passed through two defenders and shot. The ball was going to miss the goal when Nílson appeared behind the back of Grêmio's defense, to score again. Internacional won the "Grenal of the Century" and qualified to the final match against Esporte Clube Bahia. ==Statistics== ==Honours== Notes

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