Take a seat at the Restaurante Campeonato Brasileiro (Série A 2013 preview)

And so, after five months queuing in the cold, nibbling upon the most meagre of bar snacks, we are shown to our seats. The Restaurante Campeonato Brasileiro is not the easiest place at which to get a booking these days, attracting a global clientele as never before and yet continuing to confound with its pioneering mix of exoticism and local stodge.

A swift glance at the occupants of the tables around us highlights one of the most unique features of the Brasileiro – its enormous geographical reach. See they guy with the mopey face? He represents Náutico, a club from the Nordeste. He’ll have to make two round trips of 6000 kilometres before the season is out. That’s over a quarter of the way round the world. No wonder he’s ordering another whiskey.

This is the start of a preview (of sorts) of the 2013 Campeonato Brasileiro. You can read it in its entirety on The Score's football blog.