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Corinthians were almost literally on fire after wrapping up the Paulista championship in Brazil.

BRAZIL

Ronaldo's Corinthians completed an aggregate victory over Santos to win the Paulista championship but their celebrations were nearly ruined when the podium caught fire during the trophy ceremony.

Flames licked the makeshift podium as Corinthians captain William was presented with the trophy but the fire, started by combination of fireworks and vast amounts of confetti on the pitch, was quickly stamped out.

Corinthians president Andres Sanches and Brazil's Sports Minister Orlando Silva were also on the podium which was mounted on the pitch.

Ronaldo, who scored twice in last week's 3-1 first leg win for Corinthians, criticised the scenes which followed the 1-1 draw in Sunday's return at the Pacaembu.

"It was obvious that it was going to catch fire," he said. "They should have thought of something better.

"William could have been burned and, instead of celebrating, we could now be visiting him in hospital."

"I lament the disorganisation," added Ronaldo, who was surrounded by reporters and cameramen as the final whistle went.

"I didn't have the chance to celebrate with our supporters, I kept getting hit by microphones."

Brazil coach Dunga was in the crowd, increasing speculation that Ronaldo may be in line for an international recall at 32 after his impressive return to action following last year's knee injury when he was at Milan.

"The national team will be a consequence, I have to think first about Corinthians," Ronaldo added.

Santos went ahead when Kleber Pereira won and converted a penalty but Andre Santos levelled for Corinthians before halftime. The Paulista is the biggest of the state championships which kick off the Brazilian season.

Meanwhile, Flamengo won the Carioca championship after beating Botafogo in the final for the third year running.

Sunday's second leg ended 2-2 for a 4-4 aggregate draw but Flamengo won 4-2 on penalties when goalkeeper Bruno, who had already saved one penalty during normal time, saved two more in the shootout.

"Penalties are not a lottery," Bruno insisted.

Former Brazil and Manchester United midfielder Kleberson scored twice to give Flamengo a 2-0 halftime lead at the Maracana.

Victor Simoes had his penalty saved by Bruno at the start of the second half but two goals in three minutes from Juninho and Tulio Souza levelled the score.

"I've removed an enormous block of cement from my back," said Flamengo coach Cuca, who was on the losing side with Botafogo in the previous two years.

Former Brazil coach Emerson Leao was sent off for running onto the pitch at halftime to protest as Atletico Mineiro drew 1-1 with Cruzeiro in the second leg of the Minas Gerais finalin Belo Horizonte.

Cruzeiro, who extended their unbeaten run against their bitter rivals to 12 games, won last week's first leg 5-0.

The game ended in an ugly melee which resulted in red cards for Welton (Atletico) and Wellington Paulista (Cruzeiro).

MEXICO

The Mexican championship continued at the weekend despite the swine flu outbreak, with all matches being played behind closed doors.

Six games were played in deserted arenas around the country on Saturday and another two were due to go ahead a day later to complete the programme.

The measures are expected to cost the clubs thousands of dollars in lost gate receipts and other sales.

The Mexican championship is one of the most lucrative in Latin America and draws players from all over the region, who often see it as an attractive alternative to playing in Europe.

More than 100 people are suspected to have died from the virus in Mexico and the government has effectively shut the country down for a five-day period from last Friday in an attempt to contain the spread of the disease.

Paraguay striker Salvador Cabanas scored twice, including an injury-time winner, to give America a 3-2 win at Monterrey and take his tally to 13 goals.

Morelia striker Miguel Sabah notched a hat-trick in the 4-2 win over Ricardo La Volpe's Atlas while Guadalajara, the country's most popular club, played out a goalless draw with Puebla.

PORTUGAL

Porto extended their lead at the top of the Portuguese Premier League to six points with a 3-0 win at Maritimo after second-placed Sporting were held to a scoreless draw at Academica.

Porto lead on 63 points from 27 matches and can clinch their fourth successive title if they beat Nacional at home on May 11. Sporting have 57 points and Benfica are five points further adrift after a 3-1 at Nacional.

The champions started strongly against Maritimo with defender Bruno Alves hitting the post in the second minute. Moments later Raul Meireles opened the scoring with a low drive which Maritimo keeper Marcos should have saved.

Defender Rolando doubled the lead in the 64th minute, heading in from a Cristian Rodriguez free kick from just outside the area and Tomas Costa added a third on 83 minutes following a counter-attacking move.

Sporting created few chances against Academica on Saturday and the scoreless draw reflected a tame affair.

NETHERLANDS

Former England manager Steve McClaren's Twente scored three second-half goals to brush aside champions AZ Alkmaar 3-0 and clinch second in the table for a place in the preliminary round of the Champions League.

Lowly Sparta Rotterdam thrashed third placed Ajax 4-0 to maintain their top-flight status, while PSV Eindhoven were held to a 1-1 draw at home by NEC Nijmegen.

Graafschap Doetinchem beat NAC Breda 1-0 to move off the bottom and leapfrog Volendam and Roda JC Kerkrade.

RUSSIA

Champions Rubin Kazan went top on 14 points from seven matches after an Alejandro Dominguez hat-trick helped them to a 5-0 win at second-bottom Saturn Ramenskoye.

The Argentine striker scored a pair of solo efforts in the and drilled in a searing shot to give Rubin a 3-0 lead. MacBeth Sibaya and Christian Noboa completed the rout.

FC Moscow went level on points with Rubin thanks to a 1-0 success at Amkar Perm. City rivals CSKA are a point adrift of the leaders after their 3-1 win at Krylya Sovietov Samara.

UKRAINE

Dynamo Kiev need one point from their remaining four matches to capture their 13th league title after a 1-0 win at Zorya Luhansk left them 12 points ahead of champions Shakhtar Donetsk.

Romanian midfielder Tiberiu Ghioane struck the winner for Dynamo, who travel to Shakhtar on Thursday for the return leg of their UEFA Cup semi-final after drawing 1-1 in Kiev.

Shakhtar kept alive a theoretical chance of retaining their third league title in the last four seasons after an Evhen Seleznyov effort gave them a 1-0 win at Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih.

POLAND

Legia Warsaw stayed on course for a 10th league title and their first since 2006 after a 90th-minute own goal from Robert Sierant handed them a 1-0 home win over LKS Lodz.

Champions Wisla Krakow dropped two points in a 1-1 draw at mid-table Piast Gliwice, as did Lech Poznan after they were held to a 1-1 stalemate at home by struggling Ruch Chorzow.

At the other end of the table, Arka Gdynia twice came from two goals behind to salvage a 3-3 home draw against Slask Wroclaw. A Jaroslaw Fojut own goal two minutes into injury time left them one point above the bottom two.

ROMANIA

Dinamo Bucharest beat champions CFR Cluj 1-0 thanks to a Ionel Danciulescu goal to stay in pole position, two points ahead of surprise package Unirea Urziceni who kept up the pressure with a 3-0 home thumping of Gloria Bistrita.

Third placed FC Timisoara are also in the hunt, a further point adrift with six games remaining, after a Gheorghe Bucur brace steered them to a 3-2 home win over Farul Constanta.

AFRICA

Zimbabwe's Monomotapa continued a weekend of upsets in the African Champions League by beating ASEC Abidjan of the Ivory Coast for a place in the group stage.

Monomotapa overcame the former African champions 2-0 in Harare for a 2-1 aggregate triumph, advancing to the last eight in their first year of continental competition.

It was the second successive year a team from Zimbabwe, a country reeling under a political and economic crisis, has reached the league phase.

Monomotapa, one of five clubs in the group stages who have never previously qualified, were indebted to goals by Charles Chiutsa and Daniel Kamunenga who grabbed a stoppage-time winner.

Kano Pillars of Nigeria knocked out holders Al Ahli of Egypt on Saturday and compatriots Heartland FC disposed of last year's runners-up Coton Sport of Cameroon.

The two Nigerian sides were joined by newcomers Al Merreikh of Sudan and Zesco United of Zambia.

The 2007 winners Etoile Sahel of Tunisia, TP Mazembe Englebert of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Al Hilal of Sudan make up the list of eight for Thursday's draw in Cairo.

Reuters