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A whistle-stop tour of football around the globe, including a third successive title for Sao Paulo and a mangerial casualty in Egypt.

BRAZIL

Sao Paulo won the Brazilian championship for the third year running and a record sixth overall when they beat Goias 1-0 away in their final match.

Striker Borges scored the winner in the first half for Sao Paulo, who had needed only a draw to wrap up the title.

The tournament ended under a cloud when the Brazilian FA changed the referee for the game on Saturday.

They said they had been told of a plot to manipulate the result but did not give any more details.

Click the link below the photo for more detail on Sao Paulo's title triumph.

ARGENTINA

San Lorenzo and Tigre won on Sunday to go level on points at the top of the Argentine championship with Boca Juniors and set up a thrilling finale to the title race.

Boca, who had started the weekend with a two-point lead, were held 0-0 at Gimnasia-La Plata. Unfashionable Tigre came from two goals behind to win 3-2 at Rosario Central and San Lorenzo thumped floundering Independiente 4-1.

The trio each have 36 points from 18 games with one match to play. Lanus, two points behind in fourth place after a 2-0 win at Velez Sarsfield, also have an outside chance.

Goal difference is not used to decide the title, so a playoff will be held if two teams are still level after next Sunday's final games and a three-way tournament will take place if all three sides finish on the same number of points.

There could even be a four-way tie if Lanus beat San Martin-Tucuman and Boca, Tigre and San Lorenzo all draw.

The biggest drama involved Tigre who were 2-0 down after only 11 minutes at Rosario Central following goals by Milton Caraglio and Ezequiel Gonzalez.

But Carlos Luna struck twice to pull Tigre level by halftime, side-footing past Jorge Broun in the 29th minute and volleying in a rebound after Diego Castano headed against the post just before the break.

Substitute Leandro Lazarro grabbed the winner in the 81st minute, scoring from near the penalty spot after Leonel Altobelli pulled the ball back.

Boca were held to a dismal goalless draw and had Paraguay full back Claudio Morel sent off in the 64th minute for kicking Ignacio Piatti as the pair tussled for the ball.

San Lorenzo cruised to their win against Indendiente as Pablo Barrientos headed them in front after 19 minutes from Aureliano Torres's free kick and former Real Madrid striker Santiago Solari scored from close range two minutes later.

Independiente were in more trouble when Leonel Rios was sent off and central defender Gaston Aguirre added the third two minutes before halftime, leaving goalkeeper Fabian Assmann on the ground with a delightful touch before firing in at the near post.

Barrientes claimed his second in the 57th minute after Torres found him unmarked with a raking crossfield pass before Lionel Nunez notched Independiente's consolation.

Defending champions River Plate stayed bottom of the table after losing 2-1 at home to Godoy Cruz in another dismal performance.

MEXICO

Toluca beat champions Santos Laguna 2-1 to reach the final of the Mexican championship despite conceding a goal for the first time in nine games.

The Red Devils will face Cruz Azul in the two-leg final after their win at home in the semi-final second leg followed a goalless draw in the first match last week.

Edgar Castillo put the Santos ahead in the 26th minute after exchanging passes with Daniel Luduena, the first goal conceded by goalkeeper Hernan Cristante in 772 minutes' play.

Toluca quickly recovered from the blow and levelled one minute later with a goal by Edgar Duenas.

Chilean forward Hector Mancilla scored the winner four minutes before halftime after a one-two with Antonio Naelson.

Cruz Azul went through 4-2 on aggregate after drawing 1-1 away to Atlante on Saturday.

The goals came in the first 10 minutes as Cesar Villaluz fired Cruz Azul ahead and Venezuelan Giancarlo Maldonado replied for Atlante.

NETHERLANDS

AZ Alkmaar registered a 2-0 home win over Heracles Almelo to stay top while second-placed Ajax Amsterdam, trailing by three points, came from behind at bottom side Volendam to win 2-1.

PSV Eindhoven hit four second half goals in 15 minutes, Otman Bakkal and Danko Lazovic both scoring twice, to come from two down at home to win 4-2 against Groningen.

Steve McClaren's FC Twente thrashed Sparta Rotterdam 6-2 to move into third, while Feyenoord's league woes continued following a humiliating 3-1 home defeat against lowly Graafschap Doetinchem.

PORTUGAL

Benfica went top of the Portuguese Premier League for at least 24 hours when they thumped 10-man Maritimo 6-0.

Honduras striker David Suazo and Nuno Gomes scored twice each and Spanish winger Jose Antonio Reyes and Brazilian defender Luisao completed the rout.

Benfica, who lead the standings for the first time since 2005 when they won the title, are on 25 points from 11 matches.

Leixoes are second on 23 and will regain first place if they win away to Vitoria Guimaraes on Monday.

GREECE

Leaders Olympiakos went six points clear with a 1-0 win over Levadiakos thanks to Argentine Fernando Belluschi's 28th-minute goal from compatriot Sebastian Leto's pass while second-placed PAOK Salonika were held 1-1 by Asteras Tripolis.

Panathinaikos won 2-1 away to Xanthi with goals from Brazilian Gilberto Silva and Croatian Ante Rukavinato to leapfrog over their opponents into third place but are still nine points behind the leaders.

AEK Athens moved into sixth place thanks to a lone strike from Ismael Blanco which gave them a 1-0 win over Panthrakikos.

CROATIA

Champions Dinamo Zagreb stayed in the driving seat ahead of the winter break after a 3-1 home win over neighbours NK Zagreb sent them four points clear at the top of the 12-team first division, which resumes in February.

Goals from Bosko Balaban, Brazilian midfielder Sammir and substitute Mario Mandzukic gave Dinamo a 3-0 lead before their former player Davor Vugrinec pulled one back for the visitors.

SERBIA

Champions Partizan Belgrade were held 1-1 at home by struggling city rivals Rad and saw their lead cut to three points after second-placed Vojvodina Novi Sad came from behind to win 2-1 at Hajduk Kula.

Milan Jovanovic cancelled out Adem Ljajic's early opener for Partizan while Dusan Tadic scored two late goals for Vojvodina, who entertain the league leaders on Wednesday in the last round of games before the winter break.

Former European Cup winners Red Star Belgrade stayed third, six points off the pace, with a 4-1 win at Jagodina.

EGPYT

Zamalek have fired coach Reiner Hollmann six months after the German was brought in to revive the former African champions' fortunes.

The five-times winners of the African Champions League failed to progress beyond the group stage this year and are 10 points adrift of the leaders in the national championship.

The club said in an official statement that they were terminating the contract of the former Galatasaray coach.

Hollmann, 59, was hired in June as Zamalek sought to move out of the shadow of their rivals Al Ahli, who have had the beating of them in both domestic and continental competitions.

Zamalek have dropped to sixth in Egypt's premier league.

PARAGUAY

Libertad won the championship for the fourth time in a row when they beat Sol de America 4-1 to clinch the title on the last day of the season.

Libertad clinched the Clausura championship to continue their recent dominance of Paraguayan football.

Colombian Vladimir Marin set them on their way by scoring from a free kick and a header in a four-minute spell midway through the first half.

Jorge Cacares headed one back for Sol in the 33rd minute, the refereeing ruling that the ball crossed the line before being cleared by goalkeeper Victor Centurion.

Victor Caceres and Manuel Maciel added further goals in the second half.

Libertad finished with 44 points from 22 games, one ahead of Guarani whose 2-0 win over 12 de Octubre was in vain, although it guaranteed them a place in next year's South American Copa Libertadores.

Cerro Porteno and Olimpia, traditionally the country's two big clubs, finished third and seventh respectively after another disappointing season.

Libertad previously won the 2006 and 2007 titles when only one championship was held per season. This year, the Paraguayan FA changed the system to two separate championships known as the Apertura and Clausura and Libertad won both.

PERU

Deportivo San Martin fielded a reserve team against Cesar Vallejo and lost 1-0, but the result took them closer to winning the 2008 championship.

San Martin have already won the second stage of the championship with three matches to spare and are now completing their fixtures.

They are due to face first-stage winners Universitario in the end-of-season final. However, if Universitario fail to finish in the top seven of the second stage, they will lose the right to play the final and hand San Martin the title.

Universitario began the weekend's games in tenth place, two points behind Cesar Vallejo, so that if San Martin won their game, it would have meant they were helping Universitario's cause.

In the event, Universitario, who had complained bitterly at San Martin's decision to field reserves, dropped to 11th after being held 0-0 by relegated Sport Boys.

They now need an improbable combination of results next Sunday, including victory for San Martin over seventh-placed Jose Galvez.

In another game, Alianza Lima, one of the country's biggest clubs, guaranteed first-division survival with a 1-0 win over arch-rivals Sporting Cristal.

ECUADOR

Barcelona fans protested angrily after their team were held 1-1 by El Nacional on the final day of the championship and missed out on a place in next year's Libertadores.

Media reports said around 100 angry fans tried to break into the dressing-room after the game, forcing the players and coach Reinaldo Merlo to be led out of the stadium under a police escort.

At the end of the game, a man ran onto the pitch and appeared to punch the referee before running off.

Pedro Quinonez fired El Nacional into the lead in the 26th minute and Pablo Palacios levelled after halftime with his 20th goal of the season, but it was not enough.

Barcelona finished fifth in the six-team final stage, one point behind El Nacional who followed champions Deportivo Quito and third-placed Deportivo Cuenca into the Libertadores.

LDU, who finished second, qualified for the Libertadores as defending champions. Deportivo Quito wrapped up the title on Wednesday.

CHILE

Colo Colo and Palestino won their respective semi-finals on away goals to reach the 2008 Clausura championship final. Lucas Barrios scored twice, taking his tally this year to 35 goals, to help Colo Colo draw 2-2 with Cobreloa and 5-5 on aggregate.

A goalless draw at home to Rangers was enough for modest Palestino, who drew 2-2 away in the first leg.

COLOMBIA

Independiente Medellin stayed top of Group A in the Clausura championship's semi-final stage with a 1-0 win over La Equidad, Juan Guillermo Cuadrado scoring the only goal.

Medellin have 10 points from four games, three ahead of Deportes Tolima who beat Atletico Nacional 2-1.

America lead Group B with eight points after a 2-0 win over Atletico Junior while striker Carlos Darwin Quintero scored a hat-trick as Pereira beat Deportivo Cali 3-1 to stay two points behind.

Pereira were without suspended goalkeeper Rene Higuita, who has made his latest comeback at the club at the age of 42.

Reuters