Brazilian football ( futebol) is revered the world over
and it is a privilege to experience it at first hand. Games are
usually enthralling: the mixture of intoxicating attack and clumsy
defence which has traditionally marked Brazilian international
sides is to be found at all levels of the game in Brazil, which
makes for plenty of goals and entertainment. The stadiums are often
spectacular sights in their own right, and Brazilian crowds are
fantastic: wildly enthusiastic, and bringing along their own
excellent live music - a packed Maracanã has more drummers than the
largest samba schools. The only downside is a recent upsurge of
crowd violence, provoked by small but highly organized hooligan
groups. It is not a good idea to wear a local team shirt to a
match, although foreign team shirts will guarantee you a friendly
conversation with curious fans.
Football was introduced into Brazil by Scottish railway
engineers in the 1890s, and Brazilians took to it like a duck to
water. By the 1920s the Rio and São Paulo leagues which dominate
Brazilian football had been founded, and Brazil became the first
South American country to compete in the World Cup ( Copas)
in Europe, sending a squad to France in 1938. Brazil is the only
country in the world to have participated in every Copa.
Getúlio Vargas was the first in a long line of Brazilian presidents
to make political capital out of the game, building the beautiful
Pacaembú Stadium in São Paulo and then the world's largest stadium,
the Maracanã in Rio, for the 1950 World Cup , which Brazil
hosted.
In that competition they had what many older Brazilians still
think was the greatest Brazilian side ever, which hammered
everybody, and then in the final, with the whole country already
celebrating, came up against Uruguay. Unfortunately the Uruguayans
hadn't read the script and won 2-1, a national trauma that still
haunts popular memory nearly fifty years on.
Yet success was not long in coming. A series of great teams, all
with Pelé as playmaker, won the World Cup in Stockholm in
1958 (the only World Cup won by a South American team in Europe),
Chile in 1962 and, most memorably of all, 1970 in Mexico .
Mexico saw the side that is now widely regarded as the greatest in
football history, with Pelé playing alongside such great names as
Jairzinho, Rivelino, Carlos Alberto, Gerson and Tostão. As
three-time winners, Brazil also got to keep the Jules Rimet Trophy,
the original World Cup. Most also agree that the 1982 Brazilian
team built around Socrates, Falcão, Eder and Cerezo was
extraordinary, although they lost 3-2 to the eventual winners,
Italy, in one of the greatest matches in football history.
It took Brazil until 1994 to reclaim the World Cup,
deservedly beating Italy on penalties in a dramatic climax to what
had been an occasionally dull final. It touched off enormous
popular rejoicing, as Brazil became the first country to win the
World Cup for the fourth time. This was a triumph built on such
un-Brazilian virtues as a combative rather than a creative
midfield, and a solid defence. Only in attack, where the genius of
Romário found the perfect foil in Bebeto, was the 1994 side
truly Brazilian.
Four years later, Brazil looked well placed to defend their
crown in France, but despite the galaxy of stars they had lined up
- including the prodigy Ronaldo - they had an unconvincing
campaign, were slightly lucky to get to the final, and then lost to
a good but not great French side to whom they were clearly superior
on paper. This loss crystallized a feeling of unease at home about
the direction of the national side, which was widely felt to have
sold out to commercial interests, with stars making their living in
Europe and forgetting their roots.
There is something to this: the 1990s did see an unprecedented
amount of money pouring into Brazilian football, and the fact that
the national side did not manage to score a single goal in open
play in two World Cup finals would have been unthinkable to the
1970 and 1982 sides. But the favelas and small towns, to
whom football offers a glittering exit route, are a permanent
conveyor belt of talent, and Brazil will always be a contender at
the highest level. The 2002 campaign, when the team will be
built around Ronaldo (if fit) up front, Rivaldo in midfield,
Roberto Carlos at the back and A.N. Other in goal will be no
exception.