With his colorful play, his legendary stars and his five world titles, Brazil has long been described as ‘football country’. But this status is increasingly threatened.
Pele, Garrincha, Ronaldinho…These names were every football fan’s dream. Today, the Seleçao is a shadow of what it once was.
They have not won a World Cup since 2002, and an entire generation of players has come and gone since the last Brazilian Ballon d’Or, won by Kaka in 2007.
“We are in the doldrums. Before there were more high-level players,” he recently told AFP Edinhoeldest son of “King” Pelé.
Even the President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva admits that Brazilian football “is no longer the best in the world.”
How did we get here?
The first clue is found in the streets, increasingly deserted by budding footballers.
It was in alleys and open fields where stars like Rivellino, Zico and Romario They kicked their first balls.
“You no longer see children playing in the street, you no longer hear windows breaking” after untimely gunshots, he laments Lauro Nascimento52-year-old amateur player of the club dawnin the north of Sao Paulo.
As a child, he broke several of his toes playing barefoot on the dirt roads strewn with large stones in the neighborhood of Vila Aurora. Now, the streets are paved.
Buildings have been erected in the open fields where Lauro Nascimento He also played his frenetic games.
Children from poor neighborhoods, where most of Brazil’s soccer stars come from, are finding it increasingly difficult to find places to play.
According to a 2021 independent study, only a fifth of football schools in Brazil They are free.
Most are played on artificial grass, where it is easier to control a ball than on the uneven surfaces of open fields where many of the best players have acquired their unique technical mastery.
“The passion for football still exists, but nowadays it is more difficult to play,” he says. Edson Nascimento57 years old, club president dawn.
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The fact that fewer children play soccer in Brazil “has a great impact on our soccer,” says the researcher Euler Victor.
“We have a large number of players who play in Europebut few of them do it at the highest level,” he adds.
Neymar, Vinicius, Endrick…
The last great star of Brazil, Neymar, He shone for a few years, but his career has been plagued by injuries and controversies.
Hopes are now pinned on Viniciusthe 23-year-old forward whirlwind of the real Madridand in the 17 year old jewel Endrick, who will soon join him at the Spanish club.
Brazil It remains the world’s leading exporter of footballers, but sales revenue has plummeted.
Last year, 2,375 Brazilian players were transferred for 935.3 million dollars, 19% less than the 1,753 transactions registered in 2018, according to data from the FIFA.
This is mainly because Brazilian nuggets like Endrick, Vinicius and Rodrygo Younger and younger players are being sold in Europe, before their market value explodes when they confirm their potential playing at the highest level.
Brazilians also find it difficult to stand out in an increasingly homogeneous world football, where tactics often take precedence over individual technical quality.
“The technical level has dropped a lot (…). The style of play has changed and that has ended up robbing our players of creativity,” he laments. Victor Hugo da Silva. He trains children ages 7 to 10 on artificial turf at the soccer school he formed. Viniciusin Sao Gonçaloa poor suburb near Rio de Janeiro.
“Our football, which once exuded the joy of living, has become more mechanical,” he insists.
One of his students, the goalkeeper Miguelnine years old, with hair dyed blonde like that of Neymardreams of “entering the Flamengo academy”, the most popular club in Brazil.
Victor Hugo da Silva does not question the passion of the new generations. But he warns of new “difficulties” in training them, due to physical problems that he attributes, among other things, to the sedentary lifestyle of children “addicted” to video games.
Brazil It has more mobile phones than inhabitants and 34% of the population between five and 19 years old is overweight, according to the World Atlas of Obesity.
“Before we took children who had already played in the street. Now they arrive without experience, without motor coordination, and that is reflected in their game,” explains the coach.
But Leila Pereirapresident of Palmeiras, two-time national champion, insists that Brazil will “never” lose its title of “land of football.”
It was this São Paulo club that formed Endricksold to Real for more than 60 million euros, according to the local press.
“If there really was a decline in quality, we wouldn’t be paying these astronomical sums,” he says. Leila Pereiraone of the few women who run clubs in the world.
Brazilian clubs have demonstrated impressive supremacy in South American competitions, winning the last five trophies in the Libertadores Cuptwo of them conquered by Palmeiras.
The big Brazilian teams have the financial resources to attract talent from neighboring countries by offering them higher salaries.
But some fans believe that clubs tend to isolate themselves from the popular classes in the name of the football business.
“By paying enormous salaries to players, clubs have to sell the most expensive tickets, and that prevents fans like me from going to the stadium,” he laments. David Santos. Living in a favela Rivercan’t afford to go to the games Flamengo in it Maracanatemple of Brazilian football.
