Brazilian Soccer

The often-used expression "Soccer Country" defines Brazil as accurately as the descriptive "Carnival Country." Indeed, the game "Brazilian Soccer" has managed to captivate Brazilians in every comer of the land, from Amazonia to the Deep South, with an equal measure of devotion; in fact, it has sustained a degree of popularity that even Carnival has never been able to match. The sport "Brazilian soccer" has played a major role in unifying both nation and community. In Brazilian Soccer everyone follows the national team and takes great pride in its successes. Newcomers, whether from abroad or from another part of the country, are able to integrate themselves into the social life of a city or town by becoming fans of a local Brazilian soccer team or by participating in the game themselves.

L'équipe championne du monde en Suède en 1958 Debouts de gauche à droite : Desordi, Zito, Belini, Nilton Santos, Orlando, Gilmar. Premier rang de gauche à droite : Garrincha, Didi, Mazzola, Pelé, Zagallo, Mario Americo (masseur)

Sailors from Great Britain, where the game of soccer originated, were the first to play soccer on Brazilian soil, but it was a teenager named Charles Miller who receives credit for introducing the sport to Brazilians and makes the term Brazilian Soccer possible. In 1894 this native-born son of British parents brought back with him from a trip to England two soccer balls and a book of rules. He had played soccer during his trip abroad, and upon returning helped organize several teams in Sao Paulo. Brazilian Soccer was on its way. At first soccer players were mostly British employees of British owned firms. Then Mackenzie University organized a squad composed primarily of Brazilians, the first such Brazilian Soccer club. Enthusiasm for the game spread among young Brazilians from the upper class, many of whom had been exposed to soccer during visits to Europe, and they began to organize teams of their own. The formation of a league in Sao Paulo inspired sportsmen in Rio de Janeiro to follow suit. Many of the early soccer teams in Sao Paulo and Rio were sponsored by societies that catered to the wealthy, and games were played on fields provided by exclusive clubs. This atmosphere made it respectable as well as fashionable for young women of good breeding to don their Parisian finery and attend matches.

In the second decade of the twentieth century, soccer received a further boost with the influx of European immigrants who began to form teams of their own. Many of the employers for whom the newcomers worked encouraged them to play the game, since it diverted them from involvement in trade-union militancy, which was beginning to disrupt labor relations in Brazil. At the same time, the sport was spreading rapidly throughout the country. Leagues in Pernambuco, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Parang, and Rio Grande do Sul were established, and soccer clubs were organized even in faraway Amazonia. Lower-class Brazilians soon developed their own fascination with soccer. For the poor it was an ideal sport, requiring only a ball and some empty space. They would stand on walls surrounding playing areas or on the fringes of unfenced fields to watch games in progress. Before long they too were practicing the sport.

However, with very few exceptions, nonwhites found themselves excluded from high-level competition. Those who were permitted to play were either fair-skinned or used rice powder to lighten their complexions. The color line was not really breached until 1923, when Vasco da Gama, a club founded by Portuguese immigrants, fielded a squad composed primarily of black and mulatto workers, and the team won the Rio championship.

Initially there was much resistance to integration on the soccer fields, but by the 1930s it receded. By this time the face of soccer in Brazil had changed dramatically. Brazilian soccer was no longer a pastime for aristocrats. The elegant young ladies who once graced the sidelines withdrew to more genteel surroundings. Ordinary people took the game to their hearts and shaped it accordingly. Soccer swept Brazil in large part because there was no other sport to compete with it. In the United States, baseball was already the national pastime, so immigrants and their children found it prudent to embrace the sport as a means of asserting their American ness. Brazil, on the other hand, had lacked a sport to call its own. Soccer filled that void. Indeed, it became as much a monoculture as the production of sugar or coffee. These explanations alone, of course, do not adequately explain why soccer ignited the passions of Brazilians throughout the country. The game proved ideally suited to the Brazilian temperament and became a consummate mechanism for both individual and collective self-expression. It seemed as though soccer had been invented just for Brazilians. They adopted it as their own, identified with it, and went about transforming it. What Brazilians imprinted on the game was their strong reliance on individuality and improvisation, a faith in magic (exemplified by the conviction that in the relationship between the human body and the soccer ball, anything was possible), the slyness of Pedro Malasartes (a legendary folk hero who survived by outwitting his social superiors), and, above all, the sense of overwhelming joy shared by players and spectators alike. Soccer seemed to merge sport and samba. During games fans often beat drums from start to finish, and in so doing they reinforced the rhythms of the players, who converted dribbling into a form of dance. Their moves always exuded spontaneity, one of the characteristics of the samba.

Brazil hosted the 1950 FIFA World, Cup, which was the first tournament to be held after World War II. It is the only time Brazil has hosted the tournament to date (not counting the upcoming 2014 tournament). The 1950 tournament was unique in not having a single final, but rather a final round-robin stage of four teams; however, to all intents and purposes the deciding game between Brazil and Uruguay acted as that tournament's "final". The match was hosted at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro, watched by 199,854 people, and Brazil only needed a draw to win, but lost the match 2-1 after being 1-0 up; this match has since been known in South America as "Maracanazo". In Brazil it is called "Final Fatídica" ("fateful final").

For the 1958 FIFA World Cup, Brazil were drawn in the toughest group, with England, the USSR and Austria. Brazil beat the hosts Sweden in the final 5-2, winning their first World Cup and becoming the first nation to win a World Cup title outside of its own continent.

In the 1962 FIFA World Cup, Brazil got its second title with Garrincha as the star player.
Brazil won its third World Cup in Mexico in the 1970 FIFA World Cup. Brazil fielded what has been considered to be the best football squad ever, led by Pelé in his last World Cup final, captain Carlos Alberto, Jairzinho, Tostao, Gérson and Rivelino.

Brazil, to the surprise of many, went 24 years without winning a World Cup or even participating in a final or semi-final. Their struggles ended at the 1994 tournament in the United States, where a solid, if unspectacular side headed by the likes of Romário, Bebeto, Dunga, Taffarel, and Jorginho won the World Cup for a then-record 4th time. Brazil finished runner-up in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. After a very respectable campaign, the team lost to hosts France 3-0 in a problematic final game. Brazilian marking at defensive set pieces was poor, and Zinédine Zidane was able to score two headed goals from France's corner kicks. Also, Brazilian star Ronaldo suffered an epileptic seizure a few hours before the match.
Fuelled by the scintillating play of the "Three R's" (Ronaldo, Rivaldo, and Ronaldinho), Brazil won its fifth championship at the 2002 FIFA World Cup held in South Korea and Japan.

Brazil will host the 2014 FIFA World Cup. It will become the fifth nation to host the FIFA World Cup twice, after Mexico, Italy, France, and Germany. It will also be the first World Cup to be held in South America since the 1978 FIFA World Cup, which was held in Argentina, and the first time consecutive World Cups have been staged in the southern hemisphere. The Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's largest stadium, is expected to become the second stadium after the Estadio Azteco in Mexico City to host