June 16, 2013
“Brazil scored at the start of the first half, at the start of the second half, and in the final minute. Luiz Felipe Scolari named his expected side, unchanged from the XI that defeated France 3-0 last week. Alberto Zaccheroni left out Ryoichi Maeda, using Shinji Okazaki as the lone striker, with Hiroshi Kiyotake playing on the right of midfield. Brazil got off to a tremendous start through Neymar’s brilliant strike from the edge of the box and controlled the majority of the game.” Zonal Marking
Demonstrations mar Brazil’s Confederations Cup win over Japan
“Brazil opened the Confederations Cup with a comfortable 3-0 win over Japan, but the event was marred when police clashed with protesters outside the Mane Garrincha National Stadium. A stunning third-minute goal from Neymar set the hosts on their way before Paulinho added a second three minutes into the second half, as they dealt competently with the Asian champions. The substitute Jo completed the scoring in stoppage time.” Guardian
Neymar, Brazil control Japan 3-0
“Neymar lit up the opening match of the Confederations Cup with a stunning early goal but the final scoreline reflected a more laboured victory over Japan than the home fans were hoping for.” ESPN (Video)
“Neymar’s spectacular third-minute goal set hosts Brazil on their way to a comfortable victory over Japan in the opening game of the Confederations Cup. The Barcelona striker met Fred’s knockdown on the edge of the area with a blistering shot into the top corner.” BBC
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June 16, 2013
“Brazil’s opening Confederations Cup match was affected by protests that left 39 people injured. Up to 1,000 Brazilians demonstrated outside the country’s national stadium to vent their anger at the amount of money the country is spending on staging next year’s World Cup. Police used tear gas and pepper spray to control protestors before the match, in which Brazil beat Japan 3-0. There were also reports rubber bullets were used and 30 arrests were made.” BBC
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June 14, 2013
“Despite some resistance from the Republic of Ireland at the Yankee Stadium, they outgunned Giovanni Trapattoni’s men 2-0 in their last game before the Confederations Cup campaign gets under way in Brazil this weekend. On Sunday, the world and European champions play their first group game against Uruguay, as La Roja begin their bid to bring yet another international trophy back to Madrid.” BBC
Uruguay’s fighting spirit comes to the fore
“Uruguay turning up for a tournament on Brazilian soil is enough to send a shudder down the local spine. The other day Pele was remembering the World Cup final of 1950, and his father in tears as the sky blues came from behind to shock the host in Rio’s newly built Maracana stadium. Now Uruguay is back once more, this time for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup.” The World Gane – Tim Vickery
Confederations Cup 2013: Spain team profile
“… Whether in a 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1 or 4-6-0 formation, the modern-day Spanish side, with a little help from their free-flowing Barcelona contingent, have ripped up the formation book – even winning tournaments with the false number nine/strikerless line-up. Barcelona’s Victor Valdes is expected to start the tournament as Spain’s number one goalkeeper in the major change from Euro 2012, with Iker Casillas missing out.” BBC
Face of World Cup host Brazil? Look no further than Neymar
“When the World Cup hopes and dreams of arguably the world’s most successful footballing country rest on your skinny shoulders, you’re going to need all the help you can get. It is not known what great works of literature Neymar chose when packing his suitcases for Barcelona, but he could have done worse than to seek solace in a little Shakespeare. Dank and drizzly though it can sometimes be, Santos’ Vila Belmiro stadium, our hero’s erstwhile home, is a long way from the gloomy battlements of Hamlet’s Elsinore. Nevertheless, there are more than a few parallels between the life and times of Brazil’s current idol and Shakespeare’s classic paean to troubled young manhood.” SI
Confed Cup Preview: 5 storylines to watch
“The Confederations Cup (June 15-30) is the ritual eight-team dry run designed to give the World Cup hosts the chance to iron out any kinks in their stadia and transport systems a year before the big show begins. The tournament pitches the hosts, reigning World Cup holders and six confederation champions (with Italy qualifying as Euro runners-up to World Cup holders Spain) into battle.” ESPN (Video)
A rare Confederations Cup – all the teams, for once, want to win it
“Tournaments are like birthdays: they are as significant as you want them to be. To many the Confederations Cup is a meaningless intrusion on the football calendar, a rinky-dink competition that proves nothing more than Fifa’s greed. After all, the World Cup already exists to establish the best team on the planet so what, other than money and attention-seeking, is the point of a mini-tournament between the leading teams from each continent?” Guardian
Starting anew: Deeper Spain lacks strong XI
“While club football’s evolution from a ‘team game’ into a ‘squad game’ has been widely acknowledged the past two decades, the situation at the international level remains uncertain. After all, major international tournaments are decided during the course of four weeks, rather than eight months. Whereas the speed and intensity of modern football ensures club managers frequently rotate their squad to prevent burnout in the spring, international managers often squeeze every last drop out of their regular starting XI.” ESPN – Michael Cox
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June 4, 2013
“Superb strikes by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Wayne Rooney rescued some dignity for England after Brazil had handed out a footballing lesson at the Maracana. After toiling against Brazil’s dash and panache, two moments of brilliance saw England take an unlikely lead before Paulinho’s excellent volley gave the hosts a draw at the official re-opening of their famous stadium, the very least they deserved. The strikes by Oxlade-Chamberlain and Rooney, following Fred’s opener for the home side, were not quite of the same standard as John Barnes’ legendary solo goal in this stadium 29 years ago. Nevertheless they will provide much-needed encouragement for Hodgson ahead of the autumn’s World Cup qualifiers.” ESPN
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June 2, 2013
“In professional football, money is, always has been, and always will be a key factor. However, not necessarily a decisive one. If it was then Brazil would have at least three representatives in the semi-finals of the Copa Libertadores – South America’s Champions League. Instead, Brazil was only a penalty miss away from losing all interest in the competition at the quarter-final stage. The country’s last standing survivor, free-scoring Atletico Mineiro, was 12 yards and 30 seconds from elimination. All Tijuana striker Duvier Riascos had to do was score the stoppage-time penalty and his club, Tijuana of Mexico, would be through to the last four.” The World Game – Tim Vickery
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May 20, 2013
“Is this the end? Has the door slammed shut on Ronaldinho’s chance of redemption? That must surely be the likely conclusion of Brazil’s Confederations Cup call up. Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari read out his 23 names. When he had got to the end and the assembled journalists realised that Ronaldinho had not been included, the room became a hornets’ nest of buzzing voices, as excited radio reporters reached for their microphones to spread the news. They had every right – it is important news. For some nations the Confederations Cup might be a collection of friendlies with a trophy at the end – but not for Brazil. There is too much at stake. As 2014 World Cup host it has suffered from a lack of competitive games, and ever since the last World Cup neither results nor performances have been convincing.” The World Game – Tim Vickery (Video)
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April 18, 2013
“It’s all happening in Brazil. We’re just two months away from the start of a three-year sporting bonanza beginning with the 2013 Confederations Cup and ending with the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. In the middle of that is the 2014 World Cup, a tournament that has belonged to Brazil more than any other country in international history. And the pressure is on for Seleção boss Luiz Felipe Scolari.” Outside of the Boot
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April 16, 2013
“As five-time World Cup champion, the Brazilian national team has become known the world over not just for winning, but for winning with a joyous panache that has become synonymous with the beautiful game. However, behind every one of Ronaldinho’s toothy grins and camouflaged by the color-shocked mohawk clinging to Neymar’s head lies an intensely complicated relationship between nation and sport.” World Soccer
“Brazil is a country commonly associated with the highest level of soccer. The world has grown used to Brazil winning, but the Brazilians themselves seem to have an insatiable appetite for world football dominance. Their nation has produced soccer players that have come to represent spontaneity, creativity and skill on the playing field. The bandy-legged Garincha, a walking paradox, the goal scoring machines Friedenreich and Ronaldo, the modern hope Kaká, and, of course, the eternally great Pelé – all these players have left their indelible marks on football’s canon.” Soccer Politics
Zero Dark Thirteen – Brazilian football wallows in the mire of corruption
“If the 2014 World Cup is to signal the arrival of Brazilian football’s brave new world, a desperately needed fresh start for the game in a country where on-field majesty is usually matched by administrative skulduggery, it can’t come soon enough. The year is not yet four months old but it feels, to misquote autocratic former president Getúlio Vargas, as though Brazilian football is standing in a sea of mud. Worse, it often appears as though chaos has become the norm.” Independent
Socrates and the Corinthians’ Democracy
“As the global sporting world faces one corruption scandal after another, former Manchester United star Eric Cantona presents the stories of five football heroes whose social conscience led them to challenge unjust regimes, join opposition movements and lead the fight for democracy and human rights. Football Rebels looks at a side of football that does not always make the headlines.” Aljazeera (Video)
All the President’s Torturers
“Chosen to host both the 2014 football World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games and with abundant natural resources and one of the fastest growing economies in the world, one way or another Brazil is set to become a major player in the affairs of the 21st century. With an ambitious, progressive government, a population of around 193 million, now well established federal democratic structures and apparent political stability, many even see it as a global superpower in the making, perhaps even deserving of a permanent seat on the UN Security Council in the not too distant future. But its solid international reputation has not always been so glossy.” Aljazeera (Video)
The Copa Libertadores and differing stories for Ronaldinho and Riquelme
“The Copa Libertadores this season has been the story of two brilliant players in the twilights of their careers: one having immense fun as though he can’t quite believe he’s still getting away with it, the other grumpily raging against his waning powers. For Ronaldinho and Atlético Mineiro, this has been, so far, a tournament of glee, of great goals and big wins; for Juan Román Riquelme and Boca Juniors, it has been all about suffering. Both will be in the last 16, but their journeys could hardly have been more different. It’s also been the story of the continuing development of Ecuadorean football.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson
Neymar! Reducing Brazil’s Football ‘Trade Surplus’
“It’s time for another sporting feature since we haven’t had one for quite some time now. Fortunately, there’s interesting stuff courtesy of TIME Magazine about the changing complexion of ‘the beautiful game.’ Even if the Brazilian economy has cooled off markedly in recent times, it has had a strong run-up and most folks remain optimistic about its economy’s future. Contrast its fate with that of the European football powerhouses that traditionally import South American players in droves–especially Portugal, Spain,and the United Kingdom–and you begin to understand the reduced “trade surplus” of Brazil sending away its best footballers time and again…” International Political Economy Zone
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April 7, 2013
“Of all the great football rivalries, my favourite is the one between the national teams of Brazil and Argentina. There is nothing to get in the way – no real military history between the two countries, as is the case with the Netherlands and Germany, for example, of England and Germany, and even England and Argentina. When Brazil meets Argentina the rivalry is one of pure football, a battle for supremacy on the pitch between two neighbours vying to be considered the number one nation of the global game.” The World Game – Tim Vickery
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March 24, 2013
“Heading south from Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city and football hotbed it is a little over 500km before you reach the state of Santa Catarina. Bordering Argentina to the west and the Atlantic Ocean in the east it is one of the smallest in the country. Despite this it boasts a strong economy largely fuelled by tourism thanks to a few hundred kilometres of golden beaches and large areas of wildlife and even snow-capped peaks further inland. Santa Catarina proudly claims to have the highest standard of living in Brazil and possibly all of South America. However on the football pitch it lags well behind its larger neighbours in the heavily populated South East of the country.” World Soccer
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March 13, 2013
“In an ever-increasingly globalised world, national football teams offer a rare beacon of consistency and separation, a unit that cannot be corrupted or diluted, influenced or relegated. Fans can embrace their shared culture and nationality, with no fear of players being poached or tempted away by bright lights and bulging pay packets. The national identification allowed by international football also drives the assimilation and acceptance of diverse racial groups into modern society, predominantly in Western Europe. Countries are building squads that reflect the growing diversity of their nations, particularly in the poor, urban youth; the breeding ground for so many of the world’s footballing superstars.” In Bed With Maradona
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December 23, 2012
“Corinthians truly are the sum of their parts but they will need to buy themselves time inside Chelsea’s half to do justice to the nature of their football. Incision, precision and an ability to maintain shape both when attacking and defending are the identity of this side. Players are rotated, the formation is tweaked and yet coach Tite (pictured below) knows his game plan will be adhered to. Sitting pitchside in the October balm of the Joaquim Grava training-compound on the outskirts of São Paulo, Corinthians coach Tite knows what elements his team needs if it is to triumph against Chelsea two months later in Yokohama. In fact, Tite has been clear about this since, well, who knows: perhaps since his team’s July conquest of the Copa Libertadores which settled the identity of South America’s representative to be sent to the Club World Cup. Conceivably, it could even have been as far back as May when Corinthians’ participation was yet uncertain and Didier Drogba and Company conjured up an east-bound ticket from Munich. This is because, beyond the vagaries of micro-tinkering in the face of impending opponents, Corinthians know what they play at, and play it well.”
santapelota
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December 12, 2012
“For most in Brazil, what happened in the Rasunda Stadium in 1958 was a gleeful affirmation of what they had always known. They were the world’s great football nation and beating the hosts, Sweden, in the final was vindication after the trauma of the defeat to Uruguay in the Maracanã eight years earlier. In an asylum in Barbacena in the state of Minas Gerais, patients clustered anxiously round a radio as the game entered the final minute. A cross came over, Pelé rose and made it 5-2: the world title was confirmed. Patients and staff celebrated together – all except one. In his room, alone, Heleno de Freitas filled his mouth with cigarettes, lit them all and tried to smoke himself to death.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson
Heleno de Freitas
“Heleno de Freitas, nicknamed Prince Cursed, (born 12 February 1920 in São João Nepomuceno, Brazil; died 8 November 1959 in Barbacena) was a Brazilian footballer. The striker spent most of his career with Botafogo, scoring 209 goals for the club, most with his head. In 1948 he transferred to Boca Juniors in Argentina, but returned to Brazil the following year, winning the 1949 Campeonato Carioca with Vasco. He ended his career with América in Rio, he played only one match for the club and it was the first and last game in the Maracanã. He died in 1959 in a sanatorium in Barbacena.” Wikipedia
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December 5, 2012
“Brasília – the Brazilian capital carved from the savannah 50 years ago – is a hard city to love. I hate to say this while its architect, 104-year-old Oscar Niemeyer, lies ill in a Rio hospital, but Brasília was built for cars and architecture critics, not for people. It’s a place for bureaucrats to have a quiet life, a Bonn in the tropics. Traffic jams are rare, even at 5pm when the ministries empty and everyone sails home along the huge central axis. This is a middle-class town.” FT – Simon Kuper
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November 14, 2012
“‘One of the biggest blasts of hot air, which I’ve been hearing ever since I was an adolescent, is the idea that top level sport is a good place to learn and develop ethical and moral values. It never was. Ambition, the desire to be a hero and to make lots of money are usually much stronger.’ So wrote 1970 Brazil great Tostao in Sunday’s version of his always interesting column, a twice weekly space where football is analysed by someone of great knowledge and intelligence who loves the game but is even more fascinated by the subtleties and contradictions of the human being.” BBC – Tim Vickery
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November 9, 2012
“All’s fair in love, war and relegation battles – or Palmeiras seem to think so. The Sao Paulo giants, the team of the city’s Italian community, are in trouble. Back in July they won the Brazilian Cup, guaranteeing a place in next year’s Copa Libertadores, South America’s Champions League. However, results have since suffered in the domestic league and they now need to make up a seven-point gap with just four rounds of the season left. Their hopes could perhaps rest on the outcome of a hearing to be held in the next couple of days. The focus of their appeal is a disallowed goal from Argentine centre-forward Hernan Barcos against Internacional on October 27.” BBC – Tim Vickery
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November 3, 2012
“Firstly, let me set the scene. It’s my first game from the Bolivian LFPB (Liga del Fútbol Profesional Boliviano) with Universitario de Sucre facing Oriente Petrolero, two teams languishing in the mid-table region of the Apertura half of the competition. Going in to the game, Oriente Petrolero had drawn a mind-boggling 8 of their 11 games, and had only lost once. Universitario were just a point better off but were playing at the Estadio Olímpico Patria, where they had a fine record. Football tends, more often than not, to follow certain formulae and basic principles. Being a Bolivian football newcomer (save for a few games in the Copa Sudamericana and a harrowing experience with Aurora in the Libertadores), I applied these principles to the game and assumed it would be a turgid, boring, low quality draw. Despite my inexperience with Bolivian football, I’ve commentated on scores of South American games from Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Peru – well, you get the picture.” World Soccer
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October 22, 2012
“‘I was too busy scoring goals to learn how to play football,’ says Dario, a legendary figure in Brazilian football from the 1960s and 70s. A charismatic character, Dario invents phrases as easily as he used to put the ball in the net. ‘There’s no such thing as an ugly goal,’ he once said. ‘Ugly is not scoring goals.’ If both remarks sound a little defensive, it is easy enough to explain. Brazilian football has been gifted with so many artists – players capable of snapping their marker in two with a sway of the hips, wrong-footing the keeper and then sliding home – that a little prejudice sometimes persists about the centre forward. The target man number nine whose game is restricted to getting the ball over the line can be seen, at best, as the exponent of a minor art.” BBC – Tim Vickery
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October 16, 2012
“In the early twentieth century Latin American football was growing rapidly. Uruguay had won the triple crown of the Olympic Games in 1924, ’28 and the inaugural World Cup held in Uruguay 1930. Since then football had sprung up across the continent reaching all sections of society and social class, from Copacabana beach overlooked by Sugarloaf Mountain to the country clubs. This new samba style football was developed; individual skill and flair outshined the rigidity of European tactics. The flamboyant philosophy is an extension of the carnival. Brazilians like to show off. There is a word in Brazil ufanismo, boastful, arrogant nationalism. When Brazil was chosen to host the 1950 FIFA World Cup, they were going to put on a show to encapsulate their style of play, but come the climax of the competition, the Uruguayans did not read the script, and Brazil paid the price.” In Bed With Maradona
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October 16, 2012
“During the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the only time Kaka was not seen filming everything around him was when he was on the pitch playing for Brazil. He had expected to record some treasured memories — forming the much-hyped “magic quartet” with Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Adriano. After the tournament, however, those images could not have made for easy viewing. Kaka produced a man-of-the-match performance in the opening game, scoring the only goal against Croatia. Thereafter, it was downhill all the way. In truth, the team was top heavy.” ESPN – Tim Vickery
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October 14, 2012
José Mourinho
“Modern football has produced many greats on the pitch but few off it. The casual football fan may be more familiar with Argentine genius, Diego Armando Maradona, his Brazilian counterpart, Edison Arantes do Nascimento, or as he is better known, Pelé, or Dutch master Hendrik Johannes Cruijff alias Johan Cruyff. Though they have hanged up the football boots decades ago, their names still resonates with football fans worldwide. The majority of younger football fans have never seen Pelé, Johan Cruyff or Maradona live, due to being handicapped by not being alive during their respective era, but their parents had the privilege to have witnessed some of the greatest footballers of all time.” Sabotage Times
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October 14, 2012
“A gap has opened up as South America’s World Cup qualification campaign reaches the halfway stage. Victories on Friday for Argentina, Colombia and Ecuador mean that three teams have pulled away from the pack. But the round had another winner, who did not even take the field on Friday. It was sixth-placed Venezuela’s turn to take a rest, and their position improved while they sat and watched as Uruguay and Chile, the teams above them, both lost. Three rounds ago Chile were first and Uruguay were second. Now they seem to be in free-fall. On Friday all they managed to accomplish was further damage to their goal difference – and things could get still worse for them in Tuesday’s 10th round.” BBC – Tim Vickery
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September 18, 2012
“World Cup qualification in Europe has a few good games along with plenty of mismatches. In South America, meanwhile, every game in the long campaign is resonant with rivalry and relevance. The best development in the history of the continent’s national teams was the birth of the Copa America in 1916 and its frequent, at times annual, staging in the early years. It did much to spread interest in the game and raise standards.” BBC – Tim Vickery
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September 16, 2012
“On the belvedere atop Corcovado mountain, tourists crowd the railings for a God’s-eye view of the world’s most beautiful cityscape. Standing under one Rio icon, the open-armed statue of Christ the Redeemer, they aim their phone cameras at another: Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain), the granite outcropping that resembles a giant cat crouching at the edge of Guanabara Bay. Off to the left, though, is a Rio landmark of equal significance, at least to futebol fans: Maracanã, the largest stadium in Brazil and the site of the 2014 World Cup final.” SI
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September 10, 2012
“In the context of a league campaign, a resounding win or a heavy defeat never ends at the final whistle. More important than the points won or lost can be the team’s reaction. Can it rally in the face of adversity, or guard against excessive euphoria? This is especially true in South America’s marathon 2014 Fifa World Cup qualifiers, when two rounds are played together, and a team can play at one end of the continent on Friday and the other the following Tuesday.” BBC – Tim Vickery
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September 10, 2012
“Over an hour before kick-off and the stadium was already awash with flags, banners and fireworks as it rocked to the drums and chants of the Torcidas. I was in Rio for the game known as the Fla-Flu, the derby between Flamengo and Fluminese. While not as big as Vasco vs Flamengo, the excellently named derby of the millions, the Fla-Flu is a game of historical significance. And the pre-match atmosphere was certainly living up to the hype as the two sets of fans took in turns to explode into action.” In Bed With Maradona
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September 8, 2012
“A man at peace, Adilson Batista, manager of Serie A strugglers Atlético Goianiense, yawned, stretched, and leaned back in his chair. He knew had made the right choice. It hadn`t been easy to turn down the offer to go back to Cruzeiro, a far bigger club than Atlético, and he would never forget those glorious nights in 2009, when he had taken the team from Belo Horizonte to the Libertadores final against Estudiantes. They had called him one of the brightest young coaches in Brazil back then. But he had a responsibility to Atlético. He`d only arrived in April, and it would be wrong to leave the club in the lurch just a few weeks later. He wanted to see the project through to the end.” World Soccer
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September 6, 2012
“World Cup qualification resumes in South America this Friday, with a question mark hanging over the team which have been the continent’s form side over the past two years. Might the London Olympics mark an unwelcome turning point for Uruguay? On the face of it there should be no cause for alarm. World Cup semi-finalists in 2010, Copa America champions last year, Uruguay’s senior side have gone 18 games without defeat. They have made a solid start to the 2014 qualifiers. Leaders Chile sit out Friday’s round, where a win for Uruguay would take them to the top of the table.” BBC – Tim Vickery
Sabella meshes Argentina’s abundance of attacking talent
“It is possible to have too much of a good thing. Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain, Carlos Tevez, Angel Di Maria, Javier Pastore, Ezequiel Lavezzi … no other nation comes even remotely close to Argentina in terms of attacking and creative talent. The problem has been trying to fit as many of them as possible into the same squad. It did for Diego Maradona and it did for Sergio Batista.” SI – Jonathan Wilson
Trouble atop the table, hope at the bottom
“With Euro 2012 followed by the season’s big kickoff and the excitement of the transfer window, only now is Europe turning its attention to the need to qualify for the next World Cup. South America, meanwhile, is in a very different situation. Sights are already firmly trained on winning a place in Brazil 2014. The continent’s marathon qualification tournament is a third of the way through. This Friday, action will get under way in the second year of a three-year campaign. So far the soccer has lived up to its billing as the most competitive World Cup qualifiers on the planet.” ESPN
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August 21, 2012
“On Wednesday Neymar helped Brazil to a morale-boosting 3-0 win away to Sweden. The next evening he was back in action on the other side of the Atlantic, in Florianopolis in the south of Brazil, where he played the starring role as Santos came from behind to seal a 3-1 victory against Figueirense.” BBC – Tim Vickery
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August 19, 2012
“When the news broke in September last year that Sócrates, the legendary Brazilian midfielder, had been rushed to hospital for an emergency operation, I feared the worst. O Doutor had been a committed fan of alcohol and cigarettes for many years, I assumed his illness was related to his lifestyle choices. It appeared at first that he might be able to shake his sickness off, like he had so many opposing players. This time it was one attacker too many for him. Sócrates lived life by his own rules, and when the rules didn’t suit him he changed them. He was a marvellous footballer and always politically engaged, something he continued after retiring from playing. Indeed it is his involvement in the ‘Corinthians Democracy’ that particularly drew me to read about his life.” In Bed With Maradona
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August 12, 2012
“A dream realised, a quest for gold finally successful and a new name added to the roll of honour. We just didn’t expect it to be Mexico. Brazilian football cannot yet call itself all-conquering since the Olympic Games have again caused them pain and with it ravaged their credentials at the 2014 World Cup they will host.” ESPN
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July 30, 2012
“Olympic football may not be the main event of the Olympic Games but those teams taking part have an excellent opportunity to try things out as they prepare for the next World Cup. This has rarely been clearer than at Old Trafford on Sunday, when 2014 hosts Brazil were confronted with a problem they will surely meet time and time again in two years’ time. Opponents Belarus put 10 men behind the ball and looked to frustrate them, forcing them to pass sideways, hoping that Brazilian frustration would lead to error and then launching the counter-attack.” BBC – Tim Vickery
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July 26, 2012
“It’s 30 years ago this month that, according to Zico, football died. On 5 July 1982, in the Estadi de Sarrià in Barcelona, Tele Santana’s majestic Brazil lost to Italy and were eliminated from the World Cup. With them went the nostalgic form of Brazilian football, the fluid attacking style that had won them three World Cups between 1958 and 1970.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson
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July 24, 2012
“Part of the allure of the World Cup is that, despite changes to format, entrants, moments in early history when certain European countries refused to send teams to South America one year and vice versa the next, the tournament has managed to maintain a linear quality stemming from a basic competitive consistency. One can trace, for example, the narrative thread from Brazil’s 2002 World Cup win back to its lacklustre turn in 1994 when Baggio missed, through to its peak in 1970 when Pele hosted the Jules Rimet trophy, all the way to 1950 when Ghiggia scored Uruguay’s winning goal in the 79th minute leaving the Maracana in deathly silence. There are recurring heroes and villains, classic semifinals, great teams that never won (the Netherlands, Hungary), touchstone moments that changed the direction of the sport. Even the most casual soccer person will be able to recount in a reasonably dependable chronology.” The Score
Can Uruguay roll back the years at London 2012?
“The Paris Olympics of 1924 are best remembered in Britain for providing the backdrop to ‘Chariots of Fire.’ But for all the heroism of Messrs Liddell and Abrahams, something happened there with far greater consequences – the birth of modern football. No one knew much about Uruguay as they sailed their way across the Atlantic to take part in the football tournament. But they strolled to the gold medal, and did it with a balletic, artistic style of play which captivated spectators and set off a fever for the game. Four years later, to prove it was no fluke, Uruguay won the gold medal at the Amsterdam Olympics. Argentina came across as well, and they took the silver.” BBC – Tim Vickery
Strange things happen at a football Olympics – Simon Kuper
“In 1996, the Nigerian football team arrived at the Atlanta Olympics in their usual financial chaos. They stayed first in a college dormitory, later in a cheap motel. Most days they slept late, and then went for brunch at a Chinese restaurant. Their Dutch coach, Jo Bonfrere (known by Nigerian custom as ‘Bonfrere Jo’) paid for the meals out of his own pocket. On the field the Nigerians attacked frantically and won gold – the first African nation ever to do so in the football Olympics. Nwankwo Kanu, their ‘Lucky Skipper’, said of his last-gasp equaliser in the semi-final against Brazil (after Nigeria had been 3-1 down): ‘That goal was the most beautiful moment of my life.’” MIO Stadium
Olympic Football – The Real Thing?
“BBC football commentator Jonathan Pearce got through last Friday evening without once name-checking his current love…Cristiano bloody Ronaldo. He also avoided one word you would have thought key to his commentary on a football match between Great Britain and Brazil. Britain. In an age where succinct branding is so important (and Google “Bill Hicks advertising marketing” for my “view” on such things), “Team GB” is about as much detail as the modern sports fan is deemed capable of understanding. So Stuart Pearce’s hastily-flung together team of B-list England stars and most of the best of the Welsh were “Team GB” for the night. Maybe if they had the ball long enough to force Pearce to use two descriptions…” twohundredpercent
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July 22, 2012
“It is fair to say that, historically, South America has not made a huge impact on the Olympics. While it is true Brazil is working hard to broaden its sporting base, of the 20 gold medals the country has won, over half have come in the last four Games. Argentina has picked up 17 golds, but its glory days are long gone. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Peron government invested heavily in a wide range of sports and leading athletes were closely identified with the regime, but all that ended when Peron was deposed in 1955. Since then, Argentina has claimed just four gold medals – two of them in the last two football tournaments.” World Soccer – Tim Vickery
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July 14, 2012
“Spain’s Euro 2012 triumph – their third consecutive international title – has prompted many to reach for comparisons with Brazilian sides of old in the quest to answer the bar-room question: Which is the world’s best-ever international team? Spain’s Euro 2012 triumph – their third consecutive international title – has prompted many to reach for comparisons with Brazilian sides of old in the quest to answer the bar-room question: Which is the world’s best-ever international team? Fun stuff, but given the difficulties of comparing teams from different eras, it may be more worthwhile to peer in the other direction, looking forward rather than backward when making Brazil/Spain comparisons. The specific question is this: What impact might the success of Spain have on future Brazil sides?” ESPN – Tim Vickery
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July 10, 2012
“There is a Brazilian saying that the soccer prodigy Neymar and his family often laugh about. The phrase — calça de veludo ou bunda de fora — comes up frequently: when Neymar reminisces about his beginnings in street games in São Vicente, for example, or when someone asks, again, ‘Are you really better than Messi?’ Always, the family returns to calça de veludo ou bunda de fora. And then they all giggle.” NY Times
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July 9, 2012
“Spain’s win at Euro 2012 – their third consecutive major tournament win – has sparked off all kinds of comparisons in the bar room debate over the best international team of all time. Of course, such conversations have a strong subjective component, but it is hard to formulate arguments against the facts – and a fourth consecutive trophy will surely tip the balance in Spain’s favour. But title number four looks set to be the hardest of the lot. It entails doing what no European team has ever done – winning the World Cup on South American soil when the world come to Brazil in 2014.” BBC – Tim Vickery
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July 7, 2012
“Sonically speaking, Avenida Conde da Boa Vista in Recife is a typical Brazilian urban drag. Swarms of unsilenced motorbikes buzz back and forth, battalions of buses grind through the gears, and cheesy local pop blasts out from clothes and shoe stores. Endless verbal churn rattles back and forth between the shoppers and the coconut water sellers and the snack peddlers. Brazil’s big cities, it’s fair to say, are not always places to wander as lonely, or as peacefully, as a cloud.” World Soccer
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July 5, 2012
“By the end, Boca Juniors had been so comprehensively beaten that, as the South American football expert Rupert Fryer joked, they could not even raise themselves for the traditional post-Copa Libertadores final punch-up. Corinthians won 2-0 after a 1-1 draw in the first leg but the gulf between the sides was so vast, the chances of a comeback so slight, that it may as well have been quadruple that. And so, in their centenary year, seven months after the death of Sócrates, the most iconic player in their history, Corinthians won the Copa Libertadores for the first time. No more will there be cracks about ‘the 100-year-old virgin’.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson
Corinthian values
“The 2012 Copa Libertadores final ended up being fought out between two of South America’s biggest clubs. Boca Juniors, one of the competition’s most successful sides, who have six titles and are only one behind all-time record holders Independiente, and Corinthians, a club that despite their grand stature were hoping to win their first ever Copa. After a hard-fought couple of legs, it was Corinthians who came out on top, to become the 23rd different club to win the trophy.” ESPN
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July 4, 2012
“With a goal scrambled in from a set piece, Brazil beat Spain 1-0 in the final of the 2003 Under-17 World Cup in Finland. Spain, though, played most of the football. ‘We were the Brazilians today,’ said their coach Juan Santiesteban, after his team of little ball-players had lost out to opponents who carried much more physical presence. The overriding objective of youth football is to groom players for the senior side. Nearly a decade on, then, it is clear who really won the game. Not one of the Brazil team has played a serious competitive international. Cesc Fabregas and David Silva, meanwhile, have gone on to better things, combining on Sunday to put Spain on the way to a third consecutive major tournament win.” BBC – Tim Vickery
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July 4, 2012
“After becoming the first team to defend the European Championships, adding a second continental title to the World Cup won in 2010, many observers have been quick to label Spain the greatest team in the history of international football. An emphatic 4-0 thrashing of Italy, the biggest margin of victory ever seen in a world or European final, continued a remarkable run which has seen Spain not concede a goal in a knockout match since the great Zinedine Zidane found the back of their net for France at the 2006 World Cup.” CNN
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June 26, 2012
Independiente with the 1975 Copa Libertadores trophy
“This year’s Copa Libertadores final, between Boca Juniors and Corinthians, is a truly heavyweight clash. On and off the pitch, the two combatants are giants of South American football. They are both current national champions and hold 28 league titles and four national cup titles between them. They are the most popular clubs in their respective megacities, beloved for their working-class roots, and count their supporters in the tens of millions.” In Bed With Maradona
Corinthians close in on Libertadores dream
“Some 20 years ago, Corinthians director Luis Paulo Rosenberg made a promise to himself. He said, ‘[When we win the Copa Libertadores] I want to buy a bottle of cachaca (the local moonshine), drink it all myself and sleep in the gutter, drunk.’ He has never been closer to buying that bottle. In the 53rd version of the South America’s Champions League, the Brazilian giants have made it through to the final at last. They are two games away from lifting the trophy – the final is played on a home and away basis with the first match on 27 June and the return leg on 4 July.” BBC – Tim Vickery
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June 12, 2012
“The summer friendly has become a familiar genre for American fans, but this felt different. For one thing, Brazil and Argentina are perhaps the only teams in the world able to draw more than 80,000 people in the same time slot as Germany-Portugal — a European Championship game that actually matters. For another, it provided another chance to compare Neymar and Lionel Messi, excellent players in their own right and proxies in the cold war between Pele and Diego Maradona.” Guardian
4-4-2 G4M3 TH3ORY 4-3-2-1 4-2-2-2 3-4-1-2
“Brazil finds itself in an awkward position. After a desperately disappointing quarterfinal exit in the 2011 Copa América, the Seleçao has three years to put it right with only the Olympic Games this year and the Confederations Cup next in the way of ‘proper’ matches. (Even then, the Olympic Games allow only three players over the age of 23, and the quality of opposition in the Confederations Cup is questionable, as the major nations seem unsure of the tournament’s importance.) Other teams may complain about qualifiers, but they do at least offer an opportunity for competitive games.” Howler – Jonathan Wilson
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June 4, 2012
“A Rio newspaper on Sunday asserted that the European Championship is a World Cup without Brazil and Argentina. It is an expression used on both sides of the Atlantic – but that does not make it fair. European teams have disputed the last two World Cup finals but the continent also provides some of the dullest teams in the tournament. The phrase is unfair on Africa and Asia, where South Korea have made a consistent contribution to recent World Cups. If they needed home advantage to reach the semi-finals in 2002, then so did England in 1966 and France in 1998 to register their only wins.” BBC – Tim Vickery
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June 2, 2012
“Most of the time, when a ‘promising,’ ‘up-and-coming,’ ‘dangerous’ team is developing into an elite power, its progress resembles the climb of an elevator. The floor and the ceiling rise at the same pace. The team gets better when playing at its best, but it also gets reliably better when playing at its worst. Wins that once seemed crazy to think about (say, the Thunder rolling the Lakers) start to feel routine; losses that once seemed fairly normal (say, Manchester City hacking up a game to Everton) start to feel inexplicable and devastating. That’s part of what getting good is: raising expectations at both ends of the spectrum, as well as all the points in between.” Grantland – Brian Phillips
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