Is Brazil still the country of football? This is how managers, coaches, players and fans see it

With his colorful play, his legendary stars and his five world titles, Brazil has long been described as the ‘nation of football’. But this status is increasingly threatened.

Pele, Garrincha, Ronaldinho…These names are every football fan’s dream. Today, the Seleçao is a shadow of what it once was.

They haven’t won a World Cup since 2002, and a whole generation of players has come and gone since the last Brazilian Ballon d’Or, won by Come on in 2007.

“We are in the doldrums. Before there are more high-level players,” he recently told AFP Edinhoeldest son of “King” Pelé.

Even the President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva admitted that Brazilian football “is no longer the best in the world.”

How did we get here?

The first clue can be found in the streets, which are increasingly deserted by budding footballers.

It’s in the alleys and open fields where the stars want to be Rivellino, Zico and Romario They kicked their first balls.

“You don’t see children playing in the street anymore, you don’t hear windows breaking” after the untimely gunshots, he lamented Laura Nascimento52 year old rookie club player dawnto the north of São Paulo.

As a child, he broke several toes playing barefoot on the dirt roads littered with large rocks around Vila Aurora. Today, the streets are paved.

The buildings were built in open fields where Laura Nascimento He also played his frenetic games.

Children from poor neighborhoods, where most of Brazil’s soccer stars come from, find it increasingly difficult to find places to play.

According to an independent study in 2021, only a fifth of football schools in Brazil They are free.

Most are played on artificial grass, where it is easier to control the ball than on the uneven open field surfaces where many of the best players acquired their unique technical skills.

“The passion for football still exists, but nowadays it’s harder to play,” he said. Edson Nascimento57 years old, club president dawn.

The fact that fewer children play soccer in Brazil “has a big impact on our soccer,” the researcher said Euler Victor.

“We have a large number of players playing Europebut very few of them do it at the highest level,” he added.

Neymar, Vinicius, Endrick…

The last great star of Brazil, Neymar, He shined for a few years, but his career was plagued by injuries and controversy.

Hope is now pinned Viniciusthe 23-year-old forward whirlwind of real Madridand to the 17-year-old gem Endrick, who will soon join him at the Spanish club.

Brazil It remains the world’s leading exporter of footballers, but sales revenue has fallen.

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 FIFA.

This is mainly because Brazilian nuggets like Endrick, Vinicius and Rodrygo Younger and younger players are sold in Europe, before their market value explodes when they confirm their potential to play at the highest level.

Brazilians also struggle to stand out in an increasingly homogenous football world, where tactics are often prioritized over individual technical quality.

“The technical level has dropped a lot (…). The style of play has changed and ended up robbing our players of creativity,” he laments. Victor Hugo da Silva. He trains children from 7 to 10 years old on the artificial grass at the soccer school that trained Viniciusin Sao Gonçaloa poor suburb nearby Rio de Janeiro.

“Our football, which once brought out the joy of living, has become more mechanical,” he insisted.

One of his students, the goalkeeper Miguelnine years old, with hair dyed blonde like sa Neymardream of “entering the Flamengo academy”, the most famous club in Brazil.

Victor Hugo da Silva the passion of the new generations is not questioned. 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 kids who had played on the street. Now they come with no experience, no motor coordination, and that shows in their game,” the coach explained.

But Leila Pereirapresident of Palmeiras, two-time national champion, insisted that Brazil will “not” lose the title “land of football.”

This is the São Paulo club that was formed Endricksold to true for more than 60 million euros, according to the local press.

“If there really is a decline in quality, we won’t be paying these astronomical sums,” he said. Leila Pereiraone of the few women running clubs in the world.

Brazilian clubs have shown impressive supremacy in South American competitions, winning the last five trophies in Libertadores Cuptwo of them were conquered by Palmeiras.

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 distance themselves from the popular classes in the name of the business of football.

“By paying players huge salaries, clubs have to sell the most expensive tickets, and this prevents fans like me from coming to the stadium,” he lamented. David Santos. Living in a favela rivercan’t afford to go to the games Flamengo within Maracanatemple of Brazilian football.