12th June, 2014. Brazil opens a World Cup as host for the first time in 64 years with a group match against Croatia. The Brazil team lines up arm in arm as the opening chords of the national anthem whir around Arena Corinthians. Before the opening lyrics are uttered, Neymar is pictured blinking back tears, as are several of his teammates – the emotion of the occasion producing an undevourable lump in their throats. Hulk, […]
For Dunga and Brazil, the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup get underway in October, so the coach does not have much time to pick over the rubble of a pretty disastrous Copa América campaign. The Copa is usually considered a neat precursor to the qualifiers. It marks the beginning of a new cycle in the international calendar, and as such, many coaches use it as a laboratory to perfect the formula for the seasons […]
When asked the question – “which is the greatest footballing nation ever?” – the majority would answer Brazil, or the first name that would come to one’s mind will be Brazil. Despite this, The Seleção are going through one of their roughest periods at the moment, with critics claiming that it’s the worst Brazilian national team in recent history. Some have gone as far as to say that they’re being carried by the one and only star man in the […]
Neymar’s absence from the rest of the World Cup has turned into a national crisis. Even Brazil’s president Dilma Rousseff chimed in with this message for the main man, in what a cynic might see as a political move to get fans onside ahead of October’s elections… The worrying thing is that no one seems to have a confident answer when asked about the team without Neymar. Even more worrying is the prospect of playing […]
The nominees have been announced for the 2013 Samba Gold award which attempts to determine the best, or most popular, Brazilian footballer plying his trade in the European leagues. The award is run by the Brazilian football website Sambafoot, and is now in it’s 6th year. Previous winners include Kaká at Milan in 2008, Luis Fabiano at Sevilla (2009), Maicon at Inter in 2010, and Thiago Silva, who has won the last two awards whilst […]