Brazil are the current holders of the FIFA Confederations Cup after winning the 2005 and the 2009 edition of the tournament. Brazil is currently ranked fifth by FIFA and is consistently considered the strongest football nation in the world, and has also been marked as one of the most competitive teams of each decade since the 1960s. Brazil are the only national team to have played in every World Cup finals.
Brazil is the only team to have won the championship in four different continents; once in Europe (1958 Sweden), once in South America (1962 Chile), twice in North America (1970 Mexico and 1994 USA) and once in Asia (2002 S. Korea-Japan). A common quip about football is: "Os ingleses o inventaram, os brasileiros o aperfeiçoaram" ("The English invented it, the Brazilians perfected it").
Brazil is currently coached by Mano Menezes, who was appointed to replace Dunga after the 2010 World Cup. Brazil is scheduled to host the 2013 Confederations Cup and the 2014 World Cup and therefore, they are automatically qualified for the tournaments.
History
All about: Football in Brazil
Early history (1914–1957)
The first match of the Brazil national football team ever is generally believed to be a 1914 match between a Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo select team and the English club Exeter City, held in Fluminense's stadium. Brazil won 2–0 with goals by Oswaldo Gomes and Osman, whilst others claim a 3–3 draw. In contrast to its future success, the national team's early appearances were far from brilliant, partly due to an internal strife within Brazilian football associations over professionalism, which rendered the Brazilian Football Confederation unable to field full-strength teams.
In particular, disputes between the São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro state football federations meant that the team would not be composed of players coming from either of the federations. In both the 1930 and 1934 tournaments, Brazil were knocked out at the very first stage. But 1938 was a sign of things to come, as Brazil ended up in third place, with Leonidas da Silva finishing the tournament as the top scorer of the tournament.
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 this championship to date (excluding the upcoming 2014 tournament). The 1950 tournament was unique in not having one single final, but rather a final round-robin stage of four teams. However, for all intents and purposes, the deciding match between Brazil and Uruguay acted as that tournament's "final". The match was hosted at the Maracanã 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 up 1–0. This match has since been known in South America as the "Maracanazo". In Brazil it is called the "Final Fatídica" ("fateful final").
For the 1954 FIFA World Cup in Switzerland, the Brazilian team was then almost completely renovated, so as to forget the Maracanã defeat, but still had a group of good players, including Nílton Santos, Djalma Santos, and Didi. Brazil didn't go very far though. The quarterfinals saw the favorites Hungary beat Brazil 4–2 in one of the ugliest matches in football history, which would become infamous as the Battle of Berne.
The Golden Era and Pelé (1958–1970)
Brazil's coach, Vicente Feola, imposed strict rules on the squad for the 1958 FIFA World Cup, held in Sweden. The players were given a list of forty things that they were not allowed to do, including wearing hats or umbrellas, smoking while wearing official uniforms and talking to the press outside of allocated times. They were the only team to bring a psychologist to the training camp (because the memories of 1950 still affected some players) or a dentist (for, because of their humble origins, many players had dental problems, which caused them infections and also had negative impact on performance), and had sent a representative to Europe to watch the qualifying matches a year before the tournament had begun.
Brazil were drawn in the toughest group, with England, the USSR and Austria. They beat Austria 3–0 in their first match, then drew 0–0 with England. The Brazilians had been worried about their match with the USSR, who had exceptional fitness and were one of the favourites to win the tournament; their strategy was to take risks at the beginning of the match to try and score an early goal. Before the match, the leaders of the team, Bellini, Nílton Santos, and Didi , spoke to coach Vicente Feola and persuaded him to make three substitutions which were crucial for Brazil to defeat the Soviets and win the Cup: Zito, Garrincha, and Pelé would start playing against the USSR. From the kick off, they passed the ball to Garrincha who beat three players before hitting the post with a shot. They kept up the pressure relentlessly, and after three minutes, which were later described as "the greatest three minutes in the history of football", Vavá gave Brazil the lead. They won the match by 2–0. Pelé scored the only goal of their quarter-final match against Wales, and they beat France 5–2 in the semi-final. Brazil beat the host Sweden, in the final by 5–2, winning their first World Cup and becoming the first nation to win a World Cup title outside of its own continent. A celebrated fact was that Feola would sometimes take naps during training sessions and would sometimes close his eyes during matches, giving the impression that he was asleep. Because of this, Didi was sometimes said to be the real coach of the team, as he commanded the midfield.
In the 1962 FIFA World Cup, Brazil earned its second title with Garrincha as the star player, a mantle and responsibility bestowed upon him after the regular talisman, Pelé, was injured during the first group match against Mexico and unable to play for the rest of the tournament.
In the 1966 FIFA World Cup, the preparation of the team was affected by political influences. All the major Brazilian clubs wanted their players included in the Brazilian team, to give them more exposure. In the final months of preparation to the World Cup, the coach Vicente Feola was working with 46 players, of which only 22 would go to England; this caused lots of internal dispute and psychological pressure on the players and managing staff. The result was that, in 1966, Brazil had their worst performance in all World Cups. Another perhaps bigger issue was that Pelé, who possibly had been at the height of his career at this stage, was chopped off at seemingly every opportunity in the group matches.The 1966 tournament was remembered for its excessive physical play, and Pelé was one of the players affected by such play. After becoming the first player ever to score in three World Cups, with a direct free kick against Bulgaria, he had to rest, due to fatigue, for the match against Hungary, which Brazil lost. He then faced Portugal, and several violent tackles by the Portuguese defenders caused him to leave the match and the tournament. Brazil lost that match and were eliminated in the first round of the World Cup for the first time since 1934. After the tournament, Pelé declared that he did not wish to play in the World Cup again.
Brazil won its third World Cup in Mexico in the 1970 FIFA World Cup. Brazil fielded what has since then been considered the best association football squad ever, led by Pelé in his last World Cup final, captain Carlos Alberto Torres, Jairzinho, Tostão, Gérson and Rivelino. After winning the Jules Rimet Trophy for the third time, Brazil were allowed to keep it for good.
Brazil’s results in 1970 were as follows:
Group 3: Brazil 4–1 Czechoslovakia Brazil 1–0 England Brazil 3–2 Romania
Quarter-final: Brazil 4–2 Peru Semi-final: Brazil 3–1 Uruguay Final: Brazil 4–1 Italy
Six games, six wins. Jairzinho was second top scorer with seven goals, Pele finished with four goals. Most importantly, Brazil lifted the Jules Rimet World Cup trophy for the third time [the first nation to do so], which meant they got to keep it. The dominance of the Brazil teams of 1958 to 1970 are the reason we have a different World Cup trophy today. However, it would be 24 years before Brazil got their hands on the new version.
The dry spell (1970–1994)
After the international retirement of Pelé and other stars from the 1970 squad, Brazil were not able to overcome Netherlands' Total Football in the 1974 FIFA World Cup. The generation of 1974 could not defend their title, finishing in fourth place, after failing to achieve victory against a strong Polish side.
The 1978 FIFA World Cup was notoriously controversial. In the second group stage, Brazil were competing with tournament host Argentina for top spot and a place in the finals. In their last group match, Brazil defeated Poland 3–1 to go top of the group with a goal difference of +5. Argentina were only on a goal difference of +2, but in their last group match, they managed, controversially[citation needed], to defeat Peru by 6–0 and thus qualify for the final. The Brazilian team were forced to settle for the third place match, where they defeated Italy by 2–1.
In the 1982 FIFA World Cup, the tournament favorites Brazil easily moved through the early part of the draw, but a 3–2 defeat to Italy, in one of the classic games in finals history, eliminated them from the tournament. Paolo Rossi scored all three of Italy's goals. The seleção was defeated in the match they still refer to as the "Sarrias Disaster", a reference to the stadium's name, and manager Telê would be much blamed by the Brazilian media for using an attacking system while a 2–2 draw was enough. The 1982 team, with players like Sócrates, Zico, Falcão and Éder, is best remembered as one of the greatest teams never to win a World Cup.
Telê Santana and several players of 1982 returned to play in the 1986 World Cup hosted by Mexico. The players of 1986 were older but still capable of an enchanting performance. They were troubled, however, by an injury Zico picked up before the World Cup. Incessant questions about whether and when he could play undoubtedly had some negative effect on the team. Brazil met France in the quarter-finals and the match is considered an absolute classic of "total football". Neither side deserved to lose but when Zico finally came on in the second half (with the score 1–1), and Brazil were awarded a penalty late in the game, Brazil seemed set to win. But Zico, the hero of a whole generation of Brazilian football fans, missed the penalty – and after a goalless but thoroughly exciting extra time it all came down to a penalty shoot out. There Zico managed to score from his penalty but Júlio César da Silva and Sócrates missed the goal in their turn, and despite French captain Michel Platini sending his effort over the cross bar, Brazil nevertheless were eliminated 4–3.
In the 1990 FIFA World Cup, Brazil was coached by Sebastião Lazaroni, who was hardly known before the Cup. With a defensive scheme, whose main symbol was mid-fielder Dunga, and three full-backs, the team lacked creativity but made it to the second round. Against a weaker Argentine side, the Brazilians applied heavy pressure and had numerous chances to score, but it was Claudio Caniggia who managed to find Brazil's net and eliminate them after a brilliant assist from Maradona.
More to come (1994–2002)
1994 World Cup
Brazil, to the surprise of many, went 24 years without winning a World Cup or even participating in a 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. Highlights of their campaign included a 1–0 victory over the host in the round of 16, a sensational 3–2 win over the Dutch in the quarter-finals (often cited as the game of the tournament) and a 1–0 win over the Swedes in the semis. This set up a classic confrontation, Brazil vs. Italy, in the final. After a dour and unexciting 0–0 draw, penalty kicks loomed, and when Roberto Baggio lifted his spot kick over the crossbar, Brazil were champions once again. A new era of dominance had begun.
1998 World Cup
Brazil finished runner-up in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. After a very respectable campaign during which they beat Netherlands on penalties in the semi-final following a 1–1 draw with goals from Ronaldo and Patrick Kluivert, the team lost to host France 3–0 in a 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. Many criticized the decision to reinstate Ronaldo into the starting lineup as he put on a poor performance.
2002 World Cup
Fuelled by the scintillating play of the "Three R's" (Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho), Brazil won its fifth championship at the 2002 FIFA World Cup held in South Korea and Japan. The groupings appeared at first glance to favor Brazilian team; their adversaries would be Turkey, China and Costa Rica. In the end, a stronger than expected Turkey finished the tournament in third place. Brazil went on to beat all three opponents, scoring 11 goals and conceding only three, and topping the group.
In Brazil's opening game against Turkey, Rivaldo fell to the ground clutching his face after Turkey's Hakan Ünsal had kicked the ball at his legs. Hakan Ünsal, who had already been booked, was sent off while Rivaldo jumped to his feet and continued playing. Rivaldo escaped suspension but was fined £5,180 for play-acting. He became the first player ever ,to be punished in FIFA's crackdown on "simulation" and "diving." They followed with a 4–0 win over China and a 5–2 win over Costa Rica.
Next, Brazil defeated Belgium 2–0, in the round-of-16. Against England in the quarter finals, Brazil won 2–1. Ronaldinho scored the winner with a remarkable lofted free kick and also assisted teammate Rivaldo for their first goal, but was sent off for stamping on the right ankle of England's Danny Mills. The semifinal was against Turkey, which Brazil had faced in their group. Again, this match was difficult, as Brazil won 1–0 with a goal by Ronaldo. Rivaldo had scored one goal in all five games up to this one but did not manage to hit the target in the sixth. He had seemed all set to repeat Jairzinho´s great achievement in 1970 when he scored in every game of the World Cup.
The final was between two of the most successful teams in the competition's history: Germany and Brazil. Incredibly, the teams had never played each other in the World Cup before, besides a match between Brazil and East Germany in the 1974 FIFA World Cup. German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn had been the tournament's best keeper, but was not able to maintain his post unscathed in this match, as Ronaldo vanquished his France '98 demons by scoring both goals in the Brazilian 2–0 triumph. Ronaldo also won the Golden Shoe as the tournament's leading scorer, though Kahn won the Golden Ball as the most outstanding player.
Parreira returns (2002–2006)
On June 29, 2005, Brazil won the Confederations Cup for the second time with an emphatic 4–1 victory over arch-rivals Argentina in Frankfurt, Germany. They also won another championship, the 2004 Copa América in which Brazil defeated Argentina in a penalty shootout.
Brazil at the 2006 FIFA World Cup
Brazilian's coach Carlos Alberto Parreira presented a formation nicknamed "The Magic Square" by the Brazilian sport journalists, based in 4 offensive players: Ronaldo, Adriano, Kaká, and Ronaldinho.
During the preparation stages, the team presented some problems. The team's greatest star Ronaldo had got a bad build-up, after returning from a two-month injury recovery. He also had blisters on his feet and a fever during the training matches.
Despite winning the first 2 games against Croatia (1–0) and Australia (2–0), the "Magic Square" didn't seem to work as expected and struggled to beat the opponents' defense. In the third game, manager Parreira tried a new squad with five former reserve players, including Robinho, and Cicinho. The changes were successful, as the team put on a comfortable 4–1 win against Japan.
The Brazilian squad preparing for the World Cup in Weggis, Switzerland.
During the second round, they defeated Ghana 3–0, with the Magic Square again this time. However, Brazil was eliminated in the quarterfinals against France by a score of 1–0. France was led by a rejuvenated Zinédine Zidane and by a strong defence which kept the Brazilian strikers under check for the duration of the game. Perhaps partially due to their uncommon formation, Brazil was shut out, attempting just one shot at French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez. The game was also notable for being the first time that the Brazil team had been shut out in 3 consecutive matches against France, now has a 2–1–1 all-time record in 1986, 1998 and 2006 in World Cup matches.
After elimination to France, the Brazil team was largely criticized by the press and the fans. The media circulated images of the left wingback Roberto Carlos tying his shoes while Henry ran unmarked to score the winning goal. The sporting legend Pelé blamed coach Parreira and Ronaldinho for the team's early elimination.
Dunga period (2006–2010)
1994 World Cup-winning captain Dunga was hired as Brazil's new team manager on July 24, 2006, almost right after the World Cup was over. Dunga's former teammate, Jorginho, was hired as his assistant. His first match in charge was against Norway which was played in Oslo on August 16, 2006, ended in a 1–1 draw. His second match was held against Argentina on September 3 in Arsenal's brand new Emirates Stadium in London, in which Brazil defeated Argentina by a 3–0 score. On September 5, they won over Wales by 2–0 at Tottenham Hotspur's White Hart Lane ground. They later defeated Kuwait club Al-Kuwait by 4–0, Ecuador by 2–1, and had a 2–1 away win against Switzerland.
Dunga's first defeat as Brazil's manager was on February 6, 2007 in a friendly match against Portugal, which at that time was coached by former Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari. Respectively on March 24 and March 27, 2007, Brazil bounced back from their first defeat under Dunga with wins in friendly matches against Chile (4–0) and Ghana (1–0) in Sweden.
Unlike Parreira, Dunga has focused on the task of deemphasizing all players and treating them as equals. He did not just look for players in popular clubs such as Milan, Barcelona, Real Madrid, etc., but looked at the whole scope of Europe, finding individual talents such as Vágner Love and Dudu Cearense who were playing for Russian club CSKA Moscow and Elano who was playing for Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk. Of the four players who were dubbed as the 'Magic Quartet', Ronaldinho and Kaká were the only players who had a regular place in the Brazil squad. Adriano was called back in the squad for a friendly against Portugal in February 2007, which Brazil lost 0–2. Dunga did not select the last member of the Magic Quartet, Ronaldo. Instead, Luís Fabiano has made the majority of appearances at striker.
2007 Copa América
Brazil participated in the 2007 Copa América which was hosted by Venezuela. They were placed in Group B with Mexico, Ecuador, and Chile. Brazil surprisingly lost to Mexico 2–0 in their opening match, then bounced back with a comfortable 3–0 victory over Chile with three goals from Robinho, and won 1–0 against Ecuador, Robinho scoring on a penalty kick. They advanced to the quarter-finals, where they defeated Chile again 6–1. The semi-final was against Uruguay, after a 2–2 draw, Brazil won 5–4 on penalties. Their opponent in the final was Argentina, which were the favorites to win, having won all their matches on the way to the final. However Brazil scored early in the 4th minute when Júlio Baptista scored, and then in the 45th minute, defender Roberto Ayala scored on an own goal. Later in the second half, in the 69th minute, substitute Dani Alves scored Brazil's third goal, as the scoreline became 3–0. After the tournament, Robinho was awarded the Golden Boot in addition to being named the best player in the tournament.
2009 FIFA Confederations Cup
The Brazilian team won the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa. Although they started with a shaky 4–3 victory over Egypt scoring a last minute penalty, having led 3–1 at half-time only for Egypt to pull level with two quick goals at the start of the second half. Egypt is also credited as the only African team to score three goals against Brazil. Brazil comfortably beat the USA, as well as Italy, both with a 3–0 scoreline. After beating South Africa in the semi-final with a late free kick, they went on to a rematch against USA in the final which they won 3–2, after coming in 2–0 down at half-time, to seal their third Confederations Cup title. Kaká was named as the player of the tournament and Luís Fabiano won the top goalscorer award with five goals in five matches.
2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
After a 3–1 victory over Argentina in Rosario, on September 5, 2009, Brazil qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Brazil topped the CONMEBOL qualification with 9 wins, 7 draws and 2 losses. The 2 losses came during the away match to Bolivia and Paraguay. Brazil also went undefeated at home during the qualification.
2010 FIFA World Cup
The Brazilian and North Korean teams in 2010.
On December 4, Brazil was drawn into Group G, dubbed as the Group of Death. The Seleção played their first match against Korea DPR on June 15, 2010 and won 2–1. On June 20, Brazil played their second match against Côte d'Ivoire and won 3–1, qualifying for the next round. Their last match against Portugal ended in a 0–0 draw. They faced Chile in the Round of Last 16. Juan, Luís Fabiano and Robinho scored the three goals to give Brazil a 3–0 win. In the quarterfinals they lost to the Netherlands 2–1 despite gaining an early lead.
After the 2010 World Cup (2010–)
On July 24, 2010, Mano Menezes was named as the new Brazil coach, replacing Dunga, whose contract was not renewed following Brazil's World Cup campaign.
On July 26, 2010, Menezes announced his first 24 man squad, including 10 debutants. Only four players from the 2010 FIFA World Cup team were named in the squad (Robinho, Daniel Alves, Ramires and Thiago Silva.) Players included in that squad but left out of the 23-man in the World Cup included Alexandre Pato of Milan, Lucas Leiva of Liverpool, Ganso of Santos, and Sandro of Tottenham Hotspur. Menezes' first match was a 2–0 win over the United States. Neymar scored on his debut for the national team, and also won the man of the match award.
2011 Copa América
At the 2011 Copa América, Brazil was put in Group B with Venezuela, Paraguay, and Ecuador. In their first two games they drew with Venezuela and Paraguay. In their last game, Brazil beat Ecuador 4–2 to advance to the quarter-finals as well finishing first in their group. Eventually, Brazil lost in the penalty shootout against Paraguay and was eliminated in the quarterfinals.
After receiving much criticism from Brazil's failure at the Copa America, Mano Menezes decided to call up the likes of Marcelo, Hulk, and Ronaldinho which signals a return to the old Joga Bonito style.
Brazil Olympic football team
The Olympic football tournament is the only international competition in football organized by FIFA that Brazil has never won, although they have won two silver medals (1984 and 1988) and two bronze medals (1996, 2008).[34] The Brazilian Olympic team is often coached by the current national team coach, such as Mario Zagallo in 1996 and Dunga in 2008.
Nicknames
The Brazilian national team has many nicknames and are known in different parts of the world by various nicknames. The most common one used to refer to them, especially in Brazil, is seleção, which literally means the selection. Brazilians call any national team from any country or sport a seleção and because of this it has become common for the national team to be referred to as the Seleção Brasileira or, more specifically in the case of the national football team, the Seleção Brasileira de Futebol. Although the Brazilian media have popularized seleção, other nicknames for the squad in Brazil include Canarinho, meaning "Little Canary", a phrase that was popularized by the late cartoonist Fernando Pieruccetti during the 1950 World Cup. Other names like Amarelinha, "Little Yellow One", Verde-amarelo, or "Green-Yellow", Pentacampeão, "Five-time Champions", Esquadrão de Ouro (the Golden Squad), some latin american commentators often refer to the Brazil National team El Scratch (The Scratch), among others.
Venues
Brazil does not have a home national stadium like many other national teams and as such rotate their home World Cup qualifying matches through various venues: the Estádio do Maracanã or Estádio Olímpico João Havelange in Rio de Janeiro, the Estádio do Morumbi or Estádio do Pacaembu in São Paulo, the Mineirão in Belo Horizonte, the Estádio Mané Garrincha in the capital Brasília and the Estádio Beira-Rio in Porto Alegre. Some smaller provincial stadia were used in the 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign.
Since September 2006, Brazil have played many international friendlies at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium in London. After their initial 3–0 win over Argentina drew a near sell-out attendance and was screened live on BBC Two, Brazil have returned to the ground regularly, facing Wales, Portugal, Sweden, Italy, Republic of Ireland and most recently against Scotland.
Uniform evolution
Brazil's first team colours were white with blue collars, but following defeat in the Maracanã at the 1950 World Cup, the colours were criticised for lacking patriotism. With permission from the Brazilian Sports Confederation, the newspaper Correio da Manhã held a competition to design a kit incorporating the four colours of the Brazilian flag. The winning design was a yellow jersey with green trim and blue shorts with white trim drawn by Aldyr Garcia Schlee, a nineteen year old from Pelotas. The new colours were first used in March 1954 in a match against Chile, and have been used ever since.
The use of blue as the away kit colour dates from the 30s, but it became the permanent second choice accidentally in the 1958 World Cup Final. Brazil's opponents were Sweden, who also wear yellow, and a draw gave the home team, Sweden, the right to play in yellow. Brazil, who travelled with no spare kit, hurriedly purchased a set of blue shirts and sewed on emblems cut from their yellow shirts.
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