Why Brazil should not win again?
(With the defending champions Brazil starting their campaign today, guest blogger Raam Shanker thinks it will be bad for the beautiful game if the Samba Kings are allowed to walk away with the trophy for the record sixth time.)
Their defeat to Uruguay in the finals of 1950, in front of their own people inflicted deep wounds into the minds of the Brazilian people. Its influence must be so strong that, young footballers are bred with this hard-hitting truth, which has perhaps led to Brazil producing players of great quality, who understand the value of playing for their country. When you see a Brazilian team on the pitch, you can feel it; they don't play for money or fame, but only for national honor and pride. There is a message to the rest of the world, a message that says: "You need to be special to play football for Brazil." Their games are an attempt to erase the scars of 1950, but I wish those scars never go, for if the scars disappeared I am left wondering, whether we will get to see the beautiful game ever!
Now, coming back to a few harsh realities of the beautiful game. Statistics say that the last time a Latin American team won a World Cup in Europe was back in Sweden 1958. Now who won it? Brazil! Wait! Another statistic; Incidentally, Brazil is the only Latin American team to win in Europe! When I say Latin America, I also include Mexico. I do personally believe that statistics are like bikinis, what they reveal is suggestive but what they hide is essential. Now having said this let’s make an effort to see what they possibly reveal in this case and what they try to suggest.
The easiest conclusion is that European teams have dominated in Europe and also no European team has won outside the continent. A very logical and common explanation one can give is weather and playing conditions in Europe being different from Latin America. All said and done, there have been two World Cups played outside Europe and Latin America; USA 1994 and Korea-Japan 2002. Brazil won them both against European opposition, Italy in 1994 and Germany in 2002. Some more fun, Italy 1990 and France 1998 were the last two Cups to be held in Europe and they were won by European teams, Germany and France respectively, and the runners up? Latin American teams, Argentina in 1990 and Brazil in 1998.
There is something else too. We call as premature-peak-syndrome (PPS). It happened to Argentina, and the defending champions France in 2002. Apparently Argentina were the strong favorites to win the cup simply due to their stunning form in qualifying and in the pre-world cup matches. But when the tournament started, they had lost the pristine touch that they possessed. On the other hand, Brazil and Germany were the least favorites to win the cup. But look what happened. They, of all teams made it to the finals. When I talk of France, I must say that they are the reason for a major rule change after the last edition of the cup. Their miserable performance and eventual exit after the first round came as a surprise to the footballing fraternity. Hence FIFA decided that even the defending champions had to qualify, which actually saw Brazil as the first defending champions to endure qualifying.
The media for obvious reasons has hyped them. They have the flair and they have what it takes to win the World Cup. But if they win it, won’t it be all too boring? I mean FIFA would not want it, would they? Give this a thought, the game was born in Europe, FIFA is based in Europe and the championship is staged in Europe. More importantly, Brazil has dominated the World Cup by winning a record five times. A sixth championship will make it all tasteless and boring, yes very similar to Ferrari’s domination of the FIA Formula One World Championship in the first half of this decade. Yes football is a beautiful game and the Samba Kings are masters at it. But there is something bigger than them. Money! It makes the world go round. Money will flow in only when people like it and people surely don’t like to see the same team gather glory once every four years. So for these simple reasons, Brazil should not win this edition.
(Raam Shanker is a diehard fan of football and Formula One. He strongly thinks this is England’s year to lift the trophy.)
(With the defending champions Brazil starting their campaign today, guest blogger Raam Shanker thinks it will be bad for the beautiful game if the Samba Kings are allowed to walk away with the trophy for the record sixth time.)
Their defeat to Uruguay in the finals of 1950, in front of their own people inflicted deep wounds into the minds of the Brazilian people. Its influence must be so strong that, young footballers are bred with this hard-hitting truth, which has perhaps led to Brazil producing players of great quality, who understand the value of playing for their country. When you see a Brazilian team on the pitch, you can feel it; they don't play for money or fame, but only for national honor and pride. There is a message to the rest of the world, a message that says: "You need to be special to play football for Brazil." Their games are an attempt to erase the scars of 1950, but I wish those scars never go, for if the scars disappeared I am left wondering, whether we will get to see the beautiful game ever!
Now, coming back to a few harsh realities of the beautiful game. Statistics say that the last time a Latin American team won a World Cup in Europe was back in Sweden 1958. Now who won it? Brazil! Wait! Another statistic; Incidentally, Brazil is the only Latin American team to win in Europe! When I say Latin America, I also include Mexico. I do personally believe that statistics are like bikinis, what they reveal is suggestive but what they hide is essential. Now having said this let’s make an effort to see what they possibly reveal in this case and what they try to suggest.
The easiest conclusion is that European teams have dominated in Europe and also no European team has won outside the continent. A very logical and common explanation one can give is weather and playing conditions in Europe being different from Latin America. All said and done, there have been two World Cups played outside Europe and Latin America; USA 1994 and Korea-Japan 2002. Brazil won them both against European opposition, Italy in 1994 and Germany in 2002. Some more fun, Italy 1990 and France 1998 were the last two Cups to be held in Europe and they were won by European teams, Germany and France respectively, and the runners up? Latin American teams, Argentina in 1990 and Brazil in 1998.There is something else too. We call as premature-peak-syndrome (PPS). It happened to Argentina, and the defending champions France in 2002. Apparently Argentina were the strong favorites to win the cup simply due to their stunning form in qualifying and in the pre-world cup matches. But when the tournament started, they had lost the pristine touch that they possessed. On the other hand, Brazil and Germany were the least favorites to win the cup. But look what happened. They, of all teams made it to the finals. When I talk of France, I must say that they are the reason for a major rule change after the last edition of the cup. Their miserable performance and eventual exit after the first round came as a surprise to the footballing fraternity. Hence FIFA decided that even the defending champions had to qualify, which actually saw Brazil as the first defending champions to endure qualifying.
The media for obvious reasons has hyped them. They have the flair and they have what it takes to win the World Cup. But if they win it, won’t it be all too boring? I mean FIFA would not want it, would they? Give this a thought, the game was born in Europe, FIFA is based in Europe and the championship is staged in Europe. More importantly, Brazil has dominated the World Cup by winning a record five times. A sixth championship will make it all tasteless and boring, yes very similar to Ferrari’s domination of the FIA Formula One World Championship in the first half of this decade. Yes football is a beautiful game and the Samba Kings are masters at it. But there is something bigger than them. Money! It makes the world go round. Money will flow in only when people like it and people surely don’t like to see the same team gather glory once every four years. So for these simple reasons, Brazil should not win this edition.(Raam Shanker is a diehard fan of football and Formula One. He strongly thinks this is England’s year to lift the trophy.)
posted by Kabilan K at
1:27 PM
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