SAO PAULO // We are in the midst of a 48-hour period in Brazilian football that perfectly encapsulates all that is wrong with the sport in its spiritual home.
Monday marked 100 years since Brazil played their first international match, while Tuesday will see the unveiling of the country’s new coach. Both events are monumental occasions and deserve proper care and attention yet both appear to have also been treated with alarming irreverence by the CBF, the Brazilian football association.
In 1914, two years after the Titanic sank, English side Exeter City set sail from Southampton on an 18-day journey to South America. On arrival, they embarked on a month-long pre-season tour where, after playing five games in Argentina, they played a further three matches in Brazil.
Little did they know their final match there would spawn the greatest footballing nation of all time.
Football had arrived in Brazil two decades earlier courtesy of Charles Miller, the son of a Scottish railway engineer, but while it had proved popular in both Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, players from both cities had never before been grouped together.
Exeter beat two local Rio teams before, on July 21, 1914, a selection of seven players from the host city and four from its southern neighbour, Sao Paulo, joined forces to face the English professionals. It is widely cited as Brazil’s first international match, they won 2-0, and the national team has been known as the “Selecao”, or Selection, ever since.
The 100-year anniversary of a side that would go on to win five World Cups and become the most successful football country in the world should have been a magnificent occasion.
Brazil’s historic day could have been marked with pomp and pride and patriotism. Instead it was largely ignored by the national team’s decision makers.
Exeter, now playing in England’s fourth tier and short on money, approached the CBF two years ago suggesting a rematch, but were greeted with disinterest. Instead, with the financial help of a Rio-based side, Exeter arrived in Brazil this week for a celebratory match not against the national team, but against Fluminense’s Under-23s. It was held at the original Estadio das Laranjeiras on Sunday and finished 0-0.
For the CBF to discard the opportunity to commemorate the country’s football history and show such little courtesy to the small English team that helped pave the way is disappointing.
For a football association recently shown to live off former glories, it could have been a joyous and important afternoon. Instead it was completely overlooked; the only obvious acknowledgement by the Brazilian FA being a brief post on its official website.
Ten years ago, when Exeter marked their own centenary, they organised a match with Brazil Masters, a veteran side that included former players such as Branco, Careca and Dunga. It proved a popular event and gave the fans of the small-time team a special memory.
The CBF in dismissing Exeter’s enthusiasm showed that the Brazilian businessmen in charge now think they are above such acts of thoughtfulness.
History is history – unless it is required to prove the team is still a superpower.
On Tuesday, less than a week after Luiz Felipe Scolari resigned, CBF will announce the man to replace him at the helm of the national team and it seems this time they are happy to look at sepia-tinged photos.
Dunga is unlikely to have time to make Masters appearances any time soon if, as expected, he is presented when the curtain falls.
The 1994 World Cup-winning player is not the popular choice for manager. Coach between 2006 and 2010, he was fired by CBF after being eliminated in the World Cup quarter-finals in South Africa. During that spell he made few friends in the media and developed a reputation for being as abrasive off the pitch as he was tenacious on it.
There are other options aside from Dunga, yet regardless of managerial personnel, what Brazilian football really needed was not another quick decision with an outcome that has been tried and tested before. What it needed was an overhaul from the top down.
A storied history is no longer enough for a football team to succeed, especially when the country’s football association does not appear to respect it. Brazil must realise this before it can realise its goals.
For now though, Dunga looks likely to be tasked with the challenge of rewriting history and proving himself a malleable coach. A new chapter awaits.
gmeenaghan@thenational.ae
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