World Cup Soccer 2010: Brazil the great
Yesterday's football match between Brazil and North Korea was an almost evenly matched contest, even though Brazil won it in the end. Brazil is a fantastic football nation and it seems nothing can stop them. There are many factors that make them so good at the game and they just beg to be explored in more detail. Which team, if any, has the potential to stop this team that is football crazy? A nation can be good at many things but what are those particular factors that make the Brazilians so good at a game they play with their feet.
The South American nation that is the current king of football has a lot of things going in its favour to be able to produce so many star players. It isn't only about star players though, the team seems to gel very well together and the unity and camaraderie they show is second to none. The fact that the play so well as a team that is made up of so many quality players is a big factor in how good they are. The name of the country has come to be synonymous with the game of football itself. "Brazil. That single word has come to sum up the very best of football. It stands for artistry, inspiration and genius”. What exactly makes this nation so good at the sport of football though?
An interesting comparison can be made between the way Brazilians play football in their country and the way people in the Subcontinent play cricket. In the Subcontinent, a lot of cricket is played on the streets and people start pick-up games wherever they can. The same seems to be true in Brazil; young people all over the country play their favourite sport in the streets, in small tight spaces and wherever they can. "Playing in small spaces helps you develop your close control which is vital in the game of soccer. Look at any professional Brazilian player; he used to play in small spaces which helped him develop his close control and dribbling ability which Brazilians are famous for”. This impromptu nature of the game and the control the young players learn while playing on the street helps them develop and hone those skills for their future professional careers.
The other big reason for why the country is so good at the game is the fact that the entire country is extremely passionate about football. It is the national sport and everyone from young to old enjoys it at every level. "Football in Brazil is like a religion. Here in Brazil, we breathe football 24 hours a day”. This article goes on to talk about some very interesting other aspects that make Brazil a national pastime. It says that even though no one can pinpoint an exact reason why the game is so popular in Brazil, many have put forth different arguments as to why it might be so. A sociologist has the following to say about it, "maybe because we didn't have to fight for independence, we don't have earthquakes or things like that. We didn't go to war”. A reason to their football greatness is also linked with the fact that Samba is very popular in the country and a lot of children learn the dance form at a young age and so footballers when they grow up have the ability to dance with the ball.
Even though the above reasons are very interesting to think about, they don't give a definite answer. The most unique reason though is given by the same sociologist from the article above who thinks it may have something to do with the fact that slavery was abolished relatively late in the country; at the end of the 19th century and the lack of positive symbols. It seems that football became the one single uniting and socially binding positive symbol that the entire country needed and could hold onto and claim as their own. And claim as their own they did, having won five World Cup trophies already and on track to win their sixth, there seems that there is nothing that can stand in the way of this dancing, weaving, magic creating football mad team.
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