A friend of mine has a theory about the Champions League. It goes: ”My Brazilians are better than your Brazilians” — and it has substance. As Europe’s elite competition got under way this month, there was yet more evidence of results being defined by sons of South America.
Of the 71 nationalities taking part in the Champions League this season, Spain is the best represented. This is not a surprise, considering they have four teams in the competition (four-and-a-half, if you include Liverpool) and export players more prolifically than any other major European league.
Brazil is the second best represented country. Think about that. There are more Brazilians than there are English, Italians, Germans, Dutch or French, even though they do not have a club in the tournament. Why? Because nobody has the knack to make a difference quite like they do.
In the first round of matches, Real Madrid arrived in Lyon to show off their new attacking accoutrements, only to find Robinho’s dazzling feints and Julio Baptista’s muscle-bound runs shunted into the shadows by Juninho Pernambucano and his spellbinding free-kicks. It was also pertinent to think that next time Real want to buy yellow-shirted wonders, they might consider picking up a couple of uncompromising, ball-playing defenders such as Claudio Capaca and Cris, who also impressed in the French champions’ 3-0 win.
Elsewhere, Kaka scored a goal for AC Milan that bore comparison with Diego Maradona’s legendary slalom against England in 1986, Ronaldinho and Deco (born in Sao Bernardo don Campo) were on target for Barcelona, while FC Thun’s band of B-list Brazilians were outpowered by Arsenal’s one, Gilberto Silva, who had a dominant game in midfield and scored the first goal.
Of the 67 Brazilians scattered around the Champions League squads, Gilberto is the only one on the books of the five British participants. You could almost draw a line across Europe to split the haves from the have-nots. Naturally enough, Brazilians gravitate towards the Mediterranean countries.
While Roman Abramovich is yet to spend any reals, and conspiracy theorists have noted Sir Alex Ferguson has struggled to inspire the best from Latin players (Juan Sebastian Veron, Diego Forlan and Kleberson faltered), there is a serious reason why so few Brazilians make it to the Premiership.
Let’s take the example of Frederico Chaves Guedes, otherwise known as Fred. The 22-year-old predator joined Lyon with outstanding credentials. He scored 40 goals in 43 games for Cruzeiro and is tipped to join Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Adriano in the Selecao in good time for next year’s World Cup finals.
But Fred was off-limits to English clubs because he does not meet requirements for a work permit (as a non-EU player, he must play 75% of his country’s international games). Should an English club want to buy him when he has fulfilled the requirements, his price will have rocketed. ”In Brazil, everyone knows Lyon and their Brazilians,” he says. ”That made an enormous difference to me choosing to come here.”
The Champions League is a big pull. ”Completely different to the Brazilian championship,” says Cris. ”There, when a Champions League match is on TV, the players demand to stop training to watch the match. It has that much impact.”
The under-17 World Cup kicked off in Peru on Friday night (holders Brazil, who have won it three times out of four, are the team to beat). This is the age group in which Ronaldo shone in 1993. Ronaldinho was a champion four years later and Adriano two years after that. How many English scouts will be in Peru? And how many interesting prospects can be followed up on while they are relatively cheap?
It is impossible to believe the likes of Arsène Wenger and Rafael Benitez are not deeply frustrated. English clubs are being handicapped when it comes to the cream of South American and African youth. Elsewhere in Europe there are no such severe restrictions.
Brazilian football fans have mixed feelings about the exodus of top players. There is pride in their achievements and that they are the great entertainers in a tournament held in another major football continent, but there is frustration that players they love are so far away, not evolving in their own clubs.
When South American clubs meet their European counterparts in the Intercontinental Cup, they relish the chance to prove that, even if Europe ”steals” the best, the rest are classy enough to compete with them. São Paulo are looking forward to playing Liverpool and, if they win, there will be a similar reaction to when Boca Juniors beat AC Milan in 2003. A quarter of a million fans hailed them at the airport.
Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has no such emotional dilemma. He says that he would prefer all his players to be in Europe because it helps them to develop their strategic sense. The Champions League might have helped Brazilians to grip a European style, but it does not seem to have helped Europeans to get that much of a grip on Brazilians.
Of course, Liverpool disproved the theory in last season’s Champions League, becoming the first team to win the competition without a South American in the first XI since Manchester United’s triumph in 1999. So, anyone non-British without any Brazilian influence might as well forget it. — Â