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/ 12 February 2011
The British scientist Stephen Wolfram has a clear vision for the future — a vision that dates back to his childhood in the 1960s and 70s.
When Brazil played Ghana in the World Cup last month, the South Americans’ coach, Carlos Alberto Parreira, described the Africans as no longer a team of football ”innocents”. He should know: he was one of the men responsible for modernising their game.
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”Joga bonito was invented by a sports brand,” smirked Roberto Carlos, reliably the most indiscreet member of Brazil’s squad. ”You can’t blame us for that. Brazilian football is intelligent and winning, with great champions — that’s what we have always been. When you start talking about the beautiful game, that’s more about selling things.”
Radio Marco Zero is a tiny radio station in Amapa, one of Brazil’s remotest Amazon states. Yet its few thousand listeners in the state capital, Macapa, have for the past month been able to hear exclusive hourly updates about the Brazilian national team. ”In the 254 years since Macapa was founded, no one has ever had the chance to come to a World Cup,” says Tarciso Franco, one of the station’s two journalists in Germany.
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It had meant getting up at 5am and travelling for almost three hours across Switzerland, but for Maria da Silva Hasler the effort was worth it. ”I am felicissima — as happy as can be!” said the 39-year-old Brazilian, accompanied by her Swiss husband, Lukas.
It may be the beautiful game, but until now football has proved to be resolutely uncinematic. Though sports such as baseball, horse racing and American football have all inspired classic movies, soccer has wallowed conspicuously in Hollywood’s second division. Yet this could be about to change.
The ancient Grecians (as Exeter are known) were figures of legend: the first professional team to play in Brazil and first opponents for the national team. Their successors, who took on a team of veteran internationals last Sunday, are rather less well known.
What’s in a name? Quite a lot, actually, and especially if you are talking about Brazil.
The four-times World Cup champions are the only major sporting country in which athletes are most commonly known by their first names or nicknames.