Football is the most popular sport in Brazil. The Brazilian national football team has won the FIFA World Cup tournament a record 5 times, in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002,[1] and is the only team to succeed in qualifying for every World Cup competition ever held. It is among the favourites to win the trophy every time the competition is scheduled. After Brazil won its 3rd World Cup in 1970, they were awarded the Jules Rimet Trophy permanently.
Pelé, one of the most recognized Footballers in history, led Brazil to 3 of those championships and is the top scorer of all time in the sport. All of the leading players in the national teams are prominent in the football world, including Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, and Kaká in the men's game, and Marta in the women's game. Some of these players can be considered super-stars, achieving celebrity status internationally and signing sports contracts, as well as advertisement and endorsement contracts, in the value of millions of euros.
Football is taken very seriously in Brazil.[2] During the World Cup workers pause from their duties to watch their team in action,[2] and banks shut down 3 hours before matches to allow their workers prepare for the game.[2]
The governing body of football in Brazil is the Brazilian Football Confederation. Brazil will host the 2014 FIFA World Cup.[2]
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Football was introduced to Brazil by a Scottish expatriate named Thomas Donohue.[3] The first football match played in Brazil was in April 1894, played on a pitch marked out by Donohue next to his workplace in Bangu.[3]
In the 1870s, like many other British workers, a Scottish expatriate named John Miller, worked on the railway construction project in São Paulo with other European immigrants.[4][5][6] In 1884, Miller sent his 10-year-old son Charles William Miller to Bannister School in Southampton, England to be educated. Charles was a skilled athlete who quickly picked up the game of football at the time when the Football League was still being formed, and as an accomplished winger and striker Charles held school honours that gained him entry into the Southampton Football Club team, and later into the County team of Hampshire.
In 1888, the first sports club was founded in the city, São Paulo Athletic Club. In 1892, while still in England, Charles was invited to play a game for Corinthian F.C., a team formed of players invited from public schools and universities. On his return to Brazil, Charles brought some football equipment and a rule book with him. He then taught the rules of the game to players in São Paulo. São Paulo Athletic Club won the first 3 year's championships. Miller's skills were far above his colleagues at this stage. He was given the honour of contributing his name to a move involving a deft flick of the Ball with the heel "Chaleira" (the "tea-pot"). The first match played by one of Miller's teams was six months after Donohue's.[3]
Charles Miller kept a strong bond with English football throughout his life. Teams from Southampton and Corinthians Club travelled to Brazil to play against São Paulo Athletic Club and other teams in the city of São Paulo. After a tour of Corinthians to Brazil in 1910, a new team in Brazil took on the name of Corinthians after a suggestion from Miller.
The Brazilian Football Confederation was founded in 1914, but the current format for the Campeonato Brasileiro was only established in 1971.
In 1988, São Paulo Futebol Clube celebrated its centenary playing the English side Corinthians at the Morumbi Stadium. The English Corinthians finished its tour by going against the local professional SC Corinthians Paulista team, who counted the likes of Sócrates and Rivelino amongst its roster, at Pacaembu Stadium in São Paulo. True to the Corinthian principles of fair play, the score was 1-0 in favour of the locals when, as agreed, Socrates changed shirts to play alongside the English amateurs. This did not affect the score, although a largely packed stadium was cheering on for a drawn result.
It was announced that on September 29, 2007, that the CBF would launch a Women's Association Football league and cup competition in October 2007 following pressure from FIFA president Sepp Blatter during the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup in China.[7][8]
Brazilian Football is known for its trickery, and fast flowing attacking style of play , and is considered a reflection of the country's multiracial society. Brazil's unique style is characterised by creativity, and is called Ginga.
The great footballing ability of Brazilians could be traced to the physical coordination and rhythm associated with the Capoeira and Samba, which are characterized by footsteps to dance, or to playing to the rhythm of African drums.[9] It is believed that this unique style was developed in the low income areas largely populated by people of African descent .
Football is the most popular sport in Brazil. Football quickly became a passion for Brazilians, who often refer to their country as "o País do Futebol" ("the country of Football"). Over 10,000 Brazilians play professionally all over the world.[10]
Football has a major effect on Brazilian Culture. It is the favourite pastime of youngsters playing football on the streets and indoor futebol de salao fields. The World Cup draws Brazilians together, with people skipping work to view the national team play, or employers setting up places for employees to watch. The General Elections are usually held in the same year as the World Cup, and critics argue that political parties try to take advantage of the nationalistic surge created by football and bring it into politics. Former Brazilian footballers are often elected to legislative positions.
One unique aspect of football in Brazil is the importance of the Brazilian State Championships. For much of the early development of the game in Brazil, the nation's size and the lack of rapid transport made national competitions unfeasible, so the competition centred on state tournaments and inter-state competitions like the Torneio Rio-São Paulo. Even today, despite the existence of a national tournament, the state tournaments continue to be hotly contested and the intrastate rivalries remain intense.
Women's Football is not as popular in Brazil as Men's Football, although it has increased in popularity in the 2000s.
Due to strong and continuing social stigma, Brazilian society only minimally supports women's football. There is a sexist belief that football is not a sport for women. The country lacks a national women's league, and runs only small amateur and semi-professional regional competitions because there is limited financial interest and support. The national league Campeonato Brasileiro de Futebol Feminino ran for a year and was cancelled.
The best players, such as Marta and Cristiane, were accidentally and directly invited to play on the Brazil women's national football team. In recent years, the national team contested the World Cup finals and Olympics gold medals, increasing the popularity of TV broadcasts of those tournaments. However, this was not sufficient to stimulate the footballing culture among women who prefer to support men's football over women's. Brazil has developed a major rivalry with the United States women's national soccer team.
Football is shown in television in the following channels:
There is a four tier league system.
There are also State Championships which are not hierarchically below the national league, however, they are used for the purposes of promoting clubs to the National Leagues.
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