Brazilian team continues adrift and with a worn image

A lot has changed in the last 20 years, in the most diverse areas, but few institutions have suffered as much loss of prestige as the Brazilian team.

Even being the only five-time world champion team and having revealed some of the best players of all time, the harsh reality is that our famous “canarinho” team has lost its charm.

At least this is what can be seen from the lack of interest of most fans around the next friendlies, against Guinea and Senegal, in the cities of Barcelona and Lisbon, respectively.

In the past, when there was a national team match, people gathered around the radio and, later on, the television, to follow the events.

My generation followed the conquest of the second world championship – in Sweden, in 1958 and in Chile, in 1962 – through the exciting radio broadcasts. The images only appeared on the cinema screen a week after the games.

Of course, phenomena like Pelé, Garrincha, Didi, Zito, Djalma Santos, Nilton Santos and others made all the difference.

From the consecration of the Tri onwards, in Mexico in 1970, television showed all the matches and millions of people around the world enjoyed, cheered and applauded the art of Brazilian footballers.

However, in the last 20 years and five World Cups full of failures, disappointments and players that did not live up to expectations accumulated. As well as coaches who proved to be deficient in their work and, above all, demoralized leaders who were removed from the CBF command for bad behavior.

Now, the CBF is trying to pick up the pieces that remained after the team’s new role in a World Cup and wasted time trying to hire Carlo Ancelotti, the most successful coach in European football.

For the time being, led by newcomer Ramon Menezes, and despite the selection of several players who stand out in their European clubs, the Brazilian team is still adrift and with a worn image.