In 1970, Zagallo called up two center forwards, but changed his mind on the lineup – 03/05/2024 – Tostão

After the attack on Fortaleza players, with numerous injuries, a Cruzeiro fan died after a clash between Atlético-MG and Cruzeiro fans, violence that continued on and off the field in the game between São Paulo and Palmeiras. It’s a sad scenario.

Brazilian football needs to free itself from fights on and off the field, complaints and provocations. Even so, the stadiums remain full — and it must not be because of the quality of the spectacle. It is a violent, pathological situation. It is not enough to make isolated, sporadic, even positive decisions. A structural and permanent transformation is necessary.

It’s not just that. According to a report carried out by global consultancy Sportradar, based in Switzerland, Brazil leads the world ranking of games suspected of manipulating sports betting. The country legalized betting on events at the end of 2018.

In the São Paulo classic, with seven players who are part of South American teams (four from Brazil, one from Ecuador, one from Uruguay and another from Colombia), there was a lot of commotion during and after the game, a lot of rudeness from Abel Ferreira and the president of São Paulo Júlio Casares, many controversial decisions by the referee and little quality in football.

Meanwhile, over the weekend, rivals Manchester City and Manchester United played a wonderful game, with very few fouls, no disturbances, with City coming from behind to win 3 x 1. City put on another show of individual talent and collective. He is the current English and European champion. Even if they don’t win one or two titles in the current season, they are already one of the great teams in the history of world football, more for beautiful and efficient football than for the titles they won.

Did Dorival Junior like the Brazilian classic between São Paulo and Palmeiras more or the English one between the two Manchester teams? A reader I met at the newsstand disagreed with my opinion about the four essential players (Ederson, Marquinhos, Casemiro and Vinicius Junior) who were called up to the Brazilian team. For the reader, only Vinicius Junior is essential. Another reader thinks that Paquetá and Rodrygo are also undisputed, starters.

Different opinions help me reflect and provoke doubts about my preferences. I immediately imagined the team with Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior entering diagonally and Paquetá, through the center, reaching the area, and not standing in front. This is how Real Madrid plays, without a center forward, with the two Brazilians and Bellingham. They form a great trio. They combine Bellingham’s enormous lucidity and precise touch with the great skill and speed of Vini and Rodrygo.

When forming a team, much more important than the time the players play together is the complementation of the athletes’ characteristics. The first time I trained alongside Dirceu Lopes, at Cruzeiro, both of us aged 16, it felt like we had been playing together for a thousand years.

When Zagallo took over the national team, before the 70 World Cup, he called up two classic center forwards (Dario and Roberto), he said that one of the two would be the starter and that I would be Pelé’s reserve, as I was in the same position as the King. I was convinced that the team needed, to play between Pelé and Jairzinho, two top scorers, a center forward. Zagallo changed his mind.

Only the ignorant and radicals have absolute certainty. They never learn, because they only see it their way or their stupid way of thinking.

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