In the first year without King Pelé, Brazil is a plebeian in football – 12/29/2023 – The World Is a Ball

Exactly one year ago, on December 29, 2022, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known as Pelé, left us.

Maximum symbol of excellence in football. Voted athlete of the 20th century. Champion of three World Cups (1958, 1962 and 1970). Close to 1,300 career goals. Revered here and abroad.

The person most responsible for the respect that the Brazilian team gained on the planet would hardly have imagined that the 12 months following his death would be one of such hardship for the national team.

The King of Football, where he has been since he left (I believe in life after death), saw one of the worst years, perhaps the worst, of Brazil’s performance in the sport that made him famous.

The country was relegated to the role of a supporting character, an extra, a deterrent. Of a commoner.

With no direction since the World Cup in Qatar, the main Brazilian team has had not one, but two interim coaches in 2023. First, Ramon Menezes. Then, Fernando Diniz, who continues in his post.

Ramon, the buffer in the first half, played three friendlies with Africans. He lost two (Morocco and Senegal), won one (Guinea) and returned to the under-20 team.

Diniz, possibly the best coach active in Brazil, took over to accumulate two wins, one draw and three defeats (consecutive, in the three most recent matches), always in clashes in the South American Qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.

Overcoming Bolivia (with a rout) and Peru (1-0, at the very end), stumbling at home in Venezuela (1-1) and losing to Uruguay (2-0), Colombia (2-1, comeback) and Argentina (1 to 0 at Maracanã), Brazil ends the year in a shameful sixth place in the table that has ten competitors – at the limit of qualification for the World Cup.

In half of the match against the Uruguayans, and also against the Colombians and Argentines, the team was without Neymar, with a knee injury. For those who don’t like the number 10 shirt (who once carried Pelé on his lap, during Santos’ time, in a meeting between the two), if it looked bad with him, it was much worse without him.

Let’s move on to the women’s team, which arrived at the Oceania World Cup with some favoritism.

Marta (in her last World Cup) and company, coached by the famous Swede Pia Sundhage, after beating Panama (4-0) and losing to France (2-1), they only needed to get past the unimpressive Jamaica to go to the knockout stages.

With a poor performance, without articulation in the plays and apparently without pride, the team suffered a 0-0 and early elimination. Unfortunately, memorable. (In the final, it was Spain.)

Let’s move on to the under-20 team, the one coached by Ramon, competing in the World Cup in Argentina.

Five times champion, Brazil was trying to win the title to match the biggest winners, the Argentines, hosts of the tournament.

In the group stage, defeat to Italy and victories over the Dominican Republic and Nigeria. In the round of 16, a rout against Tunisia (4-1).

In the quarterfinals, ahead, Israel’s inexpressiveness (before the war). It should have been a breeze, but the underdog prevailed: 3-2 for the Israelis, in extra time. (In the final, it was Uruguay.)

Let’s move on to the under-17 team, competing in the World Cup in Indonesia.

Four-time champions, Brazil defended the title obtained in 2019, when they played at home and featured Kaio Jorge and Gabriel Veron. If a new achievement came, the country would equal Nigeria as the biggest winner of the competition.

In the first phase, defeat to Iran and victories against New Caledonia and England. In the round of 16, a 3-1 in Ecuador.

And then, as happened with the under-20 team, came the fall in the quarter-finals, a resounding 3-0 to arch-rivals Argentina. End of the line for coach Phelipe Leal’s team. (In the final, it was Germany.)

In other words, in the main championships played, the Brazilian teams did not even flirt with reaching the decision. It was disappointment after disappointment.

Some readers will remember that Brazil did have an achievement in 2023, gold at the Pan-American Games in Chile, with the under-23 team, also led by Ramon.

In a Pan that no one knows, no one saw, it was a painful victory, on penalties, against the Chilean hosts in the final match.

The truth is that historically little value is given to the football title at the Pan, unlike a triumph at the Olympics. Thus, this gold alleviates little or other setbacks. Sounds like a consolation prize.

Furthermore, not only in terms of national teams, Brazil was in debt in the year that is about to end.

Fluminense, it should be noted, had a spectacular achievement by winning the Libertadores for the first time, led by the same Fernando Diniz who was divided between the club and the Brazilian team.

But in the World Cup, which is the championship in which South American clubs can measure up against European clubs, the Rio de Janeiro tricolor lost badly in the final in Saudi Arabia: 4-0 to Manchester City, conceding the first goal less than a minute in. of game. It was a massacre.

Individually (which is how Pelé shone most), 2023 will not be missed for Brazil either.

Each year two awards are given to the best player of the season, both of great prestige: the Ballon d’Or (from France Football magazine) and The Best (from FIFA).

On the list of nominees to compete for the trophies, there is only one Brazilian: Vinicius Junior, and only for the Ballon d’Or, which has already been awarded and had Argentine Messi as the winner.

The Best, whose ceremony will be held in January, should go to Norwegian Haaland.

In the women’s Ballon d’Or, won by the Spanish Aitana Bonmatí (with 266 points in the vote), the Brazilian candidate, Debinha, came in 28th place (1 point). There were no nominees from Brazil for The Best female.

In other words, the brasuca phase is not good. So much so that the main, perhaps only, highlight of the year doesn’t even play on the line. Merits to goalkeeper Ederson, English, European and world champion with Manchester City.

For a country that offered countless exponents who did wonders with the ball at their feet, it is a reason for reflection that an athlete who stands out most for the use of his hands is the only one worthy of praise.

I imagine that Pelé, who always had a wide smile wherever he went, is now in a bad mood.

Because, in addition to the depressing scenario discussed in these lines, Santos succumbed in the Brazilian Championship and will compete in the second division in 2024.