Retrospective 2023: Brazil has setbacks in world football – 12/31/2023 – The World Is a Ball

A year ago, I began the retrospective that I usually do every 12 months of the most remarkable events in world football with the sad realization that Pelé, the best player in the history of football, had left. It was “the” fact of 2022, fired.

Well, 2023 ends and, looking back, I see that the year proved to be somewhat lukewarm in the most popular sport on the planet.

There was relevant news, which I will explain (what I remember) below. However, there wasn’t one that I considered bombastic, one that deserved to be a super-ultra-mega headline.

To highlight, a 2023 of disappointment for the Brazilian teams, at all levels.

The women’s team, still under the leadership of Marta (spectacular as a whole, in natural decline on the way to retirement), fell in the first phase of the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. More was expected, at least the quarterfinals.

With the fall came the dismissal of Swedish coach Pia Sundhage. Now the one in charge is Arthur Elias, with a successful career at Corinthians, champion of the women’s Libertadores and the Brazilian Championship in 2023.

The men’s team had two interim coaches and did poorly with them, especially the second.

First, Ramon Menezes. Then, Fernando Diniz, who is under contract until June 2024, when the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) stated that top of the line Carlo Ancelotti would arrive.

That won’t come. Last week, Real Madrid announced the renewal of its contract with the Italian until 2026. Shameful for the CBF, which currently finds itself without a president because Ednaldo Rodrigues is away following a decision by the Rio de Janeiro Court.

On the field, just disgust. With Ramon, one victory and two defeats in friendlies. With Diniz, two wins, one draw and three defeats (in a row) in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. The five-time world champion team suffered its worst year in six decades.

In the men’s youth categories, nothing to be celebrated. Both the under-20 and under-17 teams succumbed in the quarterfinals of their World Cups, against Israel and Argentina, respectively.

Among the clubs, applause and more applause for Manchester City (from Pep Guardiola, Haaland and the Brazilian Ederson), winner of the Quadruple Crown: English Championship, FA Cup, Champions League and Club World Cup. Something very rare to happen.

What also happened, at the Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia, was a resounding rout in the final. Man City humiliated Fluminense coached by Diniz (he split that year between the Rio team and the Brazilian team): 4-0.

A sad end for Fluminense, who lived a happy 2023 until then, as champions of the Libertadores for the first time, overcoming Internacional in the semi-final, in the middle of Beira-Rio, and then the feared Argentine Boca Juniors in the final at Maracanã . Cano, John Kennedy, Diniz and company were giants.

In the same year, Brazil failed twice in the Club World Cup, as the 2022 World Cup was held in February 2023 due to the World Cup in Qatar taking place two months earlier. Flamengo didn’t even reach the final.

Those who came very close to glory but didn’t achieve it were Fortaleza, finalists of the Copa Sudamericana, the second most important interclub in South America. The team from Ceará, very well coached by Argentine Juan Pablo Vojvoda, fell on penalties against LDU , from Ecuador, in the decision in Uruguay.

Individually, awards for Lionel Messi, who in the middle of the year left Paris Saint-Germain, from France, for Inter Miami, from the USA.

The Argentine took home two more trophies for the best in the world: The Best, awarded by FIFA in February (and relating to the previous year), and the very traditional Ballon d’Or, from France Football magazine, in a ceremony held at the end of October and which took into account performance in the 2022 World Cup.

Among women, honors for Spanish women. Alexia Putellas won The Best and Aitana Bonmatí, for her performance in the women’s World Cup, won the Ballon d’Or. Both wear the Barcelona shirt.

Spain won the World Cup in Oceania, and the award, a pinnacle moment for the players, became a scandalous case of harassment.

The president of the country’s football federation, Luis Rubiales, kissed Fúria’s number 10 shirt on the lips without consent. Denounced by the athlete, the director was removed by FIFA for three years from any activity related to football.

Finally, 2023 registered a painful loss, that of Vasco idol Roberto Dinamite, who died in January, and the ruin of Daniel Alves, 40.

The right-back, one of the most successful players in football – with spells at Sevilla, Barcelona, ​​Juventus, PSG and São Paulo, as well as the Brazilian national team and the accumulation of more than 40 titles –, has been imprisoned in Spain since January, accused of rape . He will be tried in February.

After this summary of the year’s events, I leave, as is customary, recommendations for reading texts published by O Mundo É uma Bola over the last 365 days.

From curious cases to analysis of facts, it’s worth reading or rereading if you have some time.

In time: Great 2024, reader! May it be of great victories for all of us, in sport and in life. Football will have, in addition to the annual competitions, the German Euro Cup and the Paris Olympic Games (for which the men’s team will still have to qualify).