Seeing Real vs City evoked memories of Santos vs Botafogo in the 60s – 05/13/2023 – Tostão

In recent decades, there have been two negative transformations in Brazilian football, which are still present, although there is a slow tendency to abandon them.

The first was the division of the midfield between defensive midfielders who score and act from midfield backwards and midfielders who attack and play from the center of the field towards the goal. As a result, the number of midfielders who play from one intermediary to the other has been greatly reduced.

The second change was the fascination with speed, the rush to reach the goal, the excess of long passes and crosses into the area. The short exchange of passes and dominance of the ball in midfield became synonymous with slowness and little objectivity.

At the same time, changes were taking place in the way of playing in the main European teams. Instead of creating truths, they started to use alternatives according to the moment. A great team needs to know how to score further back and further forward, be proactive and reactive, exchange short passes and make long passes. This does not mean lack of personality, but wisdom. Life is dream and reality.

In the middle of the week, in the 1-1 draw between Real Madrid and Manchester City, in the Champions League, we saw it all. The two teams are similar and different. They like ball control, open ends and the presence of a trio in the midfield formed by a midfielder in the center and a midfielder on each side who attacks and defends.

They are different because City scores by pressing to recover the ball closer to the goal, and Real scores further back to counterattack with Vinicius Junior. During the match, they change their tactical posture, according to the needs of the game.

Vinicius Junior, who at the beginning of his career at Real Madrid was finishing and failing, in addition to making many wrong choices, has evolved, corrected his deficiencies and is today a strong candidate to be the best in the world, heir to the throne left by Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Palmeiras and Fluminense, the two best Brazilian teams, follow the same path as Real and City. In the victories of Palmeiras over Grêmio and Fluminense over Cruzeiro, the two teams scored similar goals, Mayke’s for Palmeiras and Cano’s for Fluminense, after long exchanges of passes from one intermediary to the other. Usually they are different teams. Palmeiras prefers long passes and speed, while Fluminense likes the short exchange of passes.

Diversity in the way of playing, with variations at the right moment, is the present and future of football.

Watching games between City and Real reminds me of the spectacular matches between Santos and Botafogo in the 1960s. To paraphrase the delirious Nelson Rodrigues, after watching these matches today and those of the past, I feel like sitting on the sidewalk and, shivering, cry with joy with squirting tears.

football scandal

In Brazil, gambling is prohibited, and yet it is the country of gambling through millions of gambling sites on the internet and in many other ways, legal and illegal. Play everything. From one country you can bet on millions of things that happen in the world.

Almost all Brazilian clubs are sponsored by bookmakers. Several athletes and ex-athletes are poster boys for gambling sites. It’s the country of contradictions, the way and what it looks like, but it’s not. Corruptors (betting gangs) and corrupted athletes, if convicted, should be severely punished by Justice.

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