Brazilian Gold

Did you know that Brazil has won 5 World Cup Championships and that they’re the only country to participate in every World Cup since the tournament began?  That’s a pretty impressive résumé.  Their national team roster has and continues to boast some of the best players in the world.  I grew up playing soccer.  I love soccer.  And I even thought I was pretty good.  I maybe even dreamt that I would one day be a pro soccer player.  So I can’t help but ask, are Brazilians just naturally better at soccer?  My experience thus far in Brazil has led me to a resounding no.  But why, then, has Brazil found so much success?  Why, I thought you’d never ask!  Let’s dive into the nitty gritty of Brazilian soccer talent development. 

Brazil has a very intense talent recognition and development system in place with some very positive and very negative aspects.  “[O]ne fourth of all non-European players in ‘soccer Hollywood’ (European Premier Leagues) are Brazilian.”[1] It’s a pretty big business finding the next Messi or Neymar to send to Europe.  We’ve had the opportunity to meet with both of the local clubs here in Curitiba and they both talked about how it’s a financial necessity that they “sell” their best players to the European market.  How do they do so?  Both clubs scout kids as young as 13 years old to come train at their facilities.  Atlético Paranaense (that’s the name of the older more popular club) has schools all around the country that train kids and search for the next “great one.” 

The study I’ve already cited also says, “In order to become a professional soccer player today, around 5000 h of training, spanning approximately 10 years, are necessary. Investments are made in training the physical body through disciplined, strenuous and monotonous routines. The targets are children and adolescents, many of whom come from lower social classes. They are invested with representations of masculinity that make them suitable for the challenges exacted by soccer, inside and outside of the playing grounds. Their career effectively starts – and sometimes ends – in the training centres.”  It’s a pretty intense process searching for and developing talent.  But I can’t help but feel the ominous portents of the quote above for those whose careers “end” in the training centers.

            When one of the Atlético representatives gave his presentation to our class he continually stressed how their programs are socially responsible because they help develop good citizens.  I have to applaud the fact that soccer here in Brazil is a legitimate pathway for some individuals from the levels of poverty to superstardom.  However, there are some glaring holes in their socially responsible programs.  One in particular bothers me.  The kids who go to train at these centers after the age of 14 live there, permanently.  They live, eat, breathe, and sleep soccer.  They even sign contracts.  Here’s the scary part.  They are given the opportunity to pursue education every morning but it’s not mandatory.  So what happens when an uneducated young adult washes out of these programs at the age of 18 or 19?  How are they productive to the society these clubs claim to be aiding? 

The bottom line is, soccer is big business in Brazil and the commodity is the athletes.  Unfortunately, people are willing to discard a product that no one will buy, even when that product is a human being.  And the clubs hide behind the guise of selflessly bettering society.

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[1] Arlei Sander Damo (2014) Training soccer players in Brazil, Soccer & Society,

15:1, 93-107, DOI: 10.1080/14660970.2013.854570