With
soccer being a second religion in the South American country, the
Brazil soccer team has a godlike status even since its early days.
Throughout its century-long history, the Brazil national soccer team
managed to create an aura of invincibility, winning the World Cup 5
times (being the team with the most World Cups by the way) and being in
3 more finals that they eventually lost. It's a bit unfair to crunch up
all of the Brazilian soccer team's history in one paragraph, so let's
keep going…
Early Brazil Soccer Team You might have heard the common pun that says
"the Engilsh invented soccer, but the Brazilians perfected it" and
ironically it's the English that baptized the Brazilian soccer team in
1914, when England's Exter City FC were up against a joint selection of
players from Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, two of Brazil's most
important soccer nurseries.
Although the Brazil soccer team won its first match against Exter 2-0,
its bright future was not yet to spark as internal strife between Rio
and Sao Paulo mean that the soccer team of Brazil could not benefit
from either of the states' players.
This lead to a poor performance in both the 1930 and 1934 World Cups,
where Brazil was knocked out very early. In 1938 though, the Brazil
World Cup soccer team came on in full force and
managed their first medal in the Cup stage, as they won a convincing
third place that gave Brazilian fans hope for the future.
World
Cup Record
Year
Position
Uruguay - 1930
Round 1
Italy - 1934
Round 1
France - 1938
Semi Finals
Brazil - 1950
Final
Switzerland - 1954
Quarter Finals
Sweden - 1958
Champions
Chile - 1962
Champions
England - 1966
Round 1
Mexico - 1970
Champions
West Germany - 1974
Semi Finals
Argentina - 1978
Semi Finals
Spain - 1982
Group Round 2
Mexico - 1986
Quarter Finals
Italy - 1990
Top 16
USA - 1994
Champions
France - 1998
Final
Korea/Japan
Champions
Germany
Quarter Finals
Total
5 Championship
And that hope was soon converted into results, as in the next World
Cup, in 1950 (the 12 year break between World Cups was due to the war
and its aftermath), Brazil managed to reach the final, on home ground,
but eventually lost to Uruguay 1-2, in a final that Brazilians would
later call the "Final Fatidica".
Still, it was an improvement for the Brazil World Cup soccer team, as
they went 1 round further than before and proved the World that they
are a serious contender for the soccer crown in years to come.
Brazil
Soccer Team – Pele
and the Rise to Power With a rather poor performance in 1954 that
many attribute to still being under the pressure of the 1950 lost
final, it would be the next World Cup until Brazil would play great
soccer again. With a rough coach in Vicente Feola, Brazil were drawn
into the
toughest group, against Austria, England and a very fit USSR team.
Despite winning against Austria and drawing against England, Brazil
still needed a good result against the Russian side and, being less
fit, the Brazilians agreed to throw everything
forward on speed, playing 2 young players such as Garrincha or Pele
(who was only 17 at this time).
This strategy worked and the Brazil soccer team won the match 2-0,
after which they marched on past Wales and France in the following
stages, eventually reaching the final against hosts Sweden, winning 5-2
and claiming their first real silverware.
With a star studded team of young players, lead by Garrincha and Pele,
the Brazil national team managed to become champions twice more in a
very short period, in 1962 and 1970 after which a slight drop occurred,
with Brazil only reaching the semi-finals the following two World Cups.
Brazil's
World Cup Final 1970
The Brazilian soccer team's
comeback was long waited by the fans and it
occurred in 1994 in the United States, when Brazil won the World Cup
its fourth time, in a staggering march. 4 years later, with most of the
1994 veterans retiring, new names such as Ronaldo, Cafu or Rivaldo
started to pop up as World class stars and they
managed to bring Brazil to a final that they eventually lost against
hosts France.
However, the golden era of the modern Brazil side wasn't about to end,
as the same players took off to Japan and Korea for the 2002 World Cup,
a cup they won after a series of brilliant matches (7 matches played, 7
wins and a goal difference of 18 to 4).
Although being a bit under the weather in what regarded its players'
form in the latest World Cup in 2006, Brazil is still a colossus on the
modern stage of soccer and is already a strong candidate for the Cup in
2010.
