· Guests Online: 2
· Members Online: 0
· Total Members: 138
· Newest Member: EndotacronarL
|
|
Football in Brazil
Association football is the prominent sport in Brazil. The National Team has won the FIFA World Cup tournament a record five times, in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002 and is the only team to have never missed a World Cup participation, and to be among the favorites to win the trophy every time the competition is scheduled. Pelé, one of the most recognized footballers in history, led Brazil to two of those championships and is the top scorer of all time in the sport. After Brazil won its third World Cup, they kept the Jules Rimet Trophy permanently. All of the contemporary talents in the national team prominent in the football world include Romário, Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Kaká and most recently Alexandre Pato. Some of these players can be considered super-stars, achieving celebrity status internationally and signing sports contracts, as well as advertisement and endorsement contracts, in the value of millions of dollars.
The governing body of football in Brazil is the Brazilian Football Confederation.
History
In the 1870s an expatriate named John Miller worked on the railway construction project in São Paulo together with some 3000 other immigrant families from the British Isles in the last decades of the 19th century. in 1884 Miller sent his ten year old son Charles William Miller to Bannisters school in Southampton, England to be educated. Charles was a skilled athlete who quickly picked up the game of football at the time when the Football Association was still being formed, and as an accomplished winger and striker Charles held school honours that gained him entry into the Southampton Club team and later into the County team of Hampshire.
In 1888, the first sports club was founded in the city, São Paulo Athletic Club.
In 1892 while still in England, Charles was invited to play a game for the Corinthians, a team formed of players invited from public schools and universities.
On his return to Brazil Charles brought some football equipment and a rules book with him. He then developed the new rules of the game amongst the community in São Paulo. São Paulo Athletic Club won the first three years championships. Miller's skills were far above his colleagues at this stage. He was given the honour of contributing his name to a move involving a deft flick of the ball with the heel "Chaleiro".
Charles Miller kept a strong bond with English football throughout his life. Teams from Southampton and Corinthians Club travelled to Brazil to play against São Paulo Athletic Club and other teams in São Paulo. After a tour of Corinthians to Brazil in 1910 a new team in Brazil took on the name of Corinthians after a suggestion from Miller.
The Brazilian Football Confederation was founded in 1914, and the current format for the Campeonato Brasileiro was established in 1971.
Football quickly became a passion for Brazilians, who often refer to Brazil as "o país do futebol" ("the football country"). Over 10,000 Brazilians play professionally at home and all over the world.
Football has a major effect on Brazilian culture. It is the favorite pastime of youngsters playing football on streets. The World Cup draws Brazilians together, with people skipping work to view the national team play, or employers setting up apparatus for employees to watch. The general elections are usually held in the same year as the World Cup, and critics argue that political parties try to take advantage of the nationalistic surge created by football and bring it into politics. Former footballers are often elected to legislative positions.
One unique aspect of football in Brazil is the importance of the Brazilian state championships. For much of the early development of the game in Brazil, the nation's size and the lack of rapid transport made national competitions infeasible, so the competition centered on state tournaments and such inter-state competitions as the Torneio Rio-São Paulo. Even today, despite the existence of a national tournament, the state tournaments continue to be hotly contested and the intrastate rivalries remain intense.
The development of a single state championship did not have the effect intended. Instead of allowing the best teams to compete, it led to the establishment of many new clubs to share in some of the successes. The increase in the number of clubs resulted in a wider spread of talents and decline in the quality of play. Some of the more successful teams did not like the change, including Fluminense who complained that they were forced to travel across the country to play teams they had not heard of.
Football style
Brazilian football is a reflection of the country's multiracial society. Brazil's unique style is characterised by much creativity and swing and is infused with various rhythms and choreographies. It is believed that this unique style was developed in the low income areas largely populated by people of African descent. The great "foot ability" that the players had could be traced to the physical coordination and rhythm associated with the capoeira, Brazilian martial arts, and samba which are characterized by footsteps to dance or to play under the rhythm of African drums.
Brazilian football league system
The Brazilian football league system is a series of interconnected leagues for football clubs in Brazil.
Structure
There are two simultaneous and independent pyramids in the Brazilian football, the national pyramid, and the state pyramid.
While the national competitions are organized by CBF, the state championships are organized by the respective football federations of each state (for example, the Campeonato Pernambucano is organized by the Pernambuco Football Federation).
The national pyramid competitions starts in April and ends in December. The state pyramid has different duration and schedule in each state, but in states with clubs competing on the national first and second divisions, the main state championships run from January/February to April/May.
Most states have at least one secondary tournament involving smaller clubs not in the top two leagues of the national championship, this lesser championship runs from July to December. Besides the trophy, it may award the winner(s) places in the main tournament or in the Brazilian Cup next year.
Smaller states, whose clubs do not take part in national competitions have longer competitions, usually running during the "winter" months: April to October.
National championships
In the national pyramid, there are three leagues, the Série A, Série B and Série C. The Série A and Série B currently consist of 20 teams, while the Série C is disputed by 64 teams. Each year, the four worst placed clubs in the Série A are relegated to the Série B, the four top placed clubs in the Série B are promoted to Série A, the four worst clubs in the Série B are relegated to the Série C, and the four top placed clubs in the Série C are promoted to Série B.
The clubs disputing the Série C are the best placed state championship clubs of the same season which are not disputing the Série A and the Série B. Clubs that are successful in their state leagues can rise higher in the pyramid, being promoted to the Série C, and then to the Série B and eventually the Série A. Some state federations organize special competitions with the purpose of qualifying teams to the Série C.
As a result of the rules detailed above, it is possible (and not unheard of) for a minor state championship club to rise to the Série A, and become champions of the competition. To achieve this, a club must qualify in the state championship and, later the same year, qualify in Série C. So, only one year after reaching the state top level, a new club can reach Série B. Recent examples of clubs that went all the way up from the least state league until Série A are: Paraná Clube (founded 1989, played Série A in 1993), São Caetano (founded 1989, played Série A in 2000) and Ipatinga (founded 1998, to play Série A in 2008).
The reverse is also possible: a club from Série A can be eventually relegated to the very least state league. A recent example is the very traditional América-MG (founded 1912, relegated from Série A in 2004, to Série C in 2005 and to state second division in 2007). No clubs that have gone "all the way down" have so far resurfaced in Série A. At least four clubs (Fluminense, Náutico, Atlético Paranaense, Vitória) have been relegated to Série C and successfully reappeared in Série A. Other clubs formerly in Série A that were relegated to Série C have not so far recovered their strength (Santa Cruz, América-RJ, América-MG, Remo, Fortaleza, Guarani, Atlético-GO).
State championships
In the state pyramid, which consists of several independent state championships, the participating clubs, which also include Série A and Série B clubs, are limited to their own states (however, there are some minor exceptions, like in the Campeonato Brasiliense, where Unaí from Minas Gerais and Luziânia from Goiás also compete, due to their proximity to Brasília city).The leagues are usually divided in two, three or four levels. The number of clubs per level, as well as the number of levels, are different in each state. For example, in São Paulo there are 20 clubs in the first level, but in Rio de Janeiro there are 16, and in Rondônia there are just 8 clubs. Also, the number of promoted and relegated clubs are different from one state to the other.
State championships may include obscure formats or experiment with proposed innovations in rules. Some rules adopted may be quite unfair. In Rio de Janeiro State Championship in 2008, the big four (Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense and Vasco da Gama) always played home against the other participating clubs.
Copa do Brasil
The Copa do Brasil is disputed between the winners and best placed clubs of the previous season state championships, and by the best placed clubs in the CBF ranking. It is disputed between the months of February and June (or July, in the years when the FIFA World Cup is being disputed). The number of clubs per state range from one to three, excluding the clubs qualified by the CBF ranking. Since 2001, clubs already qualified for the Libertadores Cup do not take part in Copa do Brasil, thus preventing a club from winning sequentially.
|
|
Not a member yet? Click here to register.
Forgotten your password? Request a new one here.
|
|
Pitacodogringo Brazilian Blog |
|
|
