The whole world already knows.
Hours after the Rio de Janeiro Court of Justice had removed Ednaldo Rodrigues from the CBF presidency on Thursday (15), the news, of course, rode the planet.
France24 summarized the moment well: “The decision is a new blow to Brazilian football, which celebrated rare good news for just four days with the announcement that Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti will lead the national team at the end of the month.”
Over the decades, one of the most efficient ways to promote a positive image of Brazil abroad was through football. Those who love this sport in general always admired the Brazilian team.
Tell someone, anywhere in the world, that I am Brazilian, was usually a guarantee of receiving in return a smile, followed by mentions to Pelé, Ronaldinho, Romário, etc. Our football has always been universal language.
This clearly changed. During the pandemic, friends and fellow English journalists asked me about the “kidnapping” of the yellow shirt from the far right.
And when the king of football died in December 2022, TV channels from all countries exhibited iconic images of the 58, 62, and 70 World Cup teams that enchanted the world. But the tribute also served that it has been a long time since Brazilian football has not awakened the same admiration.
On Monday (12), after the CBF released, in a hurry, a video of its president alone in a room announcing the hiring of Ancelotti (ending with a “go together [sic]Brazil “, as the column colleague Sandro Macedo recalled), the sports world, of course, was interested and wanted to know more.
I gave an interview to the British network BBC on the topic and was questioned by the host of the program if Brazilians were satisfied with the announcement. I said the news is great, because Brazil will have the best coach among the technicians of teams today. That Ancelotti has experience, winning mindset and knows closely the national team players, especially those who play at Real Madrid.
But there’s a snow. I explained that the fan is experiencing a crisis of confidence with the selection. In the field, due to the disappointing results in the World Cup qualifiers – the 4-1 humiliation against Argentina – and for whole generations grew up without seeing Brazil world champion, after so many years of the last title, in 2002. Out of the field, for political and scandal reasons involving the CBF.
Is it a year of work, and over ten games until the call for the World Cup, will Ancelotti be able to shield this team and recover the admiration of the fans? For this question, there is no answer yet.
Two days after the interview, Ednaldo Rodrigues was removed. How then to explain to a British that this happened again? That it is the fifth president of the entity arrested or removed from office in recent years, and nothing changes? Or, how to make a European understand that the same state federations that, in March, supported their election, now released a manifesto asking for renewal and stability in Brazilian football?
This time, I can only think of a phrase, difficult to translate literally to a foreigner: “Brazil is not for beginners.”
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