In the middle of the week, the Champions League matches were beautiful and with a huge number of goals. Barcelona, as is often the case, thrashed Newcastle 7-2, after a balanced first half with many scoring chances for both teams.
The best European teams are strong as a whole, because they have excellent players and, mainly, because they have some special, outstanding ones. At Barcelona, they are Raphinha, Lamine Yamal and Pedri. At Real Madrid, Mbappé, Vinicius Junior and Courtois. At Bayern Munich, Kane and Kimmich. At PSG, Vitinha and the two full-backs Hakimi and Nuno Mendes. At Arsenal, Rice and Saka. At Liverpool, Van Dijk and Szoboszlai. All of these and other great talents are highlights in their national teams and will be at the World Cup.
Star players, to shine, need good teams, but a great team cannot be formed without star players, with rare exceptions. We need to value goalkeepers, defenders and midfielders more, and not just top scorers and great dribblers. Just as the defensive system begins with marking the attackers, goals come from the action of passes from defenders, sometimes even from goalkeepers.
Dribbling is decisive for overcoming strong defenses, however, to be a playmaker you need to have other qualities. Vinicius Junior and Lamine Yamal are exceptional in dribbling, passing and finishing. The two learned to make curve passes with the inside and outside of the foot (trivela). The ball goes around the opponent and reaches the teammate behind the marker. “A straight line doesn’t dream” (Oscar Niemeyer).
Garrincha dribbled forward, followed by a great pass, or in small spaces, when he went one way and the score went the other. In elastic dribbling, Rivellino stuck the ball to his foot as if it were a magnet and took it from one side to the other. Rivellino was a great player, much more than a dribbler. Dirceu Lopes dribbled at speed, changing direction, as if he were guided by artificial intelligence.
When I played, I liked passing more than dribbling and scoring goals, even though I’m Cruzeiro’s top scorer in history, with 243 goals. More important than the number of goals is the average. I don’t know how many games I played to score that number of goals.
Gerson was the master of the precise, technically perfect pass, while Didi was the king of the curve pass with the inside and outside of the foot. Even Didi’s simplest and easiest passes were beautiful, because he always played with his head up and his body upright. Hence the nickname given to the star by Nelson Rodrigues, Príncipe Etíope.
The big European teams have produced midfielders, such as Rice, from Arsenal, Pedri, from Barcelona, and Vitinha, from PSG, capable of passing quickly and forward, for their teammate to receive the ball between the midfield and the defense. In Brazil, the outdated division between midfielders who score and attacking midfielders, who are solely responsible for decisive passes, continues.
Tackling, dribbling, passing and finishing are essential in football. Just as the goal defines the result and the dribble represents individuality, the pass is the symbol of the collective game, unity and solidarity on the field. Brazil needs to make more passes and be more aware of the other’s presence.
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