Ancelotti’s team will feature seven “nationals”, the highest number in twenty-four years
On May 6, 2002, coach Luiz Felipe Scolari called up the team that would go in search of the penta. The coach announced the twenty-three names, twelve of which played in Brazil:
Goalkeepers: Marcos (Palmeiras), Dida (Corinthians) and Rogério Ceni (São Paulo)
Defenders: Anderson Polga (Grêmio), Roque Júnior (Milan), Lúcio (Bayer Leverkusen) and Edmílson (Lyon)
Full-backs: Cafu (Roma), Belletti (São Paulo), Roberto Carlos (Real Madrid) and Júnior (Parma)
Midfielders: Emerson (Roma), Kléberson (Atlético-PR), Gilberto Silva (Atlético-MG) and Vampeta (Corinthians)
Midfielders: Rivaldo (Barcelona), Kaká (São Paulo) and Juninho Paulista (Flamengo)
Forwards: Ronaldo (Inter Milan), Ronaldinho Gaúcho (PSG), Edílson (Cruzeiro), Luizão (Grêmio) and Denílson (Betis)
The number of “nationals” increased to thirteen with the call-up of Ricardinho, from Corinthians, in place of Emerson, who suffered an injury on the eve of the debut against Turkey. Since 2002, the team has not had so many names working within the country. They are: Alex Sandro, Danilo, Leo Pereira and Lucas Paquetá, from Flamengo; Danilo, from Botafogo; Neymar, from Santos and Weverton, from Grêmio.
It is not new that the prevalence of “foreigners” is common in selection. In 1990, in Italy, for the first time the balance was unbalanced by coach Sebastião Lazaroni with twelve two twenty-two players called up. For 2026, it is important that the team has athletes who play for teams in the country to improve the identification of fans with the yellow shirt. “Clubistic” passion is fundamental.
The curious thing is that in the fifties, for example, any player who went to a foreign club was considered a mercenary. In 1958, in the first World Cup won by Brazil, Mazzola, nickname given to João Altafini, in honor of Valentino Mazzola, one of the greats in the history of Italian football (who died in the plane crash that killed the Torino team in May 1949), spent the entire preparation phase involved in controversy. The Palmeiras player was being negotiated with Milan and the press questioned whether he would do his best on the field or avoid disputes, thinking only about the million-dollar contract. The negotiation, according to newspapers at the time, was completed during the World Cup.
Those were different times!
*This text does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Jovem Pan.
