Vinicius Junior is the first star of the national team this century who does not compete for the primacy of being the last to enter training. This remains Neymar’s. Always at the end of the line.
In 2006 there was a silent dispute between Ronaldo and Ronaldinho to know who was the star who entered the pitch last.
The dispute is more difficult in France, between Mbappé and Dembélé. There’s still Olise.
The greats of the World Cup are more than well-known and the fame of pop stars is created during consecutive Champions League seasons. It will only be confirmed at the World Cup. In the past, it was different.
The world did not know Pelé before he exploded and was crowned King in Sweden, in 1958. Johan Cruyff was not known in South America either, despite having won the European Cup three times, between 1971 and 1974.
Barcelona discovered him and hired him for following the games in Amsterdam. Casagrande tells his first talk with images of the players he would face. It happened in Portugal. Artur Jorge, Porto’s coach, sent assistants to games in other countries, with cameras.
They weren’t videos. Just photographs.
Carlos Alberto Parreira even used Super 8 cameras when he was part of Zagallo’s technical committee, before the 1974 World Cup. It was not enough to avoid the surprise of the Netherlands, whom the Brazil coach called “tico tico no fubá.”
Even though information is circulating and all coaches, journalists and passionate fans can see the World Cup stars every day, it is still possible to make discoveries.
Which can be tactics, like Messi’s positioning, always free from combat against the tightest defenses. When Argentina defends, it stays on the attack. When he attacks, he returns to the midfield as if he were a midfielder, no longer a false 9. That’s why he discovers invisible spaces, like in the first goal against Austria.
It is possible to be surprised by talents that are less seen. Case of Yan Diomandé, from Ivory Coast. A huge number of European clubs are behind him, thanks to his 36 games and 13 goals for Leipzig, in the German Championship. As the club did not play in the Champions League, its talent is showcased on the World Cup, just like in the old days.
This is the case of Rayan. At 19 years old, he is the youngest member of the national team since Marco Antônio, in 1970, and the sixth youngest player in Brazil in World Cups, behind Pelé, Carvalho Leite, Marco Antônio, Tostão and Mazzola. His talent had already been discovered at Vasco, to the point where he was signed by Bournemouth for 35 million euros.
But there is a difference between playing for a club on the English coast, in a city of 190,000 inhabitants, and taking part in the World Cup. “He’s going to shine a lot. If not at this World Cup, it will happen at the next one,” said Tostão, the fourth youngest player to play for the national team, at 19 years old, in 1966.
The World Cup is no longer the tournament to discover talent. The biggest stars are already established. But you can still find some things.
You can bet that Rayan’s manager at Bournemouth, Imanol Iraola, will try to take him to his new club Liverpool. Depending on his performance in the next games, it will be easier for the big European teams to look at Ancelotti’s new starter than at Raphinha, from Barcelona.
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