Colonization: the blessing from the curse

So when the Portuguese colonized Brazil and restricted all cultural practices in a bid to westernize and tie the Brazilians down, they had no idea that they were initiating the Genesis of a chronic and infectious golden football culture.

As soccer was introduced by those who had seen the western ways, the Brazilians began to play it in their own style (dribbling, creativity and speed being their aim, for which the once head coach Dunga was once criticized). The Brazilians used this style of football as their only link to culture which was a soccer and dance fusion that they often referred to as "Ginga (meaning sway)". Generations were born into this and as soccer became a more prominent part of the entertainment world, Brazil moved in with a fresh and unique dribbling style that marked their place in soccer history. Soccer became more than just a game to them; it became an art, a culture, a way of life and a breath of freedom and hope for every kid in the streets of Rio.

Futsal, a game that focuses on embracing the creativity of what Brazilians call "Ginga" and rewards dribbling and explosive movements was the source of the Brazilian soccer players’ mad skills. Pele once referred to Futsal as a sport that made one think, play fast and the transition to soccer easier. The large population of Brazil, competitive rivalries like Argentina and the winning habit also contributed to Brazil's success in soccer. Skills were nurtured at a tender age to produce some of the world's best players, the most notable being Pele "O Rei", (the king) from a poor family in Mina's Gerais.

"It's simple, soccer in Brazil is like karate in China," said Godwin Munamati, a dedicated Zimbabwean soccer fan.

The Seleção has managed to secure a place in people's hearts beyond Brazil not only because of how soccer is part of their culture but their team spirit, persistence, love and appreciation for the Seleção itself, support from their biggest fans (Brazil, the soccer nation itself) has continued to propel them further despite bumps along the way.

Teamwork making the dream work

The Seleção has displayed strong team unity on various occasions in and out of the game, on and off the field.

Besides togetherness between the players themselves, the Seleção rallied around a common cause and belief in a higher power. In the 2002 FIFA World Cup after their unexpected win, three players including Lucio and Kaka knelt face down on the field to give thanks to God, followed by an entire team. Several Brazilian players continued with their public display of faith thereafter, like the old saying goes "a family that prays together stays together". When Lucio became captain after the 2006 World Cup defeat, he continued to lead the team through that belief. Lucio always pointed out that life was more than winning and losing, encouraging the team to look beyond every loss,

"Anyone who thinks that he has everything but does not have Jesus doesn't have anything," Lucio once mentioned in an interview, encouraging the team to not let a winning streak of the past or future make them complacent. In addition, an idea of looking at soccer as more than just a game of scoring and whining after every loss was ingrained. It became a religion in which their passion and belief resided, bringing the team together and shielded their bond against the various loses that came and propelled them to a distinct and notable level of their own regardless of wins or losses. Thus Brazil remains the best national team to grace the soccer fields with a combination of humility, faith, creativity and flexibility on the field.

Selflessness and celebration of others' success and appreciation of each member of the Seleção and the Brazilian soccer family as a whole came not only from the players themselves but from the coaches as well. In 2007, coach Dunga focused on de-emphasizing individual players and treated all players as equals no matter how established one was over the other. He gave non-established players from not so popular clubs a chance to join the Seleção, “finding unity in diversity". One of those players was Fabiano who then won top goal scorer in the 2009 FIFA Confederations cup with 5 goals in 5 matches.

Unbeatable? (“a seleção Invicta!”)

The players' passion for the Seleção, the fans' appreciation and positive vibe saw Brazil acquiring five World Cup titles (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, and 2002), winning the title two consecutive times and becoming the first nation to win the World Cup title outside of its continent. During the 1978 world cup, in one match the field seemed to have been tempered with, in another match the referee seemed to be biased but Brazil remained the only unbeaten team in the tournament. In 2013 they won the FIFA Confederations Cup with Neymar, Fred and Julio Cesar scooping awards when Luiz Felipe Scolari was back as the team's coach .

"Ginga's Karma"

Brazil began to suffer a dry spell after their 2002 World Cup win. Despite harboring the finest soccer players, they have failed to win a World Cup title since then. Could this be karma punishing Brazil for trying to adjust to the European formalized way of playing soccer while drifting from their precious "Joga Bonita" (play beautiful) concept of Ginga?

One soccer fan even commented on David Levine's article (the origins of la Joga Bonita), "Europeans invented soccer but Brazilians mastered it”, so in essence moving towards Europe’s formalized football skill could have led to the invasion of the dry spell.

Pele, the legendary Brazilian footballer cried over the same issue, saying he was crying over the loss of Brazilian soccer as he knew it, “I cried watching that game and not just because of the score. I cried because I do not know what happened to the joy of Brazilian football. Maybe this summer in the Olympics and Copa America, we can remind the world of how Brazil plays soccer, but it will not be easy. I fear we have lost our way. There is no ginga”. Pele had won the World Cup in 1958, 1962 and 1970 (ESPN) with ginga and he considered Neymar as the only true current ginga player on the squad. Neymar had unfortunately sustained a leg injury at that point. However, the coach at that time was working on bringing the ginga spirit back to the team and the team did begin to regain its stamina with notable Olympic gold medals to its name from 2016.

The movement from the cultural way of playing may have caused a huge drift in the Seleção's team spirit too, leading to questions about their togetherness as a team. “Everybody knows that Brazil has the best players in the world, but do we have the best team in the world? “, the Brazilian sports minister of 1998 once questioned.

A series of failures followed, seeing Brazil becoming the first nation to be eliminated in the first round while holding the World Cup crown in the 1982 World Cup although they were named the greatest team never to win the world cup.

In 2012 they were ranked 11th in the FIFA ranking and this was the first time they were not in the top ten with this position being their lowest since FIFA rankings were introduced.

After the 1-7 semi-final defeat to Germany in the 2014 World Cup, that saw Felipe Scolari resigning, the fans booed their team off the field with Neymar injured and Thiago Silva serving a one-match suspension. This had to be the Seleção’s biggest and most embarrassing defeat. From 2014 to 2016 Dunga returned as coach but failed to return the team's momento and was sacked

Never give up (“nunca desistir!”)

After various violent tackles by the Portuguese defenders in the 1966 world cup, Pele had vowed to never play in the World Cup again but he returned in 1970 and they won leading to their squad being named the best ever. The squad consisted of Pele, Captain Carlos Alberto Torres, Jarzinho, Tostao, Gerson and Rivellino.

After going 24 years without winning a World Cup title or even reaching the finals (their best place being third place in 1978) Brazil regained momento and scooped the title in the 1994 and 2002 World cups. After winning the World Cup in 2002, Brazil saw itself suffering another long period of no major titles to date with the exception of their Olympic wins.

However, throughout this dry season which was in turn exacerbated by injuries of major players like Neymar, match suspensions like Thiago's 2014 substitution, coaches resigning and court cases, the fans remained the nation which breathes soccer and the Seleção’s backbone. There were moments when fans felt degraded by the Seleção’s losses and loose hold on their throne but their belief in their winning spirit as the soccer nation and the unity they commanded through soccer refrained them from throwing their love for the Samba Boys into the trash and this kept the team going reminding them that whether they win or lose, they would remain the unique seleção, the heart of soccer, the football nation! o pais do futebol as they would call themselves.

In conclusion, the Brazilian team culture is a vast concept on its own that incorporates the way soccer is indented in their culture with skills that are developed from a tender age. From the way they love and appreciate their national team, to the way they display commendable team spirit and how they never give up but remain proud members of the Seleção even after a trail of miserable and humiliating loses .This has not only created a special place in the hearts of football fans in the soccer nation alone but all over the world, the Seleção’s team culture is infectious and it has propelled them to success in World Cup tournaments and success in capturing people's hearts even when they are losing.

Brazil has become the standard for comparison in African football too,

"Brazilians play smart football which is not all about scores, they emphasize on the importance of skill and dribbling rather than scoring like we do here, Brazil nurtures talent, they are simply good, God blessed them like that, being Brazilian and not being good in soccer actually seems like a shame," commented Gledy and Mufaro Sharara.

I also remember growing up, as a girl, interested more in Barbie dolls than football but I knew that Ronaldinho existed nonetheless and apart from his handsome face and long hair, I knew he had amazing skills and we used to watch his dribbling videos all the time. So basically the Seleção infection has been there for a while and its most probably sticking around as African counties are also incorporating soccer skills development in ECD programs.

“I think we have suffered indeed. We lost but that's sport, winning and losing, we did not want to lose this way but at least the team kept going until the end. At 6-0, at 7-0, they kept going. We have families and people that support us, nobody needs to tell us what that means. I am not ashamed to say I was a member of the team which lost 7-1, I am not ashamed, I am proud of my teammates.”- Emotional Neymar's speech at a press conference after he got injured pretty much sums it all... ir selecao ir! (Go Selecao go!)