More than two years after the 2014 World Cup, the excess of $3 billion spent on building new stadiums and renovating existing ones across Brazil is looking more and more like an unmitigated disaster. With the government unable to pay teachers, medical personnel and pensions, the extreme costs of up keeping these gargantuan white elephants are rightly the last thing on the country's priority list.
We’ve shown you some of the best and most amusing moments the Copa Sao Paulo has had to offer over the past few weeks. However, the latest news coming from Brazil’s top youth competition is nothing short of disturbing. Age fraud has been present in soccer ever since the conception of youth competitions.
Stefan Frei, your goalkeeping moment in the sun is over, step aside. Enter Brazilian club Ceara SC mascot Vovo. Like Frei, he’s got a beard, hops and incredible reactions. Unlike Frei, he’s not a real person. Unless it’s a guy with big head syndrome. In which case, I sincerely apologize.
PQP, É O MELHOR GOLEIRO DO BRASIL, MASCOTE! pic.twitter.com/Rz0KLX6sdf
It’s no secret that Brazilian midfielder Felipe Melo is not one of the friendliest guys to go up against on the pitch. Still, his first press conference as a Palmeiras player was nothing short of shocking.
The former Galatasaray and Internazionale player started out by saying the media was to blame for his bad-boy reputation.
Last time we popped in for a look at the Sao Paulo Youth Cup we focused on the bad (funny) side of the Copa Sao Paulo, as we watched a Corinthians defender score one of the weirdest own goals of the past few years. Well, this time we are back showing the good side of Brazil’s premier youth competition.
With a single play, Fluminense’s 18-year-old midfielder Pedrinho went from unknown prospect to having fans bothering manager Abel Braga to call the youngster up to the senior squad.
In the wake of the LaMia Flight 2933 disaster which took the lives of 22 members of the Chapecoense football squad, the club has begun the painful process of building towards their new season with the aim of promoting players from their youth teams. While many seasoned professionals and other Brazilian clubs have offered their support with regards to personnel, Chapecoesne president Plinio David de nes Filho has maintained that the club will stay true to its roots and values.
In a moving and heartfelt article for The Players’ Tribune entitled “Letter to My Younger Self”, Ronaldinho has recounted the remarkable stages of his globetrotting career; from the death of his father as an eight-year-old to the highs of representing the Brazilian national team and winning the Ballon d’Or with Barcelona.
Playing on Thursday night in Sao Paulo in a charity match for the victims of the Chapecoense plane crash, Brazilian defender Fred finally figured out a tactic to slow Neymar down, at least momentarily.
Nearly four weeks after the LaMia Flight 2933 disaster which claimed the lives of 71 people on board, including 22 players on the Chapecoense football squad, the Brazilian club has been formally awarded the trophy for the 2016 Copa Sudamericana Final.
You don’t ever work on your toe poke, admit it. It’s not a skill you frequently pull off after telling your mates which corner your about to put your shot in during warmups. You’d be called a child and laughed off the pitch, your ambitious toe punt looking nothing like a clean hit off the laces or a swerving effort with the instep.
But contrary to accepted reasoning, the toe poke is actually the hallmark of a genius. Legends like Ronaldo, Romario, Ronaldinho, Andriy Shevchenko and Diego Maradona all had the infamous action down cold.