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.
After FIFA’s decision to increase the number of participants at the 2026 World Cup to 48 nations, a lot of questions arose with regards to the qualifying process for that particular tournament. How would the 16 extra places be rationed? Which federations would benefit most? How would this impact the quality of the qualifiers themselves and, ultimately, teams preparations for the finals?
The world's oldest active opera house, the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Italy, is going to host perhaps the least musical person it has ever hosted: Diego Armando Maradona.
On January 16, Maradona will paricipate in an event celebrating, um, Maradona.
As one might expect, some artsy people are unhappy about Maradona taking over an opera landmark, because he's, you know, Maradona. Diego Maradona's life seems more suited for a rave in an abandoned warehouse than an opera, but whatever.
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.
There's no easy way to say this: someone sawed a statue of Messi in half.
Seriously, a statue of Messi in Buenos Aires was found with the top part missing because someone, or a group of someones, sawed it off.
What does one do with the top half of a Messi statue? I hope they didn't just throw it away. That would be such a waste. I assume they had it mounted on something, but if they haven't done that yet I will be so bold as to suggest they find a horse statue, remove the head and replace it with the top of Messi's statue. CENTAUR MESSI.
The Copa Sao Paulo de Futebol Junior (Sao Paulo Youth Football Cup) is Brazil’s prime youth tournament, showcasing the next generation of young Brazilian stars.
Names like Lucas Moura and Gabriel Jesus played the tournament as youngsters.