The soccer madness that has never relaxed its hold on Brazil began at the turn of the century, caused the entire nation to plunge into depression in 1950, later lifted it to peaks of euphoria between 1958 and 1970, contributed to the malaise caused by the political, social, and economic difficulties afflicting the country in the 1980s, and in 1994 gave Brazil's collective self-esteem a badly needed boost. Global and Brazilian Soccer 2006 Sport is almost a secular religion with its myths, rules and revered heroes, often competing with religion when games are played at the same time as church services, say two Brazilian researchers. "Football and politics, the construction of a national identity". Their conclusion that soccer is like a secular religion is one of the findings in the book dealing with class, race and geography in sport. As the soccer teams from around the world converged on Germany for the soccer World Cup there is no question that the game forged and reinforced national identity in Brazil where the love of soccer is palpable. Brazil is the only nation that has participated in every World Cup since the inception of the tournament in 1930. Bulletin: 2006: The Brazilian soccer confederation has hired former captain Dunga as coach of the national team. Dunga, who was the captain of Brazil's 1994 World Cup-winning team, replaces Carlos Alberto Parreira, who quit after Brazil was eliminated by France in the quarterfinals of this year's World Cup in Germany. "The choice of Dunga will fully satisfy the desires of Brazilian fans who want an enthusiastic coach on the national team," CBF president Ricardo Teixeira said on the confederation's Web site. Dunga will make his debut when Brazil faces Norway in an exhibition Aug. 16 in Oslo. |
