Soccer in Brasil
Culture in Brazil (especially focusing on soccer)
Brazil is a big country. I mean, huge. It’s the biggest country in South America. It consists of 8,511,996 square kilometers, including all of its oceanic islands. Its full, official name is the Federative Republic of Brazil, and the most recent consensus counted the total population as 188,078,22 Brazilians. So now that you know the basic statistics of Brazil, I can relate to you the actual topic of this paper- Brazilian culture, with an emphasis on soccer (Brazil, pp. 1-5). Soccer is a source of great national pride for Brazil, and it is a huge passion for Brazilians of all ages.
First, of course, the history of the Brazilian national soccer team. Charles Miller brought futebol, which means soccer in Portuguese, to Brazil in 1885. At first, it was only practiced in private clubs by young men from elite and rich families. The Brazilian Football Confederation was founded in 1914. The national soccer team, also founded in 1914 and affiliated with FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) in 1923, has participated in the World Cup eighteen times since 1930. In fact, it is the only team to have never missed a World Cup participation. It has won a total of five times (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002), making Brazil’s soccer team the most successful team in FIFA world cup history (Brazil Soccer Team). This means that the team is ranked as the number one football team in the world. Brazil has more professional soccer teams than any other country involved with soccer.
In case you were wondering, Charles Miller has not been forgotten in Brazil. He was such an important guy, they named his favorite ball trick after him. It’s his famous trick of flicking the ball up with the heel, and it is now called the 'chaleira ', after 'Charles '. Also, he has a street named after him in central Sao Paulo, called the Praca Charles Miller.
In addition to the national Brazilian football team, there is a
Brazil is a big country. I mean, huge. It’s the biggest country in South America. It consists of 8,511,996 square kilometers, including all of its oceanic islands. Its full, official name is the Federative Republic of Brazil, and the most recent consensus counted the total population as 188,078,22 Brazilians. So now that you know the basic statistics of Brazil, I can relate to you the actual topic of this paper- Brazilian culture, with an emphasis on soccer (Brazil, pp. 1-5). Soccer is a source of great national pride for Brazil, and it is a huge passion for Brazilians of all ages.
First, of course, the history of the Brazilian national soccer team. Charles Miller brought futebol, which means soccer in Portuguese, to Brazil in 1885. At first, it was only practiced in private clubs by young men from elite and rich families. The Brazilian Football Confederation was founded in 1914. The national soccer team, also founded in 1914 and affiliated with FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) in 1923, has participated in the World Cup eighteen times since 1930. In fact, it is the only team to have never missed a World Cup participation. It has won a total of five times (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002), making Brazil’s soccer team the most successful team in FIFA world cup history (Brazil Soccer Team). This means that the team is ranked as the number one football team in the world. Brazil has more professional soccer teams than any other country involved with soccer.
In case you were wondering, Charles Miller has not been forgotten in Brazil. He was such an important guy, they named his favorite ball trick after him. It’s his famous trick of flicking the ball up with the heel, and it is now called the 'chaleira ', after 'Charles '. Also, he has a street named after him in central Sao Paulo, called the Praca Charles Miller.
In addition to the national Brazilian football team, there is a
Bibliography: · Library of Congress, Federal Research Division, comp. Brazil: a Country Study. Ed. Rex A. Hudson. 5th ed. 1998. · "Brazil Soccer Team." Maps of the World. 8 Mar. 2008 <http://www.mapsofworld.com/2006-fifa-world-cup/brazil.html>. · Muller, Antonio J. "Soccer Culture in Brazil." The Sport Journal. 9 Mar. 2008 <http://www.thesportjournal.org/article/soccer-culture-brazil>. · "What is Brazilian Style?" California Soccer Camp. 9 Mar. 2008 <http://www.californiasoccercamp.com/>. · "The World of Soccer." Scholastic. 7 Mar. 2008 <http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/soccer2005/soccerstories/index.asp?article=history&topic=0>. · "Football in Brazil." Brazil Travel. 7 Mar. 2008 <http://www.v-brazil.com/culture/sports/football.html>.