2024-04-08 23:02:04
Brazilian clubs continue to dominate the continent despite the departure of young talented players
İdman.biz presents an article with a link to livesport.ru.
Since the South American Copa Libertadores kicked off on Tuesday, April 2, it is worth remembering that six years ago in this tournament, Vinicius Junior decisively declared himself as a powerful attacking force, writes ESPN.
Real Madrid had already signed him for big money – before he had even played a single match for the senior team. It seemed like a huge gamble. Could he really be worth more than 40 million euros?
He couldn’t cross the Atlantic until he was 18, so he took his first steps with Rio de Janeiro titans Flamengo’s first team, where his every move was scrutinized under a microscope. The evidence regarding his level of play was inconclusive until an evening in Ecuador in March 2018. In a tough game away to Emelek, Flamengo were one goal down – until Vinicius came off the bench. With less than 25 minutes remaining, he only needed 20 of them to change the game.
Twice he broke through the home defense, combining pace and precision to score the goals that gave his side victory. And after the final whistle, many Emelek fans did not seem angry with him. Realizing that they were present at the birth of something special and sensational, after the final whistle they lined up to have their photo taken with the new star.
It’s an experience few South American fans have experienced. Just a few months later, Viney was crossing the Atlantic. World fame awaited him. He won the Champions League. But he didn’t have enough time to win the Libertadores. Neither did Lucas Paqueta, who gave him a pass in the episode with his first goal against Emelek. The following year Flamengo won the trophy. But by then Vinicius and Paqueta were long gone, which sheds light on the current model of South American football.
The continent is inevitably losing its brightest talent, and Europe is trying to get them across the Atlantic as quickly as possible. And so the question for local clubs is: how can they replace the talented youth they have lost?
The big Brazilian clubs have found the answer. You bring replacements from Europe in the form of two types of players. The first are veterans who want to end their careers at home – current Libertadores winners Fluminense, for example, have former Real Madrid left-back Marcelo and are also optimistic about the return of Thiago Silva from Chelsea. The second is good players who, for some reason, could not live up to expectations in Europe and need to gain momentum. Flamengo centre-forward Pedro, quickly branded a failure at Fiorentina but good enough to go to the last World Cup, is an obvious example. Clubs also have their own next generation youth products to showcase to the public. And any holes in the lineup can be filled by looking elsewhere on the continent.
Brazilian clubs, the only ones in South America that speak Portuguese, were once closed to transfers from neighboring countries. The situation has changed decisively. For example, in recent matches under the auspices of FIFA, Ecuador fielded six players competing at club level in Brazil. Colombia, Uruguay and Venezuela each fielded five players, while Bolivia and Chile had one each. Brazilian clubs recently made the controversial decision to allow up to nine foreign players to be used in domestic matches.
Thus, Brazil treats other South American countries the same way Europe treats itself, selecting the best talent. And this comes amid the growth of North American MLS, which has been successful in scouting players in South America but is wary of acquiring players from Brazil due to higher transfer fees. Thus, the financial gap that has formed between Brazil and the rest of the countries is now clearly visible on the field.
The Copa Libertadores was once considered a competition dominated by Argentina. But Brazil has now won five finals in a row – an unprecedented dominance – and three of those five finals have been purely Brazilian. If this isn’t already a cause for concern, it should already be.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to understand how other countries can compete with Brazil. Argentina’s River Plate now has the largest stadium capacity on the continent and is probably the strongest contender, along with teams such as Independiente del Valle and Liga de Quito from Ecuador, who can combine excellent youth development with the advantage of holding home games in a stadium located in the highlands. But for the foreseeable future it is difficult to imagine anything other than Brazilian dominance with a level of predictability that is detrimental to continental competition. The English Premier League has a financial advantage in Europe but can still expect to be edged out by top clubs from several other countries in the Champions League.
However, there is an obvious solution – real Pan-American club competitions. Logistics are difficult – America is huge – but the synergy is obvious. There is certainly some pan-American progress at this year’s Copa America, with ten South American teams joining six CONCACAF representatives in the US-hosted tournament.
But South America hardly needs this at the national team level. It doesn’t matter where players like Lionel Messi and Vinicius play their club football. They cannot change their football nationality. And South America’s prestige at the national team level, the result of a long history and many titles, is likely to be undermined by contacts with CONCACAF. But in the case of clubs, the situation is different.
The only way South American teams can hope to retain future Viniciuses is by becoming Pan-Americans – and all of this gives American fans an extra reason to keep an eye on the Copa Libertadores. These teams will most likely become their future opponents.
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