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Great as usual Tim
Do you think that they are investing in Brasillian talent just because they are Brasillian and already speak the language?...or that they come cheap and its more economic than investing in home grown players?

Fascinating piece Tim. It's ironic in a way that despite the untold thousands of footballers who traversed the Atlantic between these two great nations throughout the years arguably the best ever 'Portugese' player actually came out of Africa...'Eusébio' da Silva Ferreira. You just never know where the next diamond will be unearthed.

Are there any notable Portugese players plying their trade in Brazil now or has that stopped completely? Have any Brazilian based Portugese players ever made the European sides' national squad?

Interesting...

Tim, when you recently wrote about Santos being able to hold to Neymar and how that was seen a a triumph of the 'empowered' Brazilian league, I argued - not with you but with some other posts, and also in general with the mood of Brazilian press and supporters - that to hold on to Neymar giving him the world at the cost of a self sustainable model was hardly a motive for joy.
I am still of the opinion that a real show of strenght for the Brazilian league will be when we can hold on to this mass of intermediate footballers that come every year to Europe, players that may be not as gifted as the Neymars and Gansos, but that could still well provide a permanent spine and consistency to many sides in the league that every start of a new season are completely remodeled, often with substandard players or has-beens. Ukraine, Russia and Turkey have been all common destinations for those, but I recall also mentioning Portugal...

Your article however has slightly changed my mind about Portugal at least - its traditional links to Brazilian football indeed make them a natural destination for players that can't find their space in Brazil, Of course Portugal in itself with all historical ties with Brazil, plus language, plus the already big number of Brazilians that immigrate make it a much easier environment to adapt to.
In that sense, I now think that at least in this case the flow of players is not harmful to the Brazilian league, it is actually an interesting exchange.

In Northern Ireland there is a Club called Armagh City which was taken over last season by brazilians and they wiped the clubs debts completly. Armagh were a poor championship side and the brazilians released the poor players and filled the space with brazilians and Portuguese academy players. They fought relegation but failed and went down to league 1, the brazilians have not deserted them and have decided to stay. They have all there players on loan from other clubs to get them experiance playing in a rough league and are not paying any wages. Do you think this will benifit Armagh or with the squad changing every year will they never improve? and is there any where else that this sort of thing has happened?

Great blog Tim, as always.

Braga have literally come from nowhere, I mean as a threat to the top teams in Portugal. A lot of credit has to be given to their former manager Jorge Jesus and current manager Domingos. There are plenty of Brazilians in the Portuguese league as you said, but those in Braga got very good managers in recent years.

1#
I think one of the reasons (unless football computer games have lied to me) is that Brazilians can get work permits in Portugal easier than most other European nations (due to their colonial past).
So they can get players that other teams couldn't legally sign, keep them for two years so they qualify for a Portuguese (and therefore EU) passport and then move to other european teams for a massive profit.

@6 It's a minimum of 5 years to qualify for a Portuguese passport, so it's not that easy unless they play International football like Ramires did, if they want to move to the likes of England, etc.

The Portuguese league only benefits from Brazilian players because there is no foreign cap like Seria A, for example.

Another interesting read, great insight ahead of the match.

Really enjoy following the Portuguese leagues and watching developing Brazilian players grow in the league.

Will be keeping a close eye on Alan Kardec, Airton, Souza and Walter this season.

Tim, a small number of players also return to Brazil from Porutugal, I've been particulary impressed with Eder Luis who has joined Vasco on loan from Benfica.

Matt

Strange?

An article about Braga the day before they play Arsenal and no mention of the fact the club is nick-named "Little Arsenal"?...

Hence the reason they play in Red and White

Instead we get a re-hash of most of Tim's greatest hits on why stars move to Europe and the Feeder Clubs who buy them...

Even Wikipedia might have dished up that little gem!

Wonderful skillful fast exciting football players from Brazil have to compete with Quotarising Rascist Nationalist regulations laid down by the Premier League and Championship.
Wonderful skillful fast exciting football players from Brazil have to compete with Quotarising Rascist Nationalist regulations laid down by Blatter and co.
Destroying and suffocating organic natural exciting skillful football by passport control by Rascists and Nationalists.

Tim,

Obviously Brasil has an embarrassmnt of riches when it comes to players, but do they ever question why a number of excellent players hav "got away" and played for Portugal?

Surely Deco & Pepe could have won a lot of caps for Brasil? Deco's position was obviously the most competitive in the Brasil squad, but Pepe I would think would be playing or in and around the first team?

Tim, fantastic read as always. I love the insight you get from reading your articles.

I'd imagine that many Brazilians find the lure of being able to earn a better living, without all the hassle of the language barrier etc., hard to resist. In a similar yet hypothetical way, I'd assume lots of Australians would come over to England were they as football-minded as Brazil.

It doesn't really help the Portuguese national side in the long run, however, with young, up-coming home-grown players being overlooked in favour of Brazilian prospects. At what point is the national side going to be able to consider itself "Portugal", rather than a Portugal/Brazil XI? I don't know whether a lot of Portugal fans are concerned by this, so if there's any of you out there, pipe up and let me know!

@13. Kevin

That is one of the most talked about issues when it comes to the Portuguese national team. As you would expect many are against having Brazilians on the side, but not all of course.

But one would say how is this different to having the likes of Nani, who was born in Cape Green Islands, but no one questions that and is considered fully Portuguese.

Only a few Brazilians will end up playing for their national side, and maybe some see Portugal as a way into regular International football, something that doesn't go down too well with everyone, hence the Brazil B tag. (All in all this is very recent, so it's one to watch out for in the future)

Hi Peter,

Some good points. I think that brazilians are very well represented on the whole within the champions league. I remember Brazil being the most represented country player wise within the competition.

Just wondering a couple of things:

A) Is there anybody who, despite being brazilian born has gone onto represent an adopted country who Bazil really wish was theirs?

Ie would the public have loved Deco between 2004-2007?

Do they see Senna as the man that would have sured up their midfeild?

B) How is Ronaldo de Lima fairing these days and do you ever think he will come to the premiership? I would love to see him here as I still think he would score a lot of goals in the right team. When Man Utd made the gamble with Owen, I flet that could have gambled on il Fenomeno instead.

Tell me how u feel on my points

#11, I happen to agree with you in principle. I'm all for an open door policy of sorts, and think we should let the asylum seekers from Sangatte and other such places into the UK without question - though with limited state aid, else we'd be broke. However, I doubt you'll find many people on here or in the UK in general who hold opinions as liberal as yours or mine, shame really.

Personally, I would like to be welcomed anywhere I choose to live on the planet - though accept that is unlikely given our country's history - and feel we should be as welcoming here. Obviously this needs to be rationalised and done in an orderly and controlled manner, but in principle, everyone should be welcome as you say.

What a fabulous article! Tim, you make it sound epic, Camões-like.

Another excellent article, and fascinating if you enjoy football history, particularly in its social and global context.

Given the salaries being paid in Brazil to the likes of Deco and Ronaldo, I can't help but feel that some of these players wouldn't have to leave if the cake was sliced fairly.

It seems clear that the Brazilian league would be untouchable in terms of quality if the exodus was reversed to some degree. While I'm delighted to see these players compete in Europe, it's seems very unfair to those supporters in Brazil to see their top and middle ranking players leave.

I would hope that a solution can be found to this problem but I fear that is wishful thinking. Football the world over seems to be caught up in a "that's the way it is" mindset, particularly where finance is concerned.

Really good piece and Braga will be a force to reckon with especially on their home patch.

#17 agree with your view but try saying that on a political blog and wait to be eaten alive!

I live in Portugal for a couple of months and Braga because of their kit were actually called the Arsenal of Portugal but at the time I was there as Mentioned by Tim the big three overshadowed them and they were ner do wells in the top league skirting with religation

#17
i agree with you why shouldnt we welcome all our distant, okay extremely distant cousins from all around the world?

Great article Tim, the connection between Portugal and Brazil has been strong for many years. The reason for the number of Brazilians coming over is simple. The language, style of play, to some extent even the weather is similar. Along with a raise in salary, and the prospect of making the jump to a better club in the future is hard to ignore. As for the naturalized Brazilians, I don't know their personal reasons, but they stayed working within the country for over 5 years, they earned citizenship and deserve to be considered for the national team. What can't be controlled, is their actual "desire" to play for Portugal. This has been only recent though, and I don't really see it as a threat to the Portuguese youth players. Infact the youth system is thriving, because while young Portuguese players may not get to start their first season with one of the big clubs that they came through, they may still get the chance to play first division football, on one of the satellite teams. For example a lot of FC Porto's youth players played for Olhanense, some of them did so well they were even called into the Porto squad this season ie: Ukra and Castro. Anyway the Brazilian players will always have a sort of "gateway" into Europe through Portugal, and some even stay in the Portuguese league playing out most of their career. It's like a home away from home so to speak, and I don't see it changing anytime soon unless they come with regulations on the amount of foreign players.

Stevat (17), you wrote "I would like to be welcomed anywhere I choose to live on the planet - though accept that is unlikely given our country's history." I'm a Brit who has travelled widely since 1960, I've never found that my nationality or the UK's history made me unwelcome. On the contrary, for example in India 1972-75 I met many people who wished that the British had never left. In Africa, I've only been in the northern countries, but my wife has travelled in several ex-colonies and has found no animosity to Brits. I think that the Brit's colonial record is much superior to that of other empires, and generally there is not a residue of resentment and animosity.

Theodore Dalrymple, a civil servant in Rhodesia for five years, wrote a great article on British colonisation in Africa, in which he showed the merits of the British system but also how, unfortunately, it provided a wonderful vehicle for incoming dictators to exploit. (I can't find the reference at the moment, but worth following up.)

Re a mention of computer games, there's a desert town called Braga in the CRPG Gothic 3 (a German-made game with a sense of humour!), some of the inhabitants have Portuguese names but there's no sign of football.

Sorry for my bad english,I am Asian,but we also love Brazilian football,because Brazilian's dribbling ,skills were unparalleled;
According IFFHS,FIFA and World Soccer magazine and Venerdì Magazine,we had picked the best Brazlian players of each decade,what do you think?





Best player of the 1960s:Pele
Best player of the 1970s:Roberto RIVELLINO
Best player of the 1980s:Zico
Best player of the 1990s:Ronaldo
Best player of the 2000s:Ronaldinho
Best XI EVER:
Taffarel

Carlos Alberto Marcio Santos Aldair Nilton Santos


Dunga


Garrincha Zico Didi




Pele Ronaldo

I think Ronaldo in the mid-90s and late-90s was best player ever,if not because of his knee injuries ,he will as great as Pele the king of football

This was an interesting insight into the "transfer chain" that many young Brazilians follow now as an alternative to staying in their domestic league. I imagine in many cases, the salaries are at least slightly better in the Portuguese league and there is also the opportunity to play for one of the traditional giants of Portuguese football, which in my opinion, is a nice notch on the belt for any player, even if most of them ultimately end up in bigger European leagues. Most interestingly to me is that some of these Brazilian players get a taste for the generally higher quality of life in Portugal and end up defecting to the Portuguese national side. In my mind, it's only a matter of time before these players are captured at progressively younger ages, enabling them to assimilated into Portuguese culture and subsequently the national team before Brazil even has a chance to convince them otherwise.

#24/Faustino

"I'm a Brit who has travelled widely since 1960, I've never found that my nationality or the UK's history made me unwelcome."

Good. Nor should it, on a personal level, but you should accept that you might be confronted with your country's history on a principal/political level.

"On the contrary, for example in India 1972-75 I met many people who wished that the British had never left."

Of course, a number of locals (in India or anywhere) benefitted from the Imperial system, but that number is fairly insignificant compared to the millions who suffered horrible injustice.

"In Africa, I've only been in the northern countries, but my wife has travelled in several ex-colonies and has found no animosity to Brits."

Then I'd like to suggest your wife has been moving in somewhat restricted circles. In Kenya, for example, where the British committed genocide less than 60 years ago, animosity is certain to be found, although it's normally directed at the Empire rather than present-day British individuals. That said, I'm married to a Kenyan, and while no one had any trouble accepting a white person into the family, they made it clear I wouldn't have been welcome were I British.

"I think that the Brit's colonial record is much superior to that of other empires, and generally there is not a residue of resentment and animosity."

That's a very rose-tinted view of British Imperialism. I suggest you do some reading, preferrably starting with Caroline Elkins' Imperial Reckoning.

Now, to get back on topic, I enjoyed the article, Tim, as I always do: may I enquire what you think about the prospects of Hernanes at Lazio?

How on earth can this blog get moved into an arena where clever sods try to out talk each other and pretend they are the cleverest people on the planet. No wonder the world is like it is! Portugese football is great at club level, My team is Benfica who I have seen a few times, great night out, zero hostility and pretty cheap to watch footy in some great stadia. Its well worth a Ryan/Easy Jet weekend to Portugal taking in a Friday or Saturday night game. Braga stadium seems to have grass behind one of the goals!!!

These kind of phenomena are more a reflection of the globalization of almost anything on earth more than even previous colonial history. A Frenchman, Wenger has most successfully recruited from his home country or colonies, just like Rafa's tenure at Anfield.

A club is like any other going concern, concerned primarily with maximizing profits and minimizing expenditure. In between there's connection with the local community, CSR and such-like corporate activities. Nothing new here.

Portugal and Brazil will always be connected, just like England and its Commonwealth club of ex-colonies. It however seems to be only the English who don't recruit in the manner of Braga. Holland is full of such, with players like Heitinga, Seedorf, Rijkaard, Gullit, Babel, Elia a reflection of colonialism. The winning Les Bleus squad of 1998 even caused concern to Jean Marie le Pen's National Front for its motley crue of foreign-born Frenchmen.

Such might explain this very English fascination with Braga's Brazilian connection. However, with television most of today's players eye moves abroad, modeling their own games on idols of choice, of whatever nationality. This in turn interferes with their own nation's soccer philosophy and might help explain why Dunga's Brazil, as an example, was perceived to be more Europeasque in style, versus the romanticism that marked out the generation of Socrates, Zico, Careca and Falcao.

Let's move from xenophobic kind of arguments - I'm not consigning Phil here to the category of the BNP - and embrace the global nature of soccer. This is an all encompassing, worldwide phenom that cuts across all cadres of society, education levels, gender divide and any other demographic.

Braga, on behalf of all multinational soccer squads, might just be the face of future football.

Somewhat interesting article, not exactly sure what it's about? Carmen Miranda, Braga, Zico, Vasco, Portuguese migration? You lost me after the bananas comment.

Hi Tim,

I was waiting for the ARS v BRA [as it strangely read on the screen] result before passing comment on Braga and its colonial entourage.

The Portuguese side were turned-over by a rampant Arsenal side - and I am not surprised.

Portugal has always churned out footballing anomalies ie Boavista and Maritimo who do well for a few seasons and then normal service is resumed.

After reading your article detailing the talent at their disposal I had hoped Braga would push the Gunners and maybe clinch a point - but the team collapsed when the going got tough. Players fault, managers fault or caught in the moment, the next five CL games will decide their fate.

Unless Braga improve in the next few seasons I can see them being a starting point for many incomers before moving on elsewhere.

Hopefully they will pick themselves up on the return match and the SAs coupled with the Portuguese you mentioned will prove their worth.

Cheers,
TDT

I'd have thought the Portugese colonial history in Africa would have prevented anyone mentioning colonies.
Britain looked positively humane in comparison to the withdrawal from Mozambique and Angola.

Hi Tim,

my name is Kephern Fuller and I live in the U.S. and i thought this article of fascinating. Being in the states its always interesting to hear about Brazilian soccer culture. In the U.S. we have no inner city soccer culture in America. I'm african american myself and I love how Brazilians use music and social expression to define their football. I played in the Netherlands and now I've created a non-profit called Joga SC to start infusing a culture within the inner city. I wanted to know if you could possibly write a story about soccer in America and your take on it. I'll leave you with a video of my non-profit that i will use to change culture of soccer in the U.S.

Joga SC

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oh like this guy...coz i came from Brazil too...hehe

Great information... thanks for you review and tutorial about how to comment.I think if we walk to other blog we most comment to give appreciate for owner.

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Surely Deco & Pepe could have won a lot of caps for Brasil? Deco's position was obviously the most competitive in the Brasil squad, but Pepe I would think would be playing or in and around the first team?

Another excellent article, and fascinating if you enjoy football history, particularly in its social and global context.

Given the salaries being paid in Brazil to the likes of Deco and Ronaldo, I can't help but feel that some of these players wouldn't have to leave if the cake was sliced fairly.

It seems clear that the Brazilian league would be untouchable in terms of quality if the exodus was reversed to some degree. While I'm delighted to see these players compete in Europe, it's seems very unfair to those supporters in Brazil to see their top and middle ranking players leave.

I would hope that a solution can be found to this problem but I fear that is wishful thinking. Football the world over seems to be caught up in a "that's the way it is" mindset, particularly where finance is concerned.

Cheers,
P. Fole - Developer

and i thought this article of fascinating. Being in the states its always interesting to hear about Brazilian soccer culture. In the U.S. we have no inner city soccer culture in America. I'm african american myself and I love how Brazilians use music and social expression to define their football. I played in the Netherlands and now I've created a non-profit called Joga SC to start infusing a culture within the inner city. I wanted to know if you could possibly write a story about soccer in America and your take on it. I'll leave you with a video of my non-profit that i will use to change culture of soccer in the U.S. - - - -

All this user's posts have been removed.Why?

Brazil has always been my favorite team though England were known for their fair play in the 90's.So far Ronaldo is the best player that I've seen.Great post mate.