For the first time since the advent of World War II the soccer world reconvened in Brazil in June, July 1950. With the Maracanã as the larger stadium in the planet, the country that played well in 1938 (3^rd place) was galvanized around its Seleção that seemed unstoppable. In the first phase Brazil beat Mexico (4-0), tied with Switzerland (2-2) and beat Youguslavia (2-0). With a couple of nervous appearances the Seleção was not as exuberant in its first 3 games. The biggest surprise of all was the amateurish team of USA beating England (1-0) in Belo Horizonte, sending the favorite British Team back home.

The second and final phase between the hosts, Sweden, Spain and Uruguay would see the Brazilian splendor that all 50 million Brazilians were waiting for.  The first game was an elastic 7-0 win over Sweden, followed by another “goleada” of 6-1 over Spain. Meanwhile, Uruguay struggled to tie with the Swedes (2-2) and beat the Spanish (3-2) on a very tough game.

For the final on July 16^th 1950 the Maracanã stadium was at full capacity (200,000)  waiting for Brazil to continue its winning strike and take the FIFA World Cup for the first time.  Brazil would be champion with a simple tie and actually scores first. But Uruguay’s dangerous counter-attacks worked twice. End of the game, Uruguay 2-1 Brazil. The biggest loss Read More…

Leonidas da Silva, 1940s.

In the first decades of the twentieth century the capital city of Rio de Janeiro went through drastic transformations. Appointed mayor in 1902, Pereira Passos got absolute powers to literally “sanitize” downtown Rio. Inspired by Hausmman Parisian reforms, Passos opened a series of new avenues downtown, helping connect the port and the commercial center with the bourgeoning zona-sul, the ocean front areas of Rio being occupied by the wealthier.  In the process, thousands of humble structures (cortiços) were demolished, its inhabitants simply pushed out.

A significant portion of the 5,000 people displaced, having nowhere else to go, got their few belongings and moved up the hills helping fuel the growth of the favelas.  The “sanitation” project used real public health concerns to push forward another kind of “cleaning”: to eradicate the mostly black and mulatto poor population from downtown Rio and make it look as European (meaning white) as possible. The belle-époque was not so belle after all.

Racial undertones were so pervasive in Brazil that even a modernist prophet like Lucio Costa wrote in 1928 about “this anonymous crowd that take the trains (…) making us ashamed everywhere. What can we expect from such population? All is a result of race. The race being good the government will be good and good will be the architecture. Say what you may, our basic problem is selective migration, the rest is secondary, will happen by itself.” (Costa in O Pais, July 1^st,  1928).

No wonder that dark skinned athletes had to powder their faces and make their skin lighter-colored in order to play.  Fluminense, one of the great soccer teams of Rio is still called Read More…