Maurício Alencar – full writer portfolio
All articles on the state of football as it is today.
In the underground boardrooms of the Hilton Hotel in São Paulo, Brazil’s top lawyers and businessmen convened for a two-day conference discussing the future of Brazilian football. Sports betting, fan violence, and NFTs were among the central items on the agenda for discussion at the CONFUT event, yet two words were almost certainly mentioned in every lift and every hotel corridor conversation: ‘SAF’ and ‘league’.
Outside Brazil, Fred’s that lump who lost 7-1. But for Brazilians, Fred is the national league’s second highest top goalscorer ever, Fred is the man who stops to talk to his fans on the streets, Fred is the fox-in-the-box, instinctive striker, and, for Fluminense FC fans, the Superman-Rambo hybrid who is worthy enough of an extravagantly ceremonious farewell to football.
Over the last 20 years, Brazilian football has seen itself limp behind the pace of European football. Brazil’s overall football landscape can only be rendered decadent, degenerate, and dire. But Qatar 2022 could be Brazil’s Italia 90 checkpoint.
“The Ancient Greeks created the mosaic, using pebbles. The Romans imitated them, using smaller and more colourful pebbles. Fluminense FC animated the mosaic, using people and placards.”
“There has been no proper explanation for the reason why tradition has been such a hindrance to Solksjaer’s progress. 20th century literary criticism on literary influence and tradition may prove to be an apt framework for the discussion of Solksjaer’s predicament.”
first posted on Footrace The ultimate substitution occurred last week when the Newcastle takeover by the PIF was completed. Prince Mohammed bin Salman on for Mike Ashley, Sports Direct off for PIF, and domestic workers’ rights abuses replaced by overseas…
How you consume your football probably defines exactly what kind of football fan you are. The kind of football fan you are – a serious existential thinker who wants to understand why football’s possession game is some kind of play…
“When your team scores, the full pint in your hand might be up in the air, soaking all those around in warm, stale beer.”
“‘Sustainable’, when used in a financial context, is a misfire.”
