Football was a global community sport, now it has become a corporate global commodity.
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The Day Football Died
It was at 90+ minutes in Belo Horizonte when the world finally believed that Brazilian football is dead and that’s a final statement after the demolishing and stunning victory of Germany’s national team, who won the semifinal game of the World Cup by 7-1.
And that’s the moment when time stopped, and the very moment when modern football simply ceased to exist, because no PR, no marketing, no freaking bestselling storyteller can persuade us that Brazil’s team has the same value as the one who represented the same country in 2002 or the one from 1994, when Carioca won the last two titles of the World Cup tournaments.
For those who don’t follow, on the last two occasions when Brazil won the championship, there were players like Romario, Bebeto, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, etc. Those living legends have nothing to compare with present footballers in “yellow” team jerseys. Today’s players are nothing like Brazilians should be, strictly in a football sense of course.
Players became property valued in money on the players’ market.
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Nobody remembers the exact day when corporations stole football from the people, but that really happened. Was it 1994, or for years before? It was in post-Cold War era, when fun started to recognize the small changes in the game almost daily, and the same year the game become something different. Players became property valued in money on the players’ market. Clubs weren’t the local “sanctuaries” any more, but became international marketing vendors capable of selling everything to everyone.
Everything started to change. Players became attracted by sponsors and the clubs. Prices were in constant inflation, so marketing and corporal behavior became primal philosophies in the every day routine in managing of teams. No more playing for the club they love, the one they support. No, players became professionals, more like ruthless mercenaries who are prepared to change teams every six months to earn more money. Sports shoes, jerseys, socks – even the ball were severally engineered to be more attractive and more approachable. Everything changed. People stayed tuned in, but every day they became more and more annoyed. Brazil was always the greatest football nation on the planet but its marketing value was far bigger than the value of its players. Media from all over the world constantly informed us that Brazil lead the world competition, which was a notorious lie.
Corporations were in constant exploration for Brazilian football players and several years ago everything stopped.
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Romario, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho were some of the best players in the history of the game, but at the same time some of the most commercialized sportsmen on earth. Corporations were in constant exploration for Brazilian football players and several years ago everything stopped. Even mighty Brazil was without good players. It is possible and can happen even to a country with a population of 200 million. So, the companies tried to change their focus on another country or a continent? No! They have done what they do for best. They faked the result, or it is better to say that they manipulated everyone to believe that Brazil is the best team in the world. Well not everyone, at least not German football players.
So, in Bello Horizonte, football, the one we have known for the last 20 or more years died. It is over and nobody can explain how Brazilians forgot to play the game in just a few days. A better explanation is that this generation of Brazilians actually were never talented enough to be on the verge of competing for the world title, except in commercial videos or on jumbo posters.
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Corporate football is dead, and we have to wait until the end of the World Cup to witness the birth of the next one. Nobody should think that it will be like the glory days of the past. Oh no, football belongs to the people no more, and that’s the final score.
Photo: iMorpheus/Flickr
Nice job! 🙂