TORONTO – As far as soccer games go, this was the equivalent of having an audience with the Pope.
And although Brazil’s 2-1 win over Chile on Tuesday night came in a meaningless friendly, the 38,514 in attendance at Rogers Centre were still touched, be it ever so gently and briefly, by the soccer gods wearing those famous yellow jerseys.
For Canadians, opportunities to see Brazil’s national team in the flesh have been few and far between. The last time they were here was June 5, 1994. Fans in Edmonton remember that day well—51,936 spectators at Commonwealth Stadium watched Canada, who nearly qualified for the World Cup that year, earn a historic 1-1 draw against Romario and his cohorts in an exhibition match.
How times have changed. Nineteen years after playing in Edmonton, the Seleção came back to Canada for the first time, returning as soccer missionaries to a country that has fallen on desperate and hard times.
The Canadian men’s team lost 1-0 to Slovenia earlier on Tuesday, closing out a dreadful 2013 that saw the Reds go winless in 13 matches (with 10 losses) and only score a single goal. This comes in the aftermath of the 8-1 debacle in Honduras last October, the unofficial low point of the men’s program. Canada’s lone World Cup appearance came 27 years ago in Mexico, and based on the current crop of prospects and general state of the team, you can already write off the Reds’ chances of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The city of Toronto, meanwhile, has been dealing with its own soccer hardships. TFC just completed its seventh consecutive MLS season without reaching the playoffs, and have become the laughing stock of the league.
So, Brazil could not have picked a better place to visit on Tuesday. If you’re the Pope, you go where there is abject poverty. You walk among the sick and the lame. You wash the feet of the poor, and offer spiritual guidance to those who are suffering. Canada is a leper colony in soccer terms, and Brazil’s appearance in Toronto was the ultimate act of mercy and compassion.
Joga bonito–play beautifully. That’s what Brazil does. And win World Cups. Brazil does that, too. Five times, to be exact. More than anybody else.
But it’s the Brazilians’ reputation as the spiritual caretakers of the beautiful game, and not the ease with which they collect World Cup titles, that has endeared them to millions of soccer neutrals around the world. Winning has never been good enough for the Seleção. They must win with style, with beauty and grace.
It’s telling that the 1982 squad that crashed out in the second round of the World Cup—featuring a brilliant attacking roster that included Zico, Socrates and Falcao—is regarded as one of the best Brazilian teams of all-time. By contrast, Brazil’s 2002 World Cup winning team was harangued for its cynical and physical approach—for being too European.
The current Brazil team has a little bit of the ruggedness in them that the 2002 side had in such abundance. Striker Hulk (real name Givanildo Vieira de Souza) is not only a dangerous goal scorer, but he is a tireless worker, furiously pressing and harrying opponents as they try to carry the ball out from their end of the field. Thiago Silva is nobody’s patsy in the centre of defence, and Luis Gustavo offers a bit of steel and grit to the midfield.
It’s Brazil’s creators and inventors, though, that capture the imagination, a collection of creative geniuses that make them favourites to win the World Cup when they host the 32-nation tournament next summer.
It was Oscar’s sublime pass that spliced open the Chilean defence, allowing Hulk to power home a shot past goalkeeper Claudio Bravo in the 14th minute. Every time Neymar touched the ball, be it with a deft flick or a back-heeled pass, the Barcelona star was mercilessly heckled by the Chilean fans—only the great ones are booed—in the ultimate sign of respect and admiration.
Even the much maligned Robinho made his presence felt coming off the bench in the second half, showing off his incredible quickness, and fearlessness in taking defenders on one-on-one. It was Robinho’s headed goal in the 79th minute that capped off a trademark Brazilian passing sequence involving Neymar and Maicon, cancelling out Eduardo Vargas’ equalizer for Chile just moments earlier.
This type of attacking display and commitment to joga bonito will serve the Brazilians well next summer, and could deliver them a sixth World Cup crown.
Just don’t make it so long between visits to Canada, okay?