What is behind Brazil and Argentina's diverging football paths?

euronews (in English)

The two countries are synonymous with South American success - but on the club and international stage, the success of Argentinian and Brazilian football could not be further apart.

Transcript

00:00Historically, Argentina and Brazil are two of the most successful football nations in

00:06the world.

00:08Argentina are the current World Cup champions, while Brazil are the only team to have lifted

00:12the trophy on five occasions.

00:14But due to investment, politics and economics, Argentinian and Brazilian football have never

00:21looked more different at domestic and continental level.

00:25So what's behind the differing fortunes of South America's heavyweights?

00:54In the international game, Argentina are undisputedly the best nation team in the world, and are

01:00the current FIFA World Cup title holders, and have won the last two editions of the

01:05Copa America.

01:06Meanwhile, Brazil's FIFA ranking has dropped to fifth in the world, their lowest since

01:112016, and are currently fifth in the South American World Cup qualification table.

01:17However, in that time at domestic level, Brazilian clubs have won six Copa Libertadores tournaments,

01:23with Botafogo representing the South American confederation at the recent FIFA Intercontinental

01:29Cup in Qatar.

01:31And according to Opta, the official statistics provider, five Brazilian clubs are currently

01:36ranked within the top 100 in the world, with the best club from Argentina, River Plate,

01:41a lowly 123rd on this same list.

01:45So how have Brazil become so dominant domestically in South America, despite the national team

01:50struggles?

01:52On a domestic level, Brazilian teams are now welcoming investors from outside.

01:57Look at Botafogo with John Texter, who owns multiple clubs.

02:00He's broken the transfer record twice in this year, bringing in Thiago Armada and Luis Henrique

02:05from Atlanta United and Real Batiste, respectively, where Argentinian sides, they haven't completely

02:11opened their arms yet to this investment.

02:14Now this is why we're seeing such a huge gap, and this is why Brazilian teams are dominating

02:19the competition.

02:20They should be looking at Brazil and looking at how that league has advanced, and I can't

02:24see that changing until Argentinian sides and fans realise that they need investment,

02:30if they are, to keep up.

02:32While Brazil's league system is attracting big names and money, the majority of Argentina's

02:36clubs are still fan-owned, which means they're missing out on that much-needed cash injection.

02:42As well as this, the new-look league has removed the real threat of team relegation, meaning

02:46a certain competitive edge is missing.

02:49But I think this whole debate, it really shows how league football has uncoupled itself in

02:57a globalised age from national team football, because domestic Argentine football is in

03:03an absolute shambles.

03:04It's an absolute mess, and they've decided this year no-one's going to get relegated

03:08this year.

03:09They make these things up on the fly.

03:11It's really in a poor state, and yet Argentina are the world champions, and if you look at

03:18the squad that won the World Cup, I think there was only one player who was based in

03:22Argentina.

03:23There has never been this kind of one-nation domination of the tournament, and it's a real

03:28worry.

03:29It looks very hard to see how the rest of the continent can compete with Brazil.

03:33In contrast to the troubles in their domestic leagues, Argentina's international success

03:38continues unabated.

03:40Lionel Messi, though, will be 39 years old by the time the next World Cup comes around,

03:44so there's talk he won't make an appearance at the competition at all.

03:48One man doesn't make a team, but can Argentina's dominance on the international stage really

03:53continue without him?

03:55I think it's a great question.

03:56I honestly don't know.

03:58I mean, he said before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, this is it, this is my final chance.

04:03But the reality is what we've found is Messi is enjoying his time in Argentina finally.

04:08So I think he actually will go.

04:10I could see him going and winning it again, and if he wins it again, he's won two, which

04:14means he's won one more than Maradona, and he really is the greatest player of all time.

04:18There isn't going to be another player like him, and I think that to try and plan for

04:21after him, it's almost a bit silly, because it's like, enjoy what you've got.

04:25Like, what do they plan for?

04:26I don't know.

04:27So I think he's still stuck with great talent, but the idea that you'll find another Messi,

04:30it's just a myth.

04:31The story is so crazy at this point that it could get crazier, but it could also just

04:35drop off and be like, right, you had your moment, 2022 was it.

04:40While Messi's status as the most influential player of his generation continues to grow,

04:45Brazil's top talent struggle to put it all together on the big stage, despite them boasting

04:49some of the greatest forwards in the world, such as Neymar and Vinicius Junior.

04:54So what has been behind the recent downturn in results?

04:57It's a very difficult question, and there's a lot of layers to this.

05:02Vinicius Junior's wildly underperformed in a Brazilian shirt.

05:06He's openly admitted he struggled playing for Brazil with the pressure, like he said

05:10this shirt weighs heavy on him, and I'd say at the moment, there's just a lack of good

05:15Brazilian coaches, which is probably why we have seen the demise of Brazil at the moment.

05:20And let's not forget, Neymar's been out injured for the last 12 months, and I think a lot

05:24of people have realised now without Neymar, they have struggled and they do really need

05:28him.

05:29Maybe his value was a little bit underrated.

05:31There seems to be a divide between Brazilian fans and the team, because 99% of the team

05:36up until the last couple of months were based in Europe, and there's a lack of affiliation

05:40there.

05:41So, an interesting year ahead then.

05:42If you're a fan of South American football, do you prefer La Alba Celeste or La Sala Sao?

05:48Let us know using the hashtag FootballNowSouthAmerica.

05:51That's all we've got time for though here from the Albeit Stadium in Qatar.

05:55We'll see you next time.

05:56Bye for now.

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