The Brazilian team will debut this Thursday in the soccer world cup, but, despite being considered one of the favorites to win, the climate of euphoria is absent in a society that is still recovering from the electoral wounds that divided the country. .
The scene of the streets of Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, five-time champion, in search of the ‘hexa’ and that every four years stops seeing the team in a kind of anticipated carnival, is timid and has only now begun to be painted in ‘green and yellow’ and Brazilian flags, symbols that came to be seen by a large part of the population as a reference to support the still Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, and his movement.
The manager of a bar in Brasilia explains to Lusa that the delay in coloring the bar “green and yellow” was precisely to avoid political allusions in an electoral process that, in theory, ended a little over three weeks ago with Lula’s victory. da Silva in the presidencies, but, in practice, it still lasts and is felt daily in society.
An example of this are the protests in front of the military barracks, where the demonstrators call for a coup to prevent Lula da Silva from taking office, the roadblocks or even the fact that Bolsonaro’s party still questions the legality of the electoral process.
“The Brazilian team has always been a symbol of love for the homeland, of union”, of bringing together the differences around football, in a celebration every four years, the Brazilian historian Creomar de Sousa begins to explain to Lusa.
The founder of the Dharma Political Risk Analysis Consultancy recalls, however, that in recent years, Brazilian symbols have been delivered “to a certain political spectrum”, mainly with the rise of the “extreme right movement” that was “very effective in the capture of patriotic dates and symbols” as seen on September 7, in the celebrations of the bicentennial of the independence of Brazil.
“As long as you persist in this idea, you have as a direct consequence the fact that people who don’t want to be part of that bubble, don’t want to be seen as part of that bubble, [se] get rid of symbologies”, he stresses.
A survey commissioned by the Brazilian newspaper Metropoles shows precisely that: 26% of Brazilians say that they “got rancid” with the green and yellow shirt of the ‘canarinha’ and 14% indicate that the electoral campaign definitely changed the relationship they had with the Brazilian team.
The historian also recalls that there was a common practice among players not to comment on politics. “Unfortunately, the most important player decided to demonstrate politically,” he recalls in reference to Neymar Jr, who shared a video on the TikTok social network during the election campaign, in which he danced and sang to the sound of the song “Vote, Vote and Confirm.” , 22 [número da urna] It’s Bolsonaro.”
“He even promised during the electoral campaign that if he scored a goal, the first would be in honor of President Bolsonaro,” recalls Creomar de Sousa.
Due to this whole situation, football, considers the historian, began to be “seen within this logic of polarization, in which the player who manifests himself in favor of position A is seen as good, the player who manifests itself in favor of position B”. he’s seen as bad.”
Added to all this is the fact that this year the World Cup will take place right after the electoral process, which adds “difficulty for people to disengage.”
“People are still hurt by the pain of the electoral process,” he considers.
Asked if this whole environment will undergo a 180º turn when the ball starts to spin, Creomar de Sousa bets that “it will depend a lot on how this ‘team’ is going to play, who is going to score that goal and the type”. of celebration that is coming”.
“I don’t know if the group of players understands the level of pressure that is placed on them based on a logic in which the Brazilian team is so important,” he concludes.
In addition to Brazil’s debut today, Portugal will also take to the field against Ghana, at 4:00 p.m. in Lisbon, at Estádio 974, in Doha, in a Group H match of the 2022 World Cup, with the Portuguese then facing Uruguay, on Monday, and South Korea, December 2.
The 22nd edition of the World Championship will run until December 18 in Qatar.
Source: TSF
