Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva lamented this Tuesday (13) that Brazilian football “is not going well” and that the country has become an “exporter” of young players.
“I think Brazilian football is not doing well. We are no longer the best football in the world,” Lula said live on YouTube.
The president said it is “sad” that the Brazilian team will continue without a coach since its elimination against Croatia in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup.
“What’s more serious is that we can’t make a great squad today because we don’t have players of the quality we had in the 1970s,” added Lula.
Led by Pelé, Jairzinho and Rivelino, the 1970 World Cup three-time world champion team is considered by many to be the greatest in history.
“All trained men, all hardened. We didn’t just have boys, we had men who played in the national team, starting with Pelé at the age of 30,” the president recalled.
After complaining about the stumbling blocks of Corinthians, his favorite team “falling apart”, Lula made a diagnosis of the situation of Brazilian football.
“Today we have become a country that exports young players who have experience abroad. We sell at 17 and buy at 34. This is the logic of Brazilian football,” he said.
“Then I am sorry that our selection is still not ready to participate in major events,” he continued.
Pessimistic comments also fell on the under-20 team, who were knocked out of the category by Israel in the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
“I saw the Brazilian under-20 team, with experienced players, lose to Israel these days. There is no explanation for it,” he concluded.
Source: DN
