In a perfect world there are no oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico, there is no Greece debt, Dubai’s roads are salik-free, Elvis Presley is alive and Brazil are World Champions.
Only one of those is realistically possible this year. And should the wizards of football win an unprecedented sixth world title, it’s as close to a perfect world as one is likely to get. For some time.
No single nation is as synonymous with a single global sport as Brazil is with football.
When the boys in yellow and blue take the field they don’t just do so to the weight of expectation of 200 million of their fellow Brazilians, but of the entire world, in a sense.
The Brazilians lay claim to a genetic disposition to dribbling, early schooling in the art of passing and a heritage that counts more Gods in the game’s pantheon than any other nation.
Brazil embody the reason football is called the ‘beautiful game’ and for that reason, for a World Cup to be successful, Brazil must make the final. At the very least.
Yet, amazingly, the Selecao (translated as the chosen ones) handle the hype, hoopla and the World Cup with the air of being ‘to the glory born’. Footloose and fuss-free.
Until Wayne Rooney came along, my favourite football player of all time was the Brazilian Socrates Oliveira. He belongs to the 1982 Brazilian World Cup squad, said to be the greatest team never to have won the Cup. Socrates was a doctor who chain-smoked and had an audacious two-step penalty run-up.
Blanco, captain of the winning 1994 team, said they managed to win that World Cup indulging in more than the occasional post-game tipple and having sex (each with his own spouse). All during the tournament.
The mercurial Ronaldinho, who won the Cup in 2002, was as famous for scoring the night before a game as he was during a match.
It is against this backdrop that this year’s Selecao seem a tad boring. And almost too well-disciplined.
Then, there are no marquee names in the forward line-up. Robinho after his disastrous experience with Manchester City has been reduced to Robin-who? That is not to say, he won’t bounce back, after what everyone is hoping has been a healing time for him back home in Brazil.
This will be the first Brazilian team in my living years where the defenders are the heart of the team.
Sure in the past, as with Blanco, Roberto Carlos, Cafu and the current Brazilian coach Dunga, there have been world-class defenders.
But consider the current squad: Maicon, Daniel Alves, Michel Bastos, Lucio and Thiago Silva are all the big Brazilian names today. All are defenders.
Even Kaka, probably Brazil’s current most famous player, is an attacking midfielder.
Which means, what? For the first time we will see Brazil not conceding goals instead of merely outscoring opponents.
The down side is, if you’re looking for the Samba at this World Cup you might be disappointed. You might get a stiff waltz instead. Not as sexy, but if Luis Fabiano and Nilmar (both forwards) are on target, it will still be a perfect world in the end.
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