Football in Brazil - national passion (28 images)

Brazil will host the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Football is the most popular sport and has a major effect on Brazilian Culture. It is the favourite pastime of youngsters on the streets and indoors. The Brazilian national football team has won the FIFA World Cup tournament a record five times, in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002, and is the only team to succeed in qualifying for every World Cup competition ever held. Football is taken very seriously and is a national passion in Brazil. During the...
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Brazil will host the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Football is the most popular sport and has a major effect on Brazilian Culture. It is the favourite pastime of youngsters on the streets and indoors. The Brazilian national football team has won the FIFA World Cup tournament a record five times, in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002, and is the only team to succeed in qualifying for every World Cup competition ever held. Football is taken very seriously and is a national passion in Brazil. During the World Cup workers pause from their duties to watch their team in action; even banks shut down 3 hours before matches to allow their workers time to prepare for the game. Even big cities like Rio and Sao Paulo seem ghost cities when Brazil is playing in the World Cup. Brazil is known for playing a very skillful, creative, free-flowing, fast-paced style. Because Brazilians are often not as big and physically strong as many Europeans, technical ability is very important. Dribbling is an essential part of their style.

The General Elections are usually held in the same year as the World Cup, and critics argue that political parties try to take advantage of the nationalistic surge created by football and bring it into politics. Former Brazilian footballers are often elected to legislative positions.

One unique aspect of football in Brazil is the importance of the Brazilian State Championships. For much of the early development of the game in Brazil, the nation's size and the lack of rapid transport made national competitions unfeasible in the past, so the competition centred on state tournaments. Even today, despite the existence of a national tournament, the state tournaments continue to be hotly contested and the intrastate rivalries remain intense.
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