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24 • Touchline • Issue 18
BRAZIL’S
TEAMS
GREATEST
he Brazilian team that kicked off the World Cup
on home soil against Croatia in June is amongst
the favourites. But how does it rank against the
teams of the past? Their World Cup winning teams
cemented Brazil’s status as a powerhouse in football, and
the players of today are very much in the shadow of those
legendary squads.
The team that will play in June does not seem to be a classic.
Neymar, the undisputed star of the team, has enjoyed an
solid rather than spectacular start to his Barcelona career,
while fellow forward Hulk has become something of a flat-
track bully, plying his trade in the Russian League. Fred,
their Number 9, is still playing in Brazil, while the ostensible
Number 10, Oscar, faded badly for Chelsea this year. It seems
as though the Brazilian forwards of this championship are not
of the right vintage yet to be compared with the greats of the
past.
This issue, Touchline takes a look back at the teams that
shook the world and became legends.
T
BY TIMOTHY MOTTRAM
© NICK P. , 2006
HISTORY OF SPORT