Is Brazil still the land of football?

SAO PAULO, MAY 8: With its famed "jogo bonito" (beautiful game), iconic stars and record five World Cup titles, Brazil has long been known as the "land of football".

But is it still?

The country of Pele, Garrincha and Ronaldinho, which once wowed the world with its "samba" style, has not won the World Cup since 2002. Nor has it produced a Ballon dOr winner since Kaka in 2007.
With the "Selecao" currently struggling to book its place at the 2026 World Cup, many in Brazil and beyond wonder why.

"We e at a low point. We used to have more top-quality athletes," the late Peles eldest son, Edinho, told AFP recently.

Even President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has joined the national soul-searching, admitting Brazil "doesn play the greatest football in the world anymore".

So what happened?

One answer could be the decline of street football, where some of Brazils all-time greats started out, such as Rivellino, Zico and Romario.

"Nobody plays in the street anymore. You don hear stories about that kick that broke somebodys window," said amateur footballer Lauro Nascimento, his jersey stained with orange mud after playing on one of the few dirt pitches left on Sao Paulos north side.

Nascimento, a 52-year-old finance professional who plays for local side Aurora, broke several toes playing football barefoot as a boy.

Today, the district of Vila Aurora is covered in concrete sprawl. Two buildings stand on what was once a field used as a football pitch.

"Any open space used to be enough for kids to get their start in football. Now, they e seen as prime development real estate," said sports historian Aira Bonfim.

Nascimento and his friends pay $160 a month to rent the battered scrap of land where they play matches, but that kind of money is a barrier for working class families.

To access a pitch today, poor kids in Brazil often depend on school, social programs or a football academy.
Just one in five such academies is free, according to a 2021 study.

And many of those pitches are synthetic, a surface some say develops players technique less than the rough, rocky fields of yesteryear.

The decline in time spent playing the sport has had "a giant impact on our football", said researcher Euler Victor.
"We have a huge number of Brazilians playing in Europe but very few stars."

Brazils latest great hope, Neymar, shone at Barcelona, but struggled to lead the national team to championships in a career bogged down by controversy and injury.    —AFP