by Alex Duff and Tariq Panja
Bloomberg, £20
Reviewed by Jonathan O’Brien
From WSC 364, June 2017
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Stories
Jack Lang argues that since his big-money move to Flamengo, which angered his hometown club, Ronaldinho has not profited as expected
“Don’t throw coins at Ronaldinho: he’ll only start collecting them” read one handmade sign. Hundreds of others simply bore the words “crook” and “mercenary”. Some pioneering fans even went to the effort of printing fake R$100 notes with his face on them. This was not the homecoming Ronaldinho had hoped for, but he could have expected nothing less. His return to boyhood team Grêmio in October was always going to be a tense affair, following his decision to snub the club earlier in the year.
Robert Shaw looks at how Brazilian football still has racial issues to resolve, especially once a footballer’s playing career has ended
Botafogo striker Sebastián Abreu put on odd boots – one white, one back – for the club’s derby with Flamengo in the Carioca (Rio state) championship on April 10, while another Rio club, Vasco da Gama, recently launched a shirt with a message on the collar about “democracy and inclusion”.
The Brazilian tradition of exporting talented footballers to the rest of the world may be changing. Robert Shaw reports
The new season in Brazil kicked off in January with an unusual sight: four of the country’s biggest stars over the last two decades (Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Roberto Carlos and Ronaldinho) were playing for local clubs. Admittedly this curious spectacle did not last long. Corinthians’ cataclysmic exit from the Copa Libertadores saw Roberto Carlos fleeing to another big pay day in Russian football and Ronaldo bringing forward his retirement.