Brazil beat India, but where was the samba? The panel breaks down the flat performance, missed flair, and why this friendly may have been the wrong matchup. Expect passionate takes, football memories, and plenty of debate about what Brazil’s famous style should look like.
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Tell us in the comments what you liked most about the video!
#Brazil #Football #Soccer
👉 This channel was created in collaboration with https://www.youtube.com/@futebolmaximo
0:00 - Brazil’s Missing Flair Against India
2:33 - The Symbolic Meaning of the Match
6:14 - Motivation, Club Priorities, and Playing Freely
8:54 - Showboating Debate and Match Conditions
10:02 - Friendlies and the Search for Competition
11:56 - Why Players Play It Safe
14:36 - Past Examples of Playing with Flair
15:40 - A Bad Matchup and Its Consequences
We're now available on Spotify! Listen now https://open.spotify.com/show/
Subscribe to the channel for more football conversations.
Tell us in the comments what you liked most about the video!
#Brazil #Football #Soccer
👉 This channel was created in collaboration with https://www.youtube.com/@futebolmaximo
0:00 - Brazil’s Missing Flair Against India
2:33 - The Symbolic Meaning of the Match
6:14 - Motivation, Club Priorities, and Playing Freely
8:54 - Showboating Debate and Match Conditions
10:02 - Friendlies and the Search for Competition
11:56 - Why Players Play It Safe
14:36 - Past Examples of Playing with Flair
15:40 - A Bad Matchup and Its Consequences
We're now available on Spotify! Listen now https://open.spotify.com/show/
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SportsTranscript
00:00If you woke up this Saturday to watch the friendly match between Brazil and India,
00:04you definitely had that feeling when the game ended that the Brazilian team was just a little
00:09bit lacking in excitement. From a sports perspective, these 4-0 or 4-whatever games
00:13aren't really useful for evaluating much. But if there's one thing that got kind of lost in this
00:17whole story, it's that so-called beautiful, attacking, free-spirited style of Brazilian
00:22soccer that didn't show up even against India, right? Like, it's the kind of play that apparently
00:26goes unnoticed by everyone watching. But man, when Esteban gets the ball here, dude, yeah,
00:30this mistake here, if this graininess in the image is really from the broadcast, that's what needs to
00:34be fixed. But when he gets the ball here and he sees the Indian guys, then he thinks, oh my
00:41god,
00:41I can't do it. Everyone is well-positioned. There's no space. He turns back and passes the ball back.
00:46Man, what the impression I get is that, like, yeah, it seems like he's kind of clueless about
00:53what he's supposed to do out there on the field and has no idea what this game means,
00:57you know? For the country, for Brazil, what's going to happen? Man, this game, this ball here,
01:03it's for him to go forward. It's for him to try to dribble two, three guys. Try knocking the ball
01:08around a defender and running pass. Try to do a one-two. Try to do anything that even the Indian
01:13guys will be there watching and they'll laugh. They'll say, wow, Brazil is really something else,
01:17man. You see that the guys go forward and if you slip up, they'll really get past you.
01:20That's the kind of thing that should happen, you know? But you can see that he's not feeling the
01:25game. He's not understanding what this game means, man. Yeah, all the Brazilian people,
01:31the whole Brazilian crowd is complaining that our soccer is lacking identity. It's missing that swing.
01:37It's missing this and that. A lot of people keep saying that. Then soon you go play a game against
01:40India. The guys there, their physical level is way below average. They can't keep up running.
01:45They can't handle a collision. A collision. Any little shake, any hint of a move from the Brazilian
01:50player, the Indian players almost break their backs just trying to keep up. This is the game.
01:56And for Brazilian fans to think, damn, well, okay, so they know that our soccer really is like this.
02:00It's about nutmegging. It's about trying to flick the ball over. It's about trying to pull off a
02:04rainbow flick. You're going to mess up three, four times. But bro, just imagine each one there.
02:0815 times with Esteban taking someone on and trying something again and again throughout the game.
02:12Man, of course, the guy's going to get nutmegged twice in this game.
02:14You get it. And then without understanding the whole context of the game, Esteban gets the ball
02:19here, looks at everyone. And well, everyone is occupying space. There are no passing lanes,
02:24nothing. There's no movement for this or that. I'm going, I'm going here. I'm going to pass it back.
02:28Come on against India, man. Then in this play, I was already pissed off. You know,
02:33I'll tell you, sometimes we play games against teams, national teams, whatever that are easier.
02:38And then the first thing people say is, and then against India too. But I think the main lesson we
02:43have to take from these situations is, okay, it's India. So we have to really dominate. In a tough
02:48game, you'll win by a little. In an easy game, you'll win by a lot and easily. And for me,
02:53there
02:53are kind of three aspects of the game that we need to talk about. First is performance. And we've talked
02:58a lot about that. The second is results. And we've talked a lot about those two in the games against
03:03Australia, right? Even in the first game, we said, man, the result was a draw. The performance was
03:07terrible. Even if Brazil had won, the performance wouldn't have meant anything.
03:11And the third one is more subjective. And it's the symbolic factor of the game.
03:16Regardless of today's result and the performance, which for me was below expectations,
03:20the symbolic factor is to show the fans that the team is responding. It's about showing that you
03:26want it. It's about showing that you try. It's about showing everything. It's like this. If we lose,
03:32man, three to zero in a World Cup, but you see that Brazil tried and created chances and all that.
03:35It's that kind of game where you lose and the fans even leave applauding, you know?
03:39But the disconnect that exists today with the situation. And look, I'm the kind of guy who
03:43usually makes excuses, man. Damn, but it's really like, it really felt like the guys are out of
03:48touch. And what scared me is like, doesn't that conversation happen in the locker room, man?
03:54Like, like, doesn't Ancelotti and the team leaders come in and say, hey, guys, here's the deal.
03:59It's against China. Those guys are inexperienced. If we just fake a move, they'll stumble and almost
04:03fall to the ground just from a little faint. So let's do this, guys. Let's go. Let's do it.
04:08Let's cool down a bit with all the complaints from everyone back in Brazil. Everyone there is
04:12always criticizing us. Let's do this, man. Let's try to nutmeg someone. Let's try some one-twos,
04:16some backheel passes. I'll try to score with a backheel, score a set piece goal like that.
04:19Just to, just to cool things down a bit for everyone to finish this FIFA break with a happy
04:24recent memory. Because when you nutmeg someone or score a backheel goal, it becomes memorable.
04:29No one in the locker room says that, you know? That's crazy, man.
04:31Man, but the feeling I have, Joe, is that, no, you mentioned Steven in this case. I think
04:34Esteban, Steven became really known for that first goal, right? He scores a goal, a beautiful goal,
04:39even does a little cut. The guy from India gets all tangled up. He shoots. It's not even a perfect
04:42shot. The goalkeeper doesn't do well either. Like you said, those guys, they're below average. And
04:47then he doesn't even celebrate to the point that when the goal happened, my fiancé walked by and said,
04:50wait, was it offside? Because it felt like it wasn't even a goal, right?
04:55But then, like, then Pedro Rocha, who's the journalist, who was there as a correspondent
05:01for GE Television, he said that, man, even the bench didn't even get up. Ancelotti didn't
05:06celebrate. No one from the bench got up. I don't think that was the game to score that
05:11goal. Then he gets together with Vini, does something, does a little dance, laughs, and
05:16then everyone, damn, makes a little highlight. Edit.
05:20That game, like, imagine that game. Yeah, 5-1 for Brazil. Brazil is up 5-0. Then the
05:25guys go there and score a goal. It's the kind of game where the guy who scored the goal goes
05:30home saying, did you see? I scored against Brazil. Did you see? You get it. That's what
05:33the game is for. So the Indian himself, he's not there to see what India is going to do against
05:37Brazil. He's there to see some guys who, like, man, it's the chance we get to see some really
05:41awesome dudes playing this sport. Let's go. And if Esteban scores the goal and everyone joins
05:46in and does the little dance, man, the crowd would grab their phones and then court it and
05:50take a little selfie there. Look, the guys are dancing, celebrating the goal against my
05:53country here. Look at Alarc Madeira, where I am. His celebration is like, the celebration,
05:58you know, like Oscars in the 7-1 game. It's the kind of celebration you do when you've already
06:03scored five, then you score the six, and you just go over there like, yeah, congrats and
06:06all that. He's kind of out of it. Like, he didn't really get what this game actually
06:11means, you know? That's the impression it gives. I think that has a lot to do with
06:16it. I agree with everything you guys said, and I think it has a lot to do with, man,
06:20what the national team has been like after the World Cup.
06:25If you're going to play two friendlies against Australia, a friendly against India, the guys
06:31know that. Damn, if you take a guy like Esteban, he knows that regardless of what happens in
06:36this game, whether you play well, badly, score one goal, two or ten, he will be on the Copa
06:42America list. He will be at the World Cup. So, the guys don't go into these games with
06:48the feeling of, damn, I need to give it my all here, because if I don't, I'm out.
06:53Man! Otherwise, I won't get another chance. Maybe this game has that meaning for Bon Tempo,
06:58for Mateo Zinho, for Arthur Diaz.
07:01But, for the guys, I'm fine.
07:02Is there maybe a lack of a captain on the field to fire everyone up?
07:06I don't think so. I think that's something about the group, you know?
07:09Yeah, a stressed-out captain who doesn't mean anything, man. And for me, the blame for
07:13that is on the CBF.
07:14And then...
07:15To me, the CBF is the one that should take the heat for this kind of thing.
07:19Man, but, like, if I put myself in the players' shoes, I go to a friendly match that doesn't
07:23mean anything. Against a weak team, like, I'm not going to play without celebrating a goal.
07:27I'm going to understand what the context is.
07:29And there's another thing.
07:31Joe, if you think about it, these guys are out there playing these national team games and
07:35all. But, man, a lot of them are already thinking about what's coming next, man.
07:39Take Pedro, for example. Okay? It's an opportunity for him on the national team. I imagine he was
07:44really happy with the call-up. He worked hard, played as best as he could, right? Scored a goal,
07:48gave an assist. I'll even pull up his stats from the game here to illustrate while I'm talking.
07:53But, man, soon the guy has a Libertador, a semi-final. There's the rest of the Brazilian
07:57championship. That's in the guy's subconscious. He saw Arasca Tag get injured this week.
08:02The same thing goes for Samuel Lino. Do you think Samuel Lino isn't happy with the
08:05opportunity to play for the national team? He went there, came on in the second half,
08:10scored two goals, and came back. But, like, he celebrated the last one.
08:14Yeah. But, like, I'm not just, like, I'm not defending that. I 100% agree with what you
08:19guys said. My point is, the games are a joke in terms of both quality and competitiveness
08:25that for those guys... So, man, that's the mistake, man. I think that, like, if the game
08:30is simple, you know, technical, and the guys are really weak, really bad, man, for example,
08:33Pedro. Doesn't Pedro play as a target man a lot? That's when he should try to pop the
08:37ball up and do a bicycle kick out of nowhere, then. Come on. That's the kind of game where
08:40those things should happen. If it ends 1 to 0 degrees Fahrenheit in Brazil, and the guys
08:44are trying nutmegs, lobs, and laughing at each other, and trying to play with their
08:46chest like they're juggling the ball at the beach. He passes with his head, with his chest,
08:50and tries to score an amazing goal to make it into the highlight reel. All right. The guy
08:53understands what's going on. But don't you think this could also have the opposite effect?
08:57What is it? Like, damn. Someone could look at this and say, damn, these guys are messing around
09:01with the national team jersey, trying to juggle the ball like they're at the beach in the
09:03middle of a game. Against India on the other side of the world. I don't think so, man. I think
09:08if
09:08you do that over there against Australia, I don't know what it is over there. Okay. Then it would
09:11be really bad. But man, against India, I think it's a game for us. I think this game shouldn't even
09:16exist. But man. And there's even something just to add, Felipe, so I can already pass the ball to
09:24you that even Pedro Rocha said, right, on the GE television broadcast. I was watching it there, too.
09:30That, like, yeah. Besides the empty stadium in today's game, which is a shame, right? Brazil playing
09:35to an empty stadium. Empty? In India. The next international break, which will have games in
09:39Singapore. Brazil will play against Singapore and against Japan. One game in Singapore and another
09:44in Japan. The CBF will send someone from here over there to check the field and try, if needed,
09:50to make some adjustments before the game, you know? This is a shame, man. This is a shame.
09:56Having to send someone from Brazil to take care of the field in Singapore so Brazil can play.
10:00It's a shame, this kind of thing. Well, you can't work miracles, right? The guy's not going to show
10:04up a week before, take a look and say, okay, I'll fix it. We know about the field problems we
10:08have in
10:08the Brazil era and how they try to fix it, but nothing ever gets better. What also frustrates me is
10:14that
10:14this international break, to be honest, is one that I actually followed more than usual, okay? I usually use
10:19this period to focus on other things, to study, for the clubs to take advantage of the break. But since
10:25it's the first international break after the World Cup and many coaches, I even made a video about Xavi
10:29here for the channel. I made a video about Jorge Jesus and there will be one about Zidane too, which
10:34is
10:34already done. And man, I watched a lot of Nations League. And the competitiveness that exists in the
10:39Nations League, because it's a real competition where you earn points, you can be relegated, you can be
10:45champion. It creates more excitement. Maybe it even gives you that extra drive to compete more.
10:50And man, France played against Belgium, against Italy, against Turkey. These are competitive teams.
10:56I'm not saying we have to play against France, but it doesn't have to be India either. Isn't it time
11:01for us to bring up the topic that man, if the Nations League, if the Europeans got together to isolate
11:06the
11:07rest of the world so they wouldn't have friendlies against us, isn't it time for us to bring together
11:11South America, the United States, Mexico, Morocco, Senegal, bring together those who were excluded by
11:19Europe and set up a little tournament, even if it's lighter. But so you have competitiveness,
11:23you have quality, you get tested. Man, in today's game, and another thing, we get pissed off because
11:29of the symbolic factor. But we know that this Brazil's lack of intensity today also doesn't mean
11:37anything for the cycle, not even for welcome. Wasabi is better. So let's pull this up here,
11:42Felipon. You mentioned Mexico. Look, Mexico played against Peru. They're going to play against the
11:45United States and Chile. Man, that's better than playing against India. Is it crap to play against
11:48Peru? Yeah, it's crap. It's crap. Playing against Chile is crap, but it's better than playing against
11:52India. Man, I'll tell you here, 20 countries are better for us to play against them. In the chat,
11:57people are saying it's just a bit of mockery to try to play this game that I'm skipping. But anyway,
12:03I think it would be, for example, if what Felipe suggested happens, our championship here, and then
12:10that happens, then it's just mockery. But man, against India, the Indians themselves want to see
12:14this, man. The guys who went to the stadium to watch, they want to see this. They want to see
12:18the so-called Brazilian soccer. They want to see Rabona passes, something like that. And as you gain
12:23confidence, that's fine. Yeah, it's a friendly match. It's on the other side of the world.
12:27These are teams that one is like 100-something in the FIFA ranking, and the other is Brazil.
12:31I mean, you all understand that, like, well, I think we also live in a generation in every
12:37aspect, okay, where the player wants to be more and more secure and more shielded. Maybe if we
12:41look at the edits from 2005, which was the game against I don't know who. Then Ronaldinho plays
12:47Rabona pass. Kakari turns it with a backheel. Robinho does the stepovers, passes the ball.
12:51Man, I think that today, too, with so much social media out there, man, anything a guy does,
12:56there's always someone in his ear. Someone in his ear. And then the guy says, you know what,
13:00man, what in doubt between taking a risk and playing it safe? Let's play it safe here.
13:03Four to zero, we win easily and all that. And man, I understand both sides.
13:07The player gets scared. It might happen to him. It happened to Carol with Carol Conka on Big
13:11Brother. So is that what you're talking about?
13:14I don't know. I don't know. I don't really follow. I follow.
13:17I don't know the guy, if he needed to, would have to behave like Carol Conka, but that's okay.
13:21But damn, like, there's always this thing of, no, because we have to play against teams
13:26from different schools of football, right? We keep hearing this, but it's a load of nonsense
13:29from the CBF, right? School, India has no footballing tradition.
13:33They come to the World Cup, but no one from the World Cup.
13:35It seems like they saw the guy with the mockery of no way, man. Seriously, I get that I'm talking
13:39too. But like this Labocha thing, of course I get it.
13:42I'm not talking about the people.
13:43Man, understand against which national team, and what's the context of this thing?
13:46But I'm not talking about like the people on the internet. Those things, no.
13:50I'm talking.
13:50Like, man, criticism in general. They wouldn't see this as cool, you know? Man, the guys
13:55were making a mockery of the game.
13:57But it's no use, man.
13:58Juggling the ball in the middle of the field.
14:00For example, you know what I think was kind of messing around Pedro's goal, him not passing
14:05to Vini and shooting at the goal himself. I think that's more of a mess than like that
14:09other thing.
14:10It's a general criticism. Nobody even notices that.
14:13You get it? Man, for me, the thing that bothered me the most was this. It was the player
14:16not understanding the context of the game. And it's the context that allows some beautiful
14:21plays to happen.
14:22I think there's a middle ground too. Okay? I think there's the juggling and the bicycle
14:27kick from midfield. And I think there's Steve Vaughn and the play you showed.
14:32I'm going for it. If I lose, it's no problem.
14:34I think there's a middle ground there.
14:36But you see, people feel so free to criticize that, man, if you remember Ian Kuto, when he
14:41was called up to the national team, he was criticized for having pink hair.
14:45So, like, man, you can expect people to criticize just about anything, you know?
14:49Now, I'll be able to explain it properly. Remember Brazil and Argentina, when you could
14:53only call up players who played in Brazil, and Argentina could only call up players playing
14:56in the Americas too. And then Ronaldinho Gaucho.
14:58Ronaldinho Gaucho. No more.
15:00In this game, you guys remember that?
15:02So, that's what I'm talking about. When people see Ronaldinho and Neymar playing a game,
15:06that, man, doesn't mean shit. It's something they just made up out of nowhere. They can only
15:10call up players based here. Man, what's it for? What's the point of this game?
15:13It's for the little player. The player, man, of course, it's to see this kind of thing happen.
15:16It's a rivalry. The two countries, all kinds of tricks. They turn one way, pass the other,
15:24do this and that. Yeah, that's what it was for. So, Ronaldinho and Neymar, they understood
15:28what that game was about. And then they behaved understanding the whole situation, what that
15:32game meant. Now, against India, if that happens, then do you think it would be mockery?
15:37You know? I don't think so, man. I think that, man, they played like shit. I don't get it.
15:41I think this game shouldn't... What I think, above all, is that this game shouldn't have
15:45happened.
15:46The rest is just... Everything we're debating here is the consequence of a crappy decision,
15:52which is playing against India. All of this is a consequence of that. The bad game, the
15:56lack of excitement, the lack of spark. All of this is the consequence of a bad choice?
16:03Man.
16:03The worst part is... Okay, the choice is bad. But, man, when the game ends, I see that Douglas
16:07Santos got nutmegged. Nobody from India did. Damn, that doesn't make sense, man.
16:12Okay, so if I'm speaking, Kazé just posted three successful dribbles from India and three
16:15from Brazil. The dribbles, that's why I... Bam! I'm going to stop talking about this.
16:19I'll tell you. And, like, India could have scored, right? There was that shot that went
16:22kind of between Morisco's legs. There was one that got past Morisco and someone cleared
16:25it already. Man, do you realize that, like, Brazil conceding that goal would be such a terrible
16:31thing? And it's not about conceding a goal to India. It's about the performance itself,
16:34the symbolism of the situation and the moment we're living in. Because I remember when
16:38Germany conceded a consolation goal in the World Cup, man, nobody watching the game thought,
16:42man, I think there's going to be an upset. Nobody thought that. Everyone thought like
16:46this. But instead of... It's going to be 8-1.
16:50It's going to be 6-1.
16:50Exactly, man. Exactly. And it was 7-1. The game ended 7-1, you know? Yeah. So, man, I think
16:57that's the feeling.
16:57I'll see you next time.