Neymar sat crying in the middle of the field. His head was often buried down, prevented by the elbows coiled above the heels as if he could not bear to see the tears of the spectators in the stands who had come all the way to Qatar to watch Brazil compete on the World Cup stage in the midst of the crisis that befell his country.
Brazil was surprisingly defeated by Croatia in the 2022 World Cup 16 finals on December 9 via a penalty shoot-out, even though the Samba Team came as the seed. This team is filled with great players who compete in their respective clubs with the provision of individual skills.
They became the choice alias selecao in Portuguese to win this tournament. Tite, who served as coach, believes in the team’s individual skills to play based on the fame of his country’s philosophy, namely jogo bonito.
Brazil is known to the world for beautiful football, a pattern that shows the love of its citizens for this sport. In practice, soccer is made fun and interesting by the ability to handle the ball like a circus performer that makes the audience amazed.
The players are formed from futsal and street football fields, making them attractive individuals. Samba players appear with an excess of skills above the average which is a powerful weapon to destroy the opponent’s defense, this is the main pattern of play jogo bonito
The philosophy of the game has made them hold the record for the most World Cup winning countries reaching 5 times. But jogo bonito seems to be eroded by age, like the figure who coined this term as well as the king of football, Pele.
The legend, who is now 82 years old, is reportedly suffering from a respiratory infection which was exacerbated by Covid-19, besides that Pele is still undergoing cancer chemotherapy. Previously, there were even rumors circulating that Pele was in the palliative room, where patients are waiting to die due to an incurable illness.
Whatever the information is correct, Pele is still a human being. His age cannot be renewed because death is a certainty, but not with jogo bonito. This philosophy can still be relied upon as long as the Brazilian people continue to love this sport and doomsday does not come to earth.
Their football philosophy is already in the DNA which is formed through culture and culture such as dances, festivals and parties in the country as the roots of joy even in the midst of difficult situations. This joy is also expressed through football.
Jogo bonito has eroded with time that’s for sure, but this philosophy can exist if it is developed following the trends of modern football. Now European teams, as football mecca as well as players’ talent scouts, often play high tempo, intelligence, take advantage of teamwork, the work ethic of all individuals, combined with pressure to secure the ball.
Yesterday’s defeat by the Selecao from Croatia is a reflection that jogo bonito without rejuvenation seems too old to establish his hegemony on the world football stage. Croatia, which relies on old players such as Luka Modric, Ivan Perisic, Marcelo Brozovic, and Dejan Lovren, is able to keep up with the Samba Team.
Croatia managed to display a team game, an understanding of good tactics, and the ability to read the opponent’s game. This can be seen from the sluggishness of Brazil’s game during normal time. Modric and colleagues succeeded in making Neymar the spirit of the Brazilian game dead.
The flow of the ball to the forward players also stopped, this could not be separated from the ability of their three midfielders to dampen the Selecao’s midfielders. Neymar, Lucas Paqueta and Casemiro are very closely guarded.
The liaison for the back and front lines of the Samba Team, which is usually left to Casemiro, is controlled by Danilo who is given the task of filling in the midfield post to increase the number of players in that position. But this left-back doesn’t have good progression skills, Brazil doesn’t seem to have the chance to be creative, the flow of the ball forward has been blocked.
The individual abilities possessed by the Samba players as well as the jogo bonito landmark so far have seemed meaningless against Croatia with their modern football. Development of domestic football is the biggest problem that must be faced for the future of the Selecao.
So far, street football and futsal have become a place for children to develop their soccer skills. Those with jogo bonito DNA focus on individual abilities, even though modern football requires players to have abilities in all aspects.
Measurable coaching at a young age will make players ready when they enter at a mature age. They can be directed to play as a team with good game organization, understanding of tactics, intelligence, combined with individual qualities as the main provision.
The failure of coaching at a young age is obvious when the players perform abroad. They unable to let go of his identity by highlighting individual skills. It’s no wonder that several European team coaches took advantage of the presence of Brazilian players to add dimension and variety to their tactics, as did Erik Ten Hag with Antony at Manchester United. Although championed in various tournaments, the football ecosystem there is not as great as in Europe, club owners are reluctant to spend a lot of money to invest in youth development issues. Local clubs, which should be a forum for honing talented talents, are unable to carry out their role.
However, this condition is accompanied by the desire of the club owners to increase their prestige. Defeat in football is like a shame because this sport is so loved by Brazilians. They want maximum but instant results to achieve glory. Don’t expect a long process of building a team like Sir Alex at Manchester United or Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool in developing football in the Brazilian League. The owners prefer to blame the coach for minor results.
The Brazilian league is one of the cruelest in the world when it comes to sacking coaches. Mexican magazine El Ecomonista said the average coach on a local Brazilian team only lasted 15 games before being sacked. As a result, apart from stalled early childhood development, there is hardly a name for a Brazilian coach with high-profile achievements in football.
Unfortunately the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) wants a local coach to handle the national team to keep his football philosophy sustainable. Whereas in football, the philosophy of the game is constantly evolving and adapting. The coaches of other teams are familiar with Brazil’s standard style of play which is easy to read through its individual strengths. As a result, after winning the tournament in 2002, the Selecao never set foot on the top of the party.
CBF seems to have forgotten about the team’s case by playing an outdated philosophy without renewal, the last one being Barcelona with its tiki taka. After ruling the world, this philosophy has seen its weaknesses, the map of football’s strengths has shifted.
Pep Guardiola, who at that time was confident in his philosophy, even knew this gap. As a result, he began to develop tiki taka in several aspects to make it suitable for playing with the club he coached. Now that he is captain of Manchester City, tiki taka is played more flexibly, taking advantage of his strengths and individual abilities to create numbers. The Citizen, which was once considered an ordinary club, has now become a British giant.
Meanwhile, Luis Enrique, who yesterday captained Spain at the 2022 World Cup with an “original” tiki taka, failed to bring Matador through to the round of 16 finals. Spain even finished second in the group stage behind Japan and got a lot of ridicule for its boring game.
Now only the awareness to start the change needed to restore jogo bonito as a form of expression of Brazilian happiness in football. Like Pele who realized that his younger siblings in the national team needed moral strengthening after they supported the legend in the fight against his illness.
This defeat did not make the king of football drown in lara, he was still able to cheer up his younger siblings, especially Neymar who lost dramatically through a string of words. He admits that Neymar has won something no one else has been able to do in 50 years: equaling his goalscoring record for the Brazilian national team.
“Unfortunately, today is not the happiest day for us, but you (Neymar Jr) will always be a source of inspiration that many people aspire to,” Pele wrote on his Instagram account. In the midst of his illness, Pele insisted on watching Tite’s troops compete, maybe the football that still makes him struggle with his illness. A steadfast wait entwined with fortitude to see its pride team lift its sixth World Cup trophy.
Pele’s contribution to world football, especially Brazil, has indeed inspired the world. But will death be inspired by the fortitude that sparked jogo bonito and lock himself up until the wait bears fruit?
ASL
