1982 was the team that made me love football when I was 9.

Was like they were from another planet. Socrates, Eder, Falcao, Zico,,,,

1986, Josimar ! A defender scoring two amazing goals

In the late 80s my most played video tape was "The Boys From Brazil" the documentry about Brazilian Football. Pele, Garrincha, Rivelinho, Alberto, etc,etc,etc

Then we had great players such as Romario, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho...

Really sad to see this demise, but what a history.

Really hope ya come back to the top soon.

Speaking personally I couldn't really give a toss if they don't, but if they do produce players the like of whom you have mentioned at least they could go some way to being a joy to watch, as those sides were.

I felt the 1986 team was bordering on that transition of becoming a more defensive looking side but by 1990 they really had gone that way. In some respects the great players such as Romario, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo to some degree have masked the wider weaknesses of the Brazil teams since.

Nothing lasts forever. It's just deeply embarrassing for Brazil that they were caught with their pants down at their own World Cup.

I agree.

The World Cup needs a strong Brazil team playing the proper Brazilian way. They've brought some real magic to these tournaments over the years and it's sad to see them humiliated like this while playing some pretty awful football.

Let's hope this gives them a wake up call and they get back to playing like a Brazil team should.

It was a disastrous Brazil side though we all probably put too much on how we expect Brazil to play. They played like an underdog and in fairness their squad smacks of averageness.

Can someone tell me why the World Cup needs a strong Brazil side, please.

Tradition. Like maypole dancing. You idiot

Because Brazil have always been the entertainers of the World Cup and have produced some great players. Part of the magic of the World Cup is getting to see a good Brazil team playing their own brand of football.

This World Cup would have been a whole lot better had we witnessed a great Brazilian team playing in front of their own fans.

It's sad to see them playing so badly and resorting to the kind of football they've played in this tournament.

Brazil have not produced entertaining sides for almost 30 years. Their wins since have mostly been functional with the odd sensational world class talent.

Without Neymar they don't have that player and the support cast is far weaker even than their previous.

I have been happy with this World Cup and the efforts of other countries and the whole entertainment thing surrounding Brazil is a myth that exploded some time back.

I agree with this to be honest. We all have an image of how we expect Brazil to play. Seeing how they played in this tournament wearing those shirts is not what we expect from them. They have always been held up as the zenith of how football should be played. They are the poster boys of how football should be played and now they have been replaced as the peak of great football. Everyone posting on this forum has been brought up believing that the Brazilian way of football is the pinnacle of how the game should be played.

That's not really a fair assessment of some of the more recent Brazil teams.

They haven't hit the heights of 70 or 82, but there have been some entertaining Brazil teams since then.

The one thing this tournament has lacked is real quality football. There have been some good matches, but the overall quality has been quite poor. None of these teams are particularly memorable or inspiring. It would have been a whole lot better with a decent Brazil side in it.

Sweeping and inaccurate.


My assessment is more than fair.

The 94 side was based around Romario and Bebeto with at that time Mauro Silva and Dunga basically performing as shut down operators in front of the back four. That side was so entertaining it managed one goal in the final two matches.

The 2002 side mixed Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo, and was certainly a better team to watch than the 1994 side. Even with those players, I would hardly say that played teams off the park in the manner of their predecessors. Arguably, a fairly moderate England team gave them their toughest time.

I think you have bought this myth about World Cups not being great unless Brazil are, and the bare fact is that it is a long time since we have had a truly great Brazil side. The last two World Cups prior to this one have been pretty average and there is little evidence that a rehash of the Brazil side winning in 1994 and 2002 would have added materially to either.

I'm pretty sure the universe and everything in it will continue to exist if the Brazil team are crap. Long may the run of Brazil being "poor" continue.

The 2002 team wasn't that fun to watch because of terrible management. They had absolute superstars and magicians on that team. I firmly believe that if Ronaldo in his current state came back and played today, he would be more of an asset than Fred, Hulk and Jo combined.

In 1994 you can't really blame Brazil for not scoring many goals in their last two matches, as they came up against Italy's famous defence in the final.

In any event, no Brazilian team of the past deserves to ever be associated to what we have seen in this tournament from the fake Brazil.

I wish England were as crap as Brazil.

The central point I was making is that they were set up defensively and won that World Cup with a defensive emphasis but world class attacking talent. It was not the free flowing football that won the World Cup in 1970 or the flair associated with the ill fated 1982 side.

Rooneys cross was good.

I haven't bought into any myths.

I enjoy watching a good Brazil team playing good football during a World Cup. I'm not expecting to see Brazil play teams off the pitch, but I do enjoy watching talented Brazilian players demonstrate their skills.

The 94 side might not have been on the level of some of their past teams, but there was plenty of skill there and any team that has the likes of Romario in it is going to be half decent to watch. I enjoyed watching them, they were worthy winners and better than any side in this World Cup, in my opinion.

Even when Brazil weren't playing teams off the pitch, they always had a few brilliant individual players and always, and I mean always had great strikers. To find a Brazil team without a striker is quite a discovery. I have never seen a collection of more useless individuals in front of a goal than Fred, Hulk and Jo.

If you enjoy it and that's your opinion then fine. I think most would have enjoyed much earlier versions of Brazil far more and perhaps in fairness were not around to see them.

However this doesn't mean it is shared by everyone as implied by your first post.

This is a shocking Brazil side & they're damn lucky that they didn't have to qualify for this tournament, because they wouldn't have made it.

As to whether they come back soon, I'm not too fussed.

For the last 30+ years, they've traded on their past glories & even though they've won the World Cup twice in the last 30+ years, they're weren't the swashbuckling sides of the 50s, 60s & 1970.

At least we no longer have to put up with the OTT & frankly incorrect eulogising from various pundits about the 'samba style' & the beautiful game etc.

Absolutely.

They're three joke strikers, with almost comedy names!

Brazil have forgotten how to defend. Good thing no neighbouring country has attacked them. They'd be in right trouble!

I'm confused. On the one hand this is a 'fake' Brazil side, yet it was claimed by the same poster on another thread that Germany are nasty and unsporting for daring to score 7 against them?

It's all subjective, of course, but if we want to look at facts, Brazil actually achieved more than 28 of the 32 teams in this world cup, and whatever happens today they remain the only team to have won the world cup 5 times.

Ironically, their perceived humiliation at the end of this tournament will long be remembered precisely because they are seen as giants of the game.

I think setbacks like this can be good in the long run, though, so long as Brazil channel the energy the right way. What better motivation can there be for the next world cups? A victory in 2018 or 2022 would taste so much sweeter after this.