Football In Latin America

The competitive nature of football in Latin America helped it flourish and plant deep roots in the cultures of these countries. The sport can impact many aspects of their everyday lives and lead to nationalism and strong pride. Soccer in Latin America has been analyzed by historians, journalists, and filmmakers as an important feature of understanding the country’s popular culture and national identity through the history of Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. Once all three countries could defeat the English National and club teams, soccer was a main source of nationalism and helped confirm the social development of these Latin American countries (Nadel 45).

Brazilian soccer plays an important role in the globalization of the sport while directly

The Maracanã Stadium was built in 1950 for the World Cup, but was only completed in time for the final match. This stadium was the biggest in the world and was a popular travel destination for many. Brazil was confident in their abilities, but lost to Uruguay dominating in the finals. The players and fans were emotional from this unexpected defeat. This impacted the attitudes toward soccer in Brazil and their players, but pushed the team even harder for the 1958 World Cup. They used the latest scientific knowledge, skill, and talented players to increase their chances of winning. In this match, they promoted the Brazilian style of free-flowing play with proper attacks. Brazilians believe this style was innate in Brazilian players and can be even be seen at the club level with players on Flamengo (Nadel 76-77). Brazil has passionate fans that believe in the national makeup of their players and their inherent abilities. Nadel, a historian, summarizes “in this narrative the mixed-race heritage of the country represented Brazil’s strength in soccer and beyond” (Nadel 80). Through that racial lens, national soccer created identities for some smaller populations and continues to support them

Joshua Nadel, a historian, helps readers understand why soccer matters to people living in Latin America. The Uruguayan team are known for their powerful sky blue uniforms and Uruguayan fighting spirit, the garra charruà. From 1924 to 1950, they won four world championships through this spiritual support (Nadel 18). Their football players represented their small country and by defeating larger neighboring countries they increased patriotism amongst fans. Soccer had the ability to dissolve barriers within social groups and classes in Uruguay. It did not require money or status to become a fan. Members of all ethnic, political, and cultural groups could gather together and watch the Uruguay National team play (Nadel 19). The major success of the Uruguayan National team competitively and popularity-wise kept the country optimistic about its progress and