Pele has cited a lack of individual flair or ‘ginga’ as the reason behind Brazil’s poor results since suffering a humiliating exit from the World Cup at the hands of Germany.
Speaking to ESPN FC’s David Hershey, Pele said the 7-1 defeat against Germany still haunts Brazil ahead of the Copa America Centenario and Olympics, both to be played this summer. Promoting his upcoming movie ‘Pele: Birth of a Legend’, Pele said, " I am sad just talking about it."
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"I cried watching that game and not just because of the score. I cried because I do not know what happened to the joy of Brazilian football. Maybe this summer in the Olympics and Copa America, we can remind the world of how Brazil plays soccer, but it will not be easy. I fear we have lost our way.”
On top of the World Cup exit, Brazil suffered further humiliation in the form of a defeat in the quarterfinals of the 2015 Copa America at the hands of Paraguay. This served as a painful Deja Vu to the nation as they went out of the 2011 edition in the exact same fixture and in the same way, losing on penalties.
Also read: Dunga the right man for Brazil job, claims Pele
Brazil has been wary of seeing a beautiful style of football which has won them numerous laurels over the years, winning three World Cups in Pele’s time, making the 7-1 defeat even more horrific. Pele shared his views as to where it has all gone down south for Brazil, saying "There is no ginga," , meaning individual genius.
"Other South American countries like Argentina, Chile, and Ecuador now play more beautiful soccer than Brazil and you see what happens in the last two Copa Americas. We lose to Paraguay on penalties!"
"Myself, Gerson, Rivelino, and Tostao were all No. 10s and yet [then-coach Mario] Zagallo wanted us all on the field at the same time so he created a formation that could accommodate us," Pele said, taking a swipe at current Brazilian coach Dunga and his predecessor Luiz Felipe Scolari.
"Then in Japan [at the 2002 World Cup], we had Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, and Rivaldo who all had great flair and we won again. But today we have a coach who doesn't care about individual expression."
According to him, only Neymar is the player with ginga in the current squad, his dependence evident when he missed the Germany defeat due to injury. "Neymar cannot do it alone," Pele said. "You saw what happened in the World Cup when he couldn't play against Germany."
Unfortunately for Brazil’s fans across the globe, Neymar is set to miss Copa America this summer but will return for the Olympics. With him out of the squad, Brazil will be looking for its players to step up in order to win the Copa America.
