The History of Brazil Is Round

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The History of Brazil Is Round: 4. Magic and Dreams Are Dead

4. Magic and Dreams Are Dead

BBC Radio 4 Extra - The History of Brazil Is Round, 4. Magic and Dreams Are Dead

Can football can revive Brazil following dictatorship and corruption.

David Goldblatt explores whether the beautiful game can revive the country following dictatorship and corruption. From 2014.

David Goldblatt unravels more of the history of Brazil through its obsession with football. 

In the first half of the 20th Century, the beautiful game had helped define the shimmering promise and possibilities of this vast nation. But now, after years of dictatorship, rampant inflation and corruption could the bewitching promise of the ball revive a nation? 

In 1994, 24 years since they had last won, Brazil went to the World Cup under coach under Carlos Alberto Parreira:   

“We will play in the way modern football demands. Magic and dreams are finished in football. We have to combine technique and efficiency.”

Magic and dreams looked finished everywhere in Brazilian society in the 1990s. In the years after the end of military rule Brazil began to repair the damage wrought by the dictatorship.  Inflation was finally brought under control, but Brazil endured two decades of slow growth, widespread poverty and rising inequality, and a crime wave to match. Brazilian democracy was consolidated and the military seemingly neutered, but it was a highly dysfunctional polity in many ways. 

Pragmatism and realism could get one elected, they could even win a World Cup, but they came at a cost. In football and politics, legitimacy came to rest on results alone:  rouba mas faz – It’s ok to steal if you get things done.

Producer: Mark Burman 

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2014.

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Factual: History

Sport: Football

David Goldblatt unravels the story of Brazil through its historical passion for football.

David Goldblatt unravels the story of Brazil through its historical passion for football where nation and game have shaped each other.

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