Journal articles on the topic 'Soccer – Brazil – History'

The purpose of this research is to study the history of the construction of the Pacaembu Municipal Stadium, in the city of São Paulo, focusing on the beginning of São Paulo football since the origin and evolution, in a temporal cut of 1900-1940. The reflection of the work will be based on the purpose of analyzing the development process of soccer within the city of São Paulo and in other localities of the country that had influence for the development of soccer in Brazil.

SUMMARYWe evaluated the occurrence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in 97 former soccer players who played in Recife, Brazil in the 1960s and 1970s, and analysed the risk factors for infection, such as history of transfusions, surgery, tattoos, piercings, and the use of illicit drugs or injectable vitamin complexes. Immunochromatographic testing was performed to detect anti-HCV antibodies. All former soccer players were men (mean age 59·2 years), of whom 62 (64%) and 35 (36%) were classified as amateurs and professionals, respectively. Seven (7·2%) tested positive for anti-HCV antibodies; three (4·8%) were amateurs, and four (11·4%) were professionals. In univariate analysis, transfusion, surgery, and use of injectable vitamin complexes were associated with HCV infection, while in multivariate analysis, only the use of injectable vitamin complexes was related (P=0·0005). We observed a high frequency of HCV infection in former soccer players, especially in professionals who used injectable vitamin complexes.

Context: Hamstring strain injury (HSI) is the most prevalent injury in football (soccer), and a few intrinsic factors have been associated with higher injury rates. Objective: To describe the prevalence of the main intrinsic risk factors for HSI in professional and under-20 football players. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Physiotherapy laboratory, Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre (Brazil). Participants: A total of 101 football players (52 professional and 49 under-20 players). Intervention: An evidence-based testing protocol for screening HSI risk factors. Main Outcome Measures: Anamnesis, ultrasonography of the hamstrings, passive straight-leg raise test, Functional Movement Screen, and isokinetic dynamometry were performed. Eleven HSI risk factors for each leg were assessed, besides the player’s age as a systemic risk factor. Reports were delivered to the coaching staff. Results: Professionals had greater prevalence of HSI history compared with under-20 players (40% vs 18%). No between-group differences were found for the other screening tests. Altogether, 30% of players had already sustained at least one HSI; 58% had a history of injuries in adjacent regions; 49% had short biceps femoris fascicles; 66% and 21% had poor passive and active flexibility, respectively; 42% and 29% had deficits in functional movements and core stability, respectively; 7% and 26% presented bilateral imbalance for hamstring concentric and eccentric strength, respectively; 87% and 94% obtained low values for hamstring-to-quadriceps conventional and functional ratios, respectively. Two-thirds of players had 3 to 5 risk factors per leg. None of the players was fully free of HSI risk factors. Conclusion: Most football players present multiple risk factors for sustaining an HSI. Hamstring weakness is the most prevalent risk factor, but the teams should also be aware of deficits in flexibility, core stability, functional movements, and hamstring fascicle length.

The article aims at showing results from the project ‘Football, Memory and Heritage: a Collection of Oral History Interviews for the Football Museum’. The research was performed at the Center for Research and Documentation on Contemporary History of Brazil (FGV, Rio de Janeiro) in partnership with the Football Museum (São Paulo, Brazil). The article shows, on the one hand, how the interest in soccer and its patrimonial and institutional aspects in Brazilian society has been increasing since the creation of collections of testimonies by institutions such as the Museum of Image and Sound in Rio de Janeiro (1965) and in São Paulo (1970), and the Football Museum, opened in 2008, which follows the latest world expographic standards. On the other hand, the article seeks to explore the raw material of testimonies collected from former players of the Brazilian team, who played in the 1958, 1962 and 1970 World Cups, the years the team were champions of the world, in order to put up for discussion how the complex relationships between history and national memory operate in the sports universe. The central argument to be raised in the article is that, in the discourse of former players such as Djalma Santos and others still living, the nostalgia for a bygone era of victories rekindles an important discussion for the collective imagination. The demarcation of boundaries between a glorious past – close to national roots – and a present of defeats or failures marked by ‘forgetting’ the true form of national play, activates a rhetoric built not only by the athletes but by an expressive fraction of the sporting press and the more general public opinion in which the national sporting memory is seen as impregnated with representations associated with nostalgia, loss and alienation from a ‘golden age’ of authentic Brazilian football.

PT. Este trabalho busca trazer uma reflexão acerca da importância da Placar para a construção do jornalismo esportivo no Brasil, fazendo uma sistematização das diferentes fases e seus distintos momentos. Mais longeva revista esportiva brasileira em circulação, o periódico completou, apesar da quase intermitente luta pela sobrevivência, meio século de vida em 2020. Como parte da mídia, também foi ao longo dos anos, de certo modo, um catalisador dos anseios e câmbios sociais e, por isso, esteve sempre em processo de mutação, descrevendo-os e, paralelamente, sendo influenciada pelos contextos das diferentes épocas. Tratamentos sexistas ao futebol de mulheres, como os de “musas” e “gostosas”, por exemplo, atravessaram fases históricas da revista, como as versões Placar Mais (1984), Placar Todos os Esportes (1988) e Futebol, Sexo & Rock and Roll (1995 a 1999). Com o advento do feminismo, esses termos não apenas ficaram para trás como a revista chegou a publicar em 2019 um pedido de desculpas pelo passado misógino e machista. O entrelaçamento histórico também pôde-se observar quando a revista deu voz a jogadores que não se furtavam a declarar seu posicionamento político (no contexto de efervescência em torno da redemocratização do país, nas chamadas “Diretas Já”) ou de discussões em torno da profissionalização do futebol nacional ou denúncias sobre corrupção no esporte. Neste estudo, evidencia-se a existência de uma linha tênue entre a história da sociedade brasileira e a história do futebol no país. Assim, a partir de entrevistas com sete jornalistas que fizeram parte de diferentes fases da revista (Celso Unzelte, Marcelo Duarte, Maurício Barros, Paulo Vinícius Coelho, Ricardo Corrêa, Sérgio Xavier Filho e o mais longínquo editor, Juca Kfouri), este artigo busca contribuir para a construção histórica de um capítulo relevante do entrelaçamento da cultura esportiva com a cultura social no Brasil através da Placar, uma peça fundamental da história do jornalismo esportivo nacional que se mantém viva. *** EN. This article discusses the importance of Placar magazine in the construction of sports journalism in Brazil. It is based on the systematization of different phases of the magazine and the great moments of its history. Placar is the oldest Brazilian sports magazine published and celebrated its jubilee in 2020, after fifty years of a continuous struggle to ensure its existence.As an actor of the media sphere in Brazil, it has also been a catalyst of social yearnings and changes over the years. Therefore, it has always been in a process of mutation, describing them and, in parallel, being influenced by the social and political contexts. Sexism towards women in soccer, expressed by the use of terms such as "muses" or "hotties", is a part of the magazine’s history, more specifically during the time of Placar Mais (1984), Placar Todos os Esportes (1988) and Futebol, Sexo & Rock and Roll (1995 to 1999). With the rise of feminist movements, these terms were discarded, and the magazine took a stand in 2019 by apologizing for the misogynistic and sexist content published in the past. Content imbued with historical momentums also appears at times when the magazine features players who voice political opinions (for instance during the effervescence of the context of redemocratization, at the time of the first direct elections after the fall of the military dictatorship, the so-called "Diretas Já") or share opinions on the professionalization of Brazilian soccer and the corruption operating within the sport’s institutions. The study highlights how fine is the line between the history of Brazilian society and the history of Brazilian soccer. Based on interviews with seven journalists who contributed to the magazine during different phases of its existence (Celso Unzelte, Marcelo Duarte, Maurício Barros, Paulo Vinícius Coelho, Ricardo Corrêa, Sérgio Xavier Filho and the veteran editor, Juca Kfouri), the article contributes to the historical construction of an important testimony of the intertwining of sports and social history in Brazil. This relationship is illustrated through the history of Placar, shown as a contemporary and central player in the history of Brazilian sports journalism. *** FR. Cet article propose une réflexion sur l'importance du magazine Placar dans la construction du journalisme sportif au Brésil, à partir d’une systématisation de ses différentes phases et des grands moments de son histoire. Premier magazine sportif brésilien, Placar a fêté son jubilé en 2020, après cinquante années marquées par un combat continuel pour assurer son existence. En tant qu’acteur du monde médiatique brésilien durant toutes ces années, il représente un catalyseur des aspirations et des changements sociaux. Si, d’un côté, il décrit les contextes des différentes époques du pays, il en subit simultanément l’influence, ce qui explique ses constantes mutations. Le sexisme à l’égard du football féminin, énoncé par des termes tels que « muses » ou « bombasses », a ainsi marqué l’histoire du magazine, dans ses versions Placar Mais (1984), Placar Todos os Esportes (1988) et Futebol, Sexo & Rock and Roll (1995 à 1999). Avec l'avènement du féminisme, ces termes ont non seulement été écartés, mais le magazine a été jusqu’à publier, en 2019, des excuses pour son passé misogyne et sexiste. Cette imbrication historique s’observe également lorsque le magazine donne la parole à des joueurs qui n’hésitent pas à donner leurs opinions, qu’elles soient politiques (dans le contexte effervescent de la redémocratisation du pays, au moment des premières élections directes après la dictature militaire, les « Diretas Já ») ou dans le cadre des discussions autour de la professionnalisation du football brésilien et de la corruption dans le sport. Cette étude montre que seule une frontière ténue sépare l'histoire de la société brésilienne de celle de son football. À partir d'entretiens avec sept journalistes qui ont marqué les différentes phases du magazine (Celso Unzelte, Marcelo Duarte, Maurício Barros, Paulo Vinícius Coelho, Ricardo Corrêa, Sérgio Xavier Filho et le vétéran des rédacteurs, Juca Kfouri), cet article contribue à la construction historique d'un chapitre important de l'entrelacement de la culture sportive et sociale au Brésil. Cette relation est ici mise en perspective à partir du magazine sportif Placar, personnage toujours vivant et fondamental de l'histoire du journalisme sportif brésilien. ***

Andrés Stapff (Montevideo, 1972) es fotógrafo de la agencia de noticias Reuters en Uruguay desde 1999. Desde allí ha participado en varias coberturas de una amplia variedad de acontecimientos en diferentes situaciones y países tales como la crisis política y económica en Argentina durante el 2001 y 2002, la Copa América en Colombia, Perú y Argentina, los Juegos Panamericanos de Brasil, cumbres de las Américas y del G20, mundiales de fútbol y otros deportes, además de varios procesos eleccionarios en Uruguay y el resto de América Latina. Sus fotos han sido publicadas en medios nacionales y del exterior tales como The New York Times , Washington Post , El País de Madrid, The Guardian , La Nación , Clarín , Folha de São Paulo , revista National Geographic y otros. La agencia Reuters ha publicado sus fotos en los volúmenes 1, 2 y 3 de su colección The art of seeing, the best of Reuters photography . Andres Stapff (Montevideo, 1972) is a photographer from the Reuters news agency in Uruguay since 1999. As such, he has covered a wide range of events in different situations and countries like the economic and political crisis in Argentina in 2001 and 2002, the America Cup in Colombia, Peru and Argentina, the Panamerican Games in Brazil, America and G20 summits, soccer world cups and from other sports, besides several elections in Uruguay and the rest of Latin America. His photographs have been published in national and international media, such as The New York Times, Washington Post, El País de Madrid, The Guardian, La Nación, Clarín, Folha de São Paulo, National Geographic and others. The Reuters agency has published his photographs in the first, second and third volume of its collection The art of seeing, the best of Reuters photography.

In my last editorial I was contemplating living the new and unexpected experience of life with Covid 19. Six months ago, was a time for contemplation. We were all entering into an event of major historical significance. The world has experienced epidemics before, and we had only to turn to the works of writers such as Camus to realise how recurrent human behaviour is. We tend so often to be caught by surprise despite the lessons that are so readily available to us through reference to history. The Spanish ‘flu epidemic of 1919 was the obvious benchmark to which we could turn. Following hot on the heels of the Great War of 1914-1918 it was responsible for more casualties than occurred in the war to end all wars (50 million). It infected 500 million people worldwide. After just over ten months we are a long, long way from those sorts of figures. As of 12th November, 51,975,458 case of infection have been reported. Deaths attributed to the virus number 1,281,309 worldwide. Of course, what makes Covid 19 so significant is not simply that it should have happened, but that it is the first pandemic in this era of globalisation which we have entered only comparatively recently. Some might remember the SARS epidemic which affected mainly people in Asia. As indicated by its name, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2), it was very similar initially in its effects. Yet, after first emerging in 2002, it was eradicated less than two years later. It seems that this was achieved largely by what has been called simple public health measures. This involved “testing people with symptoms (fever and respiratory problems), isolating and quarantining suspected cases, and restricting travel.” These same measures of course have been implemented in most countries following the virus’ spread to Italy early in 2020. However, the fact that different nations have responded differently and also experienced very different outcomes should be of considerable interest as we consider the whole concept of a global threat and global responses. The ten worst affected countries currently are in order: Contry; Confirmed Cases; Deaths United States; 10,460,302; 244,421 India; 8,684,039; 128,165 Brazil; 5,749,007; 163,406 France; 1,865,538; 42,535 Russia; 1,836,960; 31,593 Spain; 1,417,709; 40,105 Argentina; 1,273,343; 34,531 United Kingdom; 1,256,725; 50,365 Colombia; 1,165,326; 33,312 Italy; 1,028,424; 42,953 They are dominated by the advanced economies of the northern hemisphere. The countries who have previously experienced the SARS epidemic in Asia have fared comparatively lightly. Bearing in mind that statistics of this nature may not be strictly comparable given variation in the criteria used and the methods of sourcing and collecting this information, it is still interesting to hypothesise why outcomes can differ so much. Explanations might include reference to the environments in which people live – physical space, climate and availability of sophisticated health care systems to name a few – or they might dwell on the culture of those involved, their willingness to follow instructions imposed upon them, the importance of competing objectives that might make prioritising health and physical wellness less of a priority. Whatever the case, satisfactory explanations are more likely to involve some interactions involving measures of both the individuals and the environments within which they live. Any attempt to explain or understand human behaviour needs to consider a variety of factors and knowing how to take account of them is an important part of the skill base that scholars of international and comparative studies bring with them. Such skills and knowledge are more important in a globalised world than they have ever been. Yet such skills may be becoming harder to achieve, precisely because of some of the effects of processes associated with globalisation. I would recommend to you a recent documentary produced by Netflix and widely available on YouTube. “The Social Dilemma” is an examination of the use of social media and in particular focuses on the relationship between the growing addiction amongst young people to the use of smartphones and, specifically their social media programmes, and the rising levels of concern about deteriorating mental health and wellbeing among the world’s youth. It draws a relationship between the psychological disorder of narcissism and the failure of phone obsessed young people to experience real human to human interaction, with a related increase in aggressive bullying and dysfunctional behaviour. Thus, the results of experiencing interactions and personal validation through the proxy world of social media, rather than face to face, is a dehumanisation of the individual and leads to a distorted experience of the world in simple dichotomies of a single view, right or wrong. So, whatever the continuing effects of the pandemic, as these continue to unfold, it will be important that we continue to build our understanding of other people in their own worlds. We need to avoid the trap of believing that our own world is the only world and the right world. However smart artificial intelligence becomes, a screen is only two dimensional and it is the extra dimensions that enable us to grow as humans and cope with the complexity and challenges of our own unique worlds. One of the less helpful trends of our globalised digitised world, has been the pursuit and glorification of the cult of celebrity. One of the difficulties of that celebrity status is it is frequently awarded on the basis of undeserving and irrelevant characteristics such as, acting ability, physical beauty or sporting reputation. Yet many seem to feel that this status entitles them to pontificate or attempt to influence others in areas that have nothing to do with their expertise. Ricky Gervais, in his chairing of the 2020 golden globes award, brought a refreshing dose of reality in advising the celebrities who were to receive awards: You are in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg. So, if you win, come up accept your little award. Thank your agent and your God and **** off. OK? It is in that spirit of willingness to learn from the work of a range of colleagues working in a range of places and professional situations around the world, I commend to you the contributions to be found in the following pages. To start the ball rolling, we have a report from Hairui Liu, Wei Shen and Peter Hastie on the application of a curriculum model which was developed in the US and has since gained some popularity in a number of settings around the world. The origins of sport education came from a realisation that, in too many situations, physical education had failed to excite the same degree of enthusiasm among school pupils as could often be observed when they involved themselves in sport. The model thus extends the skill/technique focus which is found in many traditional physical education settings, to include more of the dimensions of sport – formal competition, affiliation, festivity experienced over a season. They concluded that, within this Chinese university context, the students achieved a higher level of performance and more enthusiastic engagement when the model was adopted as a basis for their learning. Our second article moves from an education setting to a contemporary sport science framework, the world of professional sport and one of the higher levels of competition in the world – the English Championship. Rhys Carr, Rich Mullen and Morgan Williams monitored the running intensity of players throughout a season. In particular they questioned the demands for high intensity running when playing in a 4-4-2 formation and implementing a high press strategy, such as adopted by Liverpool in their highly successful 2019 English Premiership season. They concluded that, for players in the centre forward and wide midfield positions, the demands created were impossible to maintain for an entire match. They were then able to draw out some practical and tactical implications for managers and their support staff, relating to substitution strategy and the physical match preparation of players in these positions and with these strategic responsibilities. Our third article involves an exploration of the perpetual discomfort many of us feel as educators when we compare the practice of sport against the ideals we hold for it. As professionals in the field, many of us are driven by our belief in what sport can offer. Yet the modern commodification of sport, coupled with the excessive need to win as a motive that exceeds all others, consistently produces behaviours and outcomes which we seek to disassociate from our professional practices. The article by Irantzu Ibanez, Ana Zuazagoitia, Ibon Echeazarra, Luis Maria Zulaika and Iker Ros is set in the context of the Basque region of Spain and explores the values held by students in their pre-service training with regard to the practice of extracurricular sport. The students show an awareness of the mismatch between their ideals of extracurricular sport as an educational experience and the influence on current practices that comes from the way in which sport is conducted in the society at large. The authors conclude with a plea for greater alignment between the practice of sport in schools and teh educational values that should guide it. Our final contribution is from South Africa where Lesego Phetlhe, Heather Morris- Eyton and Alliance Kubayi report on the concerns of football (soccer) coaches in Guateng province. It is clear that these coaches, in common with others around the world, suffer a degree of stress in their chosen occupation. The sources of this stress are to be found in the nature of the complex tasks they are expected to manage, as well as in the always challenging job of managing the players for whom they are responsible. To this can be added the difficult environmental conditions they are faced with, as well as the inevitable concern with having to produce results for the players and their team. Their research has produced some useful guidelines for administrators that can facilitate the jobs of the coaches and lead to benefits in enhanced performances and results. Finally, in our book review, Luiz Uehara evaluates Jorge Knijnik’s thoughtful analysis of the impact of the 2014 world cup on Brazil. From both author and reviewer, it is possible to feel the pride and passion in their nation of birth and its special contribution to the world’s most popular game. It is my privilege to recommend the work of these international scholars to you. I leave you the reader with the hope that in introducing our next volume, I will be able to celebrate with you more positive news about the progress of the pandemic and its implications for international and comparative sport and physical education. John Saunders Brisbane, November 2020

Este texto apresenta algumas questões acerca do relacionamento entre o futebol e a construção da identidade nacional no Brasil, especificamente a partir dos anos 1930. Para isso, a nossa atenção se volta para dois eventos especiais dentro da história do futebol no Brasil: a Copa de 38 e o Estádio do Pacaembu (1940). Quanto à participação dos brasileiros na Copa do Mundo de 1938, simbolicamente, reforçou-se a idéia de que aquela não era uma mera disputa esportiva. Ao mesmo tempo, este trabalho olha para a construção do estádio do Pacaembu, em São Paulo, enquanto uma obra que sintetiza não apenas a experiência do futebol em São Paulo, mas também as relações desse esporte com o espaço urbano. Soccer in the 1930’s and 1940’s: building the national identity Abstract This text presents some questions about the relationship between soccer and the construction of Brazil’s national identity, specifically the 1930’s. With this intention, our attention turns to two special events in Brazilian soccer history: the World Cup of 1938 and the Pacaembu Stadium (1940). Concerning the Brazilian participation in the World Cup of 1938, we show how soccer has been articulated with the Brazilian society. Symbolically, the idea that it was not an only sports competition was reinforced. At the same time, this work consist viewing the construction of the Pacaembu Stadium in São Paulo as a work that not only synthesizes São Paulo’s experience with soccer, but also the relation between urban areas and the sport.

The world is rapidly changing and the new international order includes developing nations as powerful actors. Among them, Brazil stands out as one of the most influential and promising players. This article examines Brazil’s case as an emerging major power in the international system. Despite several challenges it has yet to overcome, Brazil presents itself as a stable nation capable of being an economically and politically influential. This paper analyzes how Brazil is much more than just soccer, the Amazon, and Carnaval; in reality, it is becoming a powerful actor in the international system that does has a lot to offer. Brazilians always had the hope that some day their country would launch off into an age of economic growth and stability. The promise of living in the “nation of future” has been present in Brazil even in the early 20th century, when thousands of people immigrated dreaming of a better life. Unfortunately, the situation did not play out as nicely as they had hoped. Whether it was due to the fragility of the domestic political regime or its economic failures, Brazil was never able to reach this dream. In fact, Brazil has a long history of ups and downs. All of its booms were short-lived – the milagre economico (economic miracle) of the 1970s, for instance, was quickly followed by a ride with hyperinflation and increasing public debt in the 1980s. Brazil re-established a democratic regime in 1985 with the hopes of beginning a new era of progress and stability. Twenty-five years later this goal is, for the first time, tangible. Brazil now enters the 21st century as one of the main emerging powers in the world. Brazil’s influence abroad increased tremendously in the last decade. Whether it is in speeches over global issues at the United Nations or at meetings of the world’s biggest firms, it seems clear that Brazil is no longer overlooked. This only happened after Brazil finally reached political and economic stability, positioned itself as an international leader, and demonstrated the virtues of several of its unique characteristics. After years of struggle and little self-esteem, Brazil now emerges out of the biggest crisis in 80 years as the prominent leader for Latin America.

Lincolnshire, England. The crowd cheer when the ball breaks loose. From one end of the field to the other, the players chase, their snouts hovering just above the grass. It’s not a case of four legs being better, rather a novel way to attract customers to the Woodside Wildlife and Falconry Park. During the matches, volunteers are drawn from the crowd to hold goal posts at either end of the run the pigs usually race on. With five pigs playing, two teams of two and a referee, and a ball designed to leak feed as it rolls (Stevenson) the ten-minute competition is fraught with tension. While the pig’s contributions to “the beautiful game” (Fish and Pele 7) have not always been so obvious, it could be argued that specific parts of the animal have had a significant impact on a sport which, despite calls to fall into line with much of the rest of the world, people in Australia (and the US) are more likely to call soccer. The Football Precursors to the modern football were constructed around an inflated pig’s bladder (Price, Jones and Harland). Animal hide, usually from a cow, was stitched around the bladder to offer some degree of stability, but the bladder’s irregular and uneven form made for unpredictable movement in flight. This added some excitement and affected how ball games such as the often violent, calico matches in Florence, were played. In the early 1970s, the world’s oldest ball was discovered during a renovation in Stirling Castle, Scotland. The ball has a pig’s bladder inside its hand-stitched, deer-hide outer. It was found in the ceiling above the bed in, what was then Mary Queens of Scots’ bedroom. It has since been dated to the 1540s (McGinnes). Neglected and left in storage until the late 1990s, the ball found pride of place in an exhibition in the Smiths Art Gallery and Museum, Stirling, and only gained worldwide recognition (as we will see later) in 2006. Despite confirmed interest in a number of sports, there is no evidence to support Mary’s involvement with football (Springer). The deer-hide ball may have been placed to gather and trap untoward spirits attempting to enter the monarch’s sleep, or simply left by accident and forgotten (McGinnes in Springer). Mary, though, was not so fortunate. She was confined and forgotten, but only until she was put to death in 1587. The Executioner having gripped her hair to hold his prize aloft, realised too late it was a wig and Mary’s head bounced and rolled across the floor. Football Development The pig’s bladder was the central component in the construction of the football for the next three hundred years. However, the issue of the ball’s movement (the bounce and roll), the bladder’s propensity to burst when kicked, and an unfortunate wife’s end, conspired to push the pig from the ball before the close of the nineteenth-century. The game of football began to take its shape in 1848, when JC Thring and a few colleagues devised the Cambridge Rules. This compromised set of guidelines was developed from those used across the different ‘ball’ games played at England’s elite schools. The game involved far more kicking, and the pig’s bladders, prone to bursting under such conditions, soon became impractical. Charles Goodyear’s invention of vulcanisation in 1836 and the death of prestigious rugby and football maker Richard Lindon’s wife in 1870 facilitated the replacement of the animal bladder with a rubber-based alternative. Tragically, Mr Lindon’s chief inflator died as a result of blowing up too many infected pig’s bladders (Hawkesley). Before it closed earlier this year (Rhoads), the US Soccer Hall of Fame displayed a rubber football made in 1863 under the misleading claim that it was the oldest known football. By the late 1800s, professional, predominantly Scottish play-makers had transformed the game from its ‘kick-and-run’ origins into what is now called ‘the passing game’ (Sanders). Football, thanks in no small part to Scottish factory workers (Kay), quickly spread through Europe and consequently the rest of the world. National competitions emerged through the growing need for organisation, and the pig-free mass production of balls began in earnest. Mitre and Thomlinson’s of Glasgow were two of the first to make and sell their much rounder balls. With heavy leather panels sewn together and wrapped around a thick rubber inner, these balls were more likely to retain shape—a claim the pig’s bladder equivalent could not legitimately make. The rubber-bladdered balls bounced more too. Their weight and external stitching made them more painful to header, but also more than useful for kicking and particularly for passing from one player to another. The ball’s relatively quick advancement can thereafter be linked to the growth and success of the World Cup Finals tournament. Before the pig re-enters the fray, it is important to glance, however briefly, at the ball’s development through the international game. World Cup Footballs Pre-tournament favourites, Spain, won the 2010 FIFA World Cup, playing with “an undistorted, perfectly spherical ball” (Ghosh par. 7), the “roundest” ever designed (FIFA par.1). Their victory may speak to notions of predictability in the ball, the tournament and the most lucrative levels of professional endeavour, but this notion is not a new one to football. The ball’s construction has had an influence on the way the game has been played since the days of Mary Queen of Scots. The first World Cup Final, in 1930, featured two heavy, leather, twelve-panelled footballs—not dissimilar to those being produced in Glasgow decades earlier. The players and officials of Uruguay and Argentina could not agree, so they played the first half with an Argentine ball. At half-time, Argentina led by two goals to one. In the second half, Uruguay scored three unanswered goals with their own ball (FIFA). The next Final was won by Italy, the home nation in 1934. Orsi, Italy’s adopted star, poked a wildly swerving shot beyond the outstretched Czech keeper. The next day Orsi, obligated to prove his goal was not luck or miracle, attempted to repeat the feat before an audience of gathered photographers. He failed. More than twenty times. The spin on his shot may have been due to the, not uncommon occurrence, of the ball being knocked out of shape during the match (FIFA). By 1954, the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) had sought to regulate ball size and structure and, in 1958, rigorously tested balls equal to the demands of world-class competition. The 1950s also marked the innovation of the swerving free kick. The technique, developed in the warm, dry conditions of the South American game, would not become popular elsewhere until ball technology improved. The heavy hand-stitched orb, like its early counterparts, was prone to water absorption, which increased the weight and made it less responsive, particularly for those playing during European winters (Bray). The 1970 World Cup in Mexico saw football progress even further. Pele, arguably the game’s greatest player, found his feet, and his national side, Brazil, cemented their international football prominence when they won the Jules Rimet trophy for the third time. Their innovative and stylish use of the football in curling passes and bending free kicks quickly spread to other teams. The same World Cup saw Adidas, the German sports goods manufacturer, enter into a long-standing partnership with FIFA. Following the competition, they sold an estimated six hundred thousand match and replica tournament footballs (FIFA). The ball, the ‘Telstar’, with its black and white hexagonal panels, became an icon of the modern era as the game itself gained something close to global popularity for the first time in its history. Over the next forty years, the ball became incrementally technologically superior. It became synthetic, water-resistant, and consistent in terms of rebound and flight characteristics. It was constructed to be stronger and more resistant to shape distortion. Internal layers of polyutherane and Syntactic Foam made it lighter, capable of greater velocity and more responsive to touch (FIFA). Adidas spent three years researching and developing the 2006 World Cup ball, the ‘Teamgeist’. Fourteen panels made it rounder and more precise, offering a lower bounce, and making it more difficult to curl due to its accuracy in flight. At the same time, audiences began to see less of players like Roberto Carlos (Brazil and Real Madrid CF) and David Beckham (Manchester United, LA Galaxy and England), who regularly scored goals that challenged the laws of physics (Gill). While Adidas announced the 2006 release of the world’s best performing ball in Berlin, the world’s oldest was on its way to the Museum fur Volkerkunde in Hamburg for the duration of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The Mary Queen of Scot’s ball took centre spot in an exhibit which also featured a pie stand—though not pork pies—from Hibernian Football Club (Strang). In terms of publicity and raising awareness of the Scots’ role in the game’s historical development, the installation was an unrivalled success for the Scottish Football Museum (McBrearty). It did, however, very little for the pig. Heads, not Tails In 2002, the pig or rather the head of a pig, bounced and rolled back into football’s limelight. For five years Luis Figo, Portugal’s most capped international player, led FC Barcelona to domestic and European success. In 2000, he had been lured to bitter rivals Real Madrid CF for a then-world record fee of around £37 million (Nash). On his return to the Catalan Camp Nou, wearing the shimmering white of Real Madrid CF, he was showered with beer cans, lighters, bottles and golf balls. Among the objects thrown, a suckling pig’s head chimed a psychological nod to the spear with two sharp ends in William Golding’s story. Play was suspended for sixteen minutes while police tried to quell the commotion (Lowe). In 2009, another pig’s head made its way into football for different reasons. Tightly held in the greasy fingers of an Orlando Pirates fan, it was described as a symbol of the ‘roasting’ his team would give the Kaiser Chiefs. After the game, he and his friend planned to eat their mascot and celebrate victory over their team’s most reviled competitors (Edwards). The game ended in a nil-all draw. Prior to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, it was not uncommon for a range of objects that European fans might find bizarre, to be allowed into South African league matches. They signified luck and good feeling, and in some cases even witchcraft. Cabbages, known locally for their medicinal qualities, were very common—common enough for both sets of fans to take them (Edwards). FIFA, an organisation which has more members than the United Nations (McGregor), impressed their values on the South African Government. The VuVuZela was fine to take to games; indeed, it became a cultural artefact. Very little else would be accepted. Armed with their economy-altering engine, the world’s most watched tournament has a tendency to get what it wants. And the crowd respond accordingly. Incidentally, the ‘Jabulani’—the ball developed for the 2010 tournament—is the most consistent football ever designed. In an exhaustive series of tests, engineers at Loughborough University, England, learned, among other things, the added golf ball-like grooves on its surface made the ball’s flight more symmetrical and more controlled. The Jabulani is more reliable or, if you will, more predictable than any predecessor (Ghosh). Spanish Ham Through support from their Governing body, the Real Federación Española de Fútbol, Spain have built a national side with experience, and an unparalleled number of talented individuals, around the core of the current FC Barcelona club side. Their strength as a team is founded on the bond between those playing on a weekly basis at the Catalan club. Their style has allowed them to create and maintain momentum on the international stage. Victorious in the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship and undefeated in their run through the qualifying stages into the World Cup Finals in South Africa, they were tournament favourites before a Jabulani was rolled into touch. As Tim Parks noted in his New York Review of Books article, “The Shame of the World Cup”, “the Spanish were superior to an extent one rarely sees in the final stages of a major competition” (2010 par. 15). They have a “remarkable ability to control, hold and hide the ball under intense pressure,” and play “a passing game of great subtlety [ ... to] patiently wear down an opposing team” (Parks par. 16). Spain won the tournament having scored fewer goals per game than any previous winner. Perhaps, as Parks suggests, they scored as often as they needed to. They found the net eight times in their seven matches (Fletcher). This was the first time that Spain had won the prestigious trophy, and the first time a European country has won the tournament on a different continent. In this, they have broken the stranglehold of superpowers like Germany, Italy and Brazil. The Spanish brand of passing football is the new benchmark. Beautiful to watch, it has grace, flow and high entertainment value, but seems to lack something of an organic nature: that is, it lacks the chance for things to go wrong. An element of robotic aptitude has crept in. This occurred on a lesser scale across the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals, but it is possible to argue that teams and players, regardless of nation, have become interchangeable, that the world’s best players and the way they play have become identikits, formulas to be followed and manipulated by master tacticians. There was a great deal of concern in early rounds about boring matches. The world’s media focused on an octopus that successfully chose the winner of each of Germany’s matches and the winner of the final. Perhaps, in shaping the ‘most’ perfect ball and the ‘most’ perfect football, the World Cup has become the most predictable of tournaments. In Conclusion The origins of the ball, Orsi’s unrepeatable winner and the swerving free kick, popular for the best part of fifty years, are worth remembering. These issues ask the powers of football to turn back before the game is smothered by the hunt for faultlessness. The unpredictability of the ball goes hand in hand with the game. Its flaws underline its beauty. Football has so much more transformative power than lucrative evolutionary accretion. While the pig’s head was an ugly statement in European football, it is a symbol of hope in its South African counterpart. Either way its removal is a reminder of Golding’s message and the threat of homogeneity; a nod to the absence of the irregular in the modern era. Removing the curve from the free kick echoes the removal of the pig’s bladder from the ball. The fun is in the imperfection. Where will the game go when it becomes indefectible? Where does it go from here? Can there really be any validity in claiming yet another ‘roundest ball ever’? Chip technology will be introduced. The ball’s future replacements will be tracked by satellite and digitally-fed, reassured referees will determine the outcome of difficult decisions. Victory for the passing game underlines the notion that despite technological advancement, the game has changed very little since those pioneering Scotsmen took to the field. Shouldn’t we leave things the way they were? Like the pigs at Woodside Wildlife and Falconry Park, the level of improvement seems determined by the level of incentive. The pigs, at least, are playing to feed themselves. Acknowledgments The author thanks editors, Donna Lee Brien and Adele Wessell, and the two blind peer reviewers, for their constructive feedback and reflective insights. The remaining mistakes are his own. References “Adidas unveils Golden Ball for 2006 FIFA World Cup Final” Adidas. 18 Apr. 2006. 23 Aug. 2010 . 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