As the clock goes by, the 22nd Men's Soccer World Cup to be played in Qatar at the end of 2022 is getting closer and closer, and although the last few places on all continents have not yet been determined, most of the football powers have successfully obtained tickets to enter the 2022 Qatar World Cup, including the familiar South American twins - five-star Brazil and Pampas Eagles Argentina. Although the players of these two teams and their fans are full of confidence in this World Cup trip, there is a fact that is in front of everyone, and this fact is also the common heart disease of both sides, that is, since the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, South American teams have not won as many as four World Cups, during this time, the best result they can create is the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, when Brazil reached the semi-finals and Argentina reached the finals, unfortunately, In the end, they were all defeated by german chariots and hated for a while. To this day, all fans are thinking about the question of how South American football was pulled off the altar. How do they get back to the top? Perhaps, the answer to these two questions is not difficult.
The weakening of the South American league predates the overall weakening of South American football, and it is difficult to change in the future
In the 1970s and 1980s and even earlier, the South American Football League was not weaker and more competitive than the European Football League, and for a long time, South American football and European football were the two major centers of world football. However, as the commercial broadcast and operation of European football becomes more professional and the absorption of capital is more sufficient, the European Football League has gradually attracted more attention from all over the world in recent decades, and correspondingly, the South American Football League, including the Baliga, the Argentine Super League and even the Copa Libertadores, has received less and less attention. You know, in the 2000 FIFA held the best club selection activities of the twentieth century, Santos (Bajia), Penarol (Ulla), Flamengo (Bajia), River Plate (A Super League) from the South American Football League are able to rank among the top ten in the world, and today, these teams are not only far from catching up with the European giants or even some midstream teams in terms of popularity, but also the competitive strength is greatly reduced, basically reduced to real Madrid, Barcelona and other European giants star-making factories. For example, Neymar in Barcelona, Vinicius and Rodrigo in Real Madrid, and so on.
The dominance of today's UEFA football leagues in the world is extremely obvious, not only is the popularity much higher than most South American teams, the competitive strength is basically stronger than these opponents, taking the Club World Cup competition where the two sides can have direct dialogue opportunities as an example, the Club World Cup champions in the past decade have been won by the Champions League champions nine times, and only once by the Libertadores Cup, the history of the Club World Cup, south American teams have won the championship only four times, This is the number of Club World Cup titles won by a club of Real Madrid clubs, and the difference in strength is clear at a glance. In the case of poor league level, the South American national team can promote talent from the local league is quite limited, which is a natural disadvantage in the comparison with European teams, and even if Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay have enough talent in Europe, these players have far less time to cooperate with each other than European players, and the national team needs more running-in time, which is a common problem faced by South American countries today. And because European football is now the only football center, it is almost impossible for the leagues of South American countries to regain their strength, because players with strength will not be satisfied with staying at home and wasting their peak period, most of them are teenagers who have become famous and started their careers in Europe.
South American soccer giants have fallen into a trough, and it is difficult to return to the peak in the short term
The Brazilian national team still holds the record for the most World Cup champions to this day, they are known as five-star Brazil, and the Argentine national team has appeared two king-level figures in the history of the argentine national team, namely the deceased Maradona, and the active Messi, as for Uruguay, they have also won two championships in the history of the World Cup, the strength can not be underestimated, these three national teams can be called the three giants of South American football. However, after Brazil was crowned five stars in 2002, these giants have all fallen into a trough without exception, Brazil was humiliated by Germany 7-1 in 2014, Argentina although it reached the final, but other times also performed mediocrely, many times in the knockout stage by European teams to play a big score, Not to mention Uruguay, they have relied on Suarez, Cavani as the representative of the golden generation to play the best world cup results in recent years is only the top four, as the golden generation gradually grows old, they have lost competitiveness. The degeneration of these South American football giants has set off the rise of European football, and the common problem faced by Brazil, Argentina and other countries is that it is difficult for them to retain football talents now, and their decline is likely to continue under the current situation that European football has an all-round advantage over South American football. Unless, of course, they can make a change in the midst of a difficult situation.
Whether it is the Samba Legion or the Pampas Eagles, technical and tactical upgrades are imminent
When we mention the recent World Cup champion teams, they all have significant technical characteristics that led the trend at that time, such as Italy's iron-blooded defense in 2006, Spain's peak of pass control in 2010, Germany's attack and defense in 2014, and France's extreme defense in 2018. And when we mention the Brazilian national team that won the fifth Hercules Cup in 2002, most people can only think of Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo 3R, who played brilliantly at that time, and did not know their tactics, as for the Argentine national team, what everyone can remember now is the last glory of maradona's era and the lonely back of Messi's era. Therefore, whether it is for Brazil, argentina, or for other South American teams, it is better to get rid of their long-standing tactical style, learn more from opponents from Europe, learn from each other, and truly know each other, in order to make progress in direct dialogue. Of course, another point that is more important than the technical upgrade is that they need to abandon the less disciplined on-court and off-field problems, and only when this point is completely accurate to the top teams can South American football have the confidence to really compete with the strong teams in Europe.
The strength on paper is not weaker than the european team, brazil and Argentina need to find confidence, in order to have hope to realize the dream of Qatar
As far as the current lineup is concerned, whether it is Argentina, which finally won the Copa America last summer, or Brazil, which lost to Argentina in the final, they are not lost to the top teams in European football today. For example, Argentina, in addition to veterans such as Messi and Di Maria, who are still at the peak, the rise of new generations such as De Paul, Lautaro Martinez, and Dybala has also given their midfield a level that is not inferior to that year. Needless to say, in addition to the talented superstars such as Neymar and Vinicius in the front, there are powerful Casemiro, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva and so on in the midfield, who in a sense have always been the favorite team for the World Cup winner. After having such a luxurious lineup, the most urgent task for the South American duo is to find self-confidence, not to indulge too much in past failures, and not to be too afraid of European teams, as long as they show their full strength at this stage, the strength gap between them and European teams is very, very small, after all, Argentina has created a national team unbeaten record, Brazil has also created a world preliminary unbeaten record, they have the opportunity to impact the final championship at the end of the Year Qatar World Cup. In other words, this World Cup may be the last World Cup of veterans such as Messi, Neymar and Thiago Silva, and it is also a World Cup that they all have a lot of promise, and if it can be difficult, the opportunity to end the South American team's two decades without the Hercules Cup may be in sight.