There was a time when South Americans dominated football. At the turn of the century, the Brazilians reached the finals three times in a row. In 1994 they won when everyone expected to lose. In 1998 we lost, although everyone expected victory. And in 2002, expectations and reality finally agreed: they crushed the Germans in the final and became 5-time world champions.

Expectations grew right in the course of the tournament. Brazil flew to him not at all a favorite. But at home, this did not bother anyone. When Brazilians reach the World Cup, they have to reach the final. The whole question is whether the players have enough balls to wear this shirt, Roberto Carlos explained.

The four years between the World Cup were a nightmare for the national team: interrogations, changes of coaches and constant pressure

What for the Brazilians means the World Cup, showed the summer of 1998. The defeat from the French was considered a betrayal of the motherland. Parliament launched an investigation. The players were called in for questioning and forced to report to congressmen. One of them was supposed to have sold casinox-azerbaycan.com games either to Nike or directly to the French.

Politics. It even amused me, Roberto Carlos told The Guardian. I was asked: Why did you lose in the final? I replied: Because Zizou scored twice with his header. I have nothing more to tell you. Circus.

The investigation led nowhere, but the next four years were hell for the team. Since no one gave up the game, it means that the coach is to blame. Mario Zagallo is gone. His place was taken by Wanderlei Lushemburgo. Two years of his work ended with a resounding span at the Olympic Games: the Brazilians reached the quarterfinals and flew away from the Cameroonians, who played with nine men.

His replacement Candinho lasted only a few months. Emerson Leao was next. He considered Ronaldo's protracted problems to be the reason for the failures and returned Romario to the team. The veteran was responsible for sentencing opponents of the creators enough without him, and scored 10 goals in the first 6 matches. But he didn't make it to the 2001 Confederations Cup. The Brazilians won 1 match out of 5 and started another reshuffle.

Luis Felipe Scolari became the new coach. First of all, he convinced officials that resignations after the first failures did not help team growth and very timely, because a month later he lost to Honduras and flew out of the America's Cup. The unreliable Romario was abandoned second.

The idea was simple: wait for Ronaldo to recover and create a strict closed team with an autonomous superstar attack that decides matches without a coach. The Brazilians didn't like it. The coach was constantly pressed for the choice he made. As the national team prepared for the World Cup at the military base in Fortaleza, the soldiers marched and chanted: Big Phil, call Romario!

I won't call Romario. I will take those who I need, the coach replied.

Ronaldo hardly played between the world championships. Coaches from Brazil flew to Italy to follow their recovery and believed for a good reason

By giving up Romario for the sake of a lost striker, the coach went against the whole football Brazil. The risk was explained simply: a healthy Ronaldo was almost omnipotent.

The Brazilian, following Weah, rethought the role of the finisher. He came out of the box and abandoned the mandatory presence in the center of the attack, replacing it with a mobile yaw across the field. So he was even more dangerous. Defenders lost their bearings as the forward eluded guard, picked up pace in depth, and rushed into their zone at full speed and flew past as they turned around. Scientists from the laboratory of Inter admired his muscle fibers. According to their calculations, Ronaldo could eat the 100-meter race in 10.2 seconds.