The game and the people

In Brazilian harbors, in the end of 19th century, all kinds of people landed: youngsters of wealthy families returning from their studies in Europe, the first groups of immigrant workers, engeneers and railroad builders which opened the countryside, sailors from all over the world. What those immigrants with so different social backgrounds could possibly have in common?

the answer is in a round object, made of rubber and leather, and played with the feet.

student from São Paulo with a British ascendence, Miller is an outstanding character of this history. In November 1894, after studying for over 10 years in Southhampton, he brought back from England the ball and the rulebook of Football Association, that was established in 1863. A few months later, in April 1895, he helped to organize a match between the teams of São Paulo Railway and São Paulo Gaz Company, in a region of the city called Várzea do Carmo.

At the turning of the 19th to the 20th century, the most practiced sport activities in urban centers were rowing, cricket, horse riding and cycling. So, the first clubs dedicated themselves to those practices, such as São Paulo Athletic Club, founded in 1888. This club formed, in 1894, one of the first football teams, led by Charles Miller. In 1898 the Associação Atlética Mackenzie College was founded.

During the first decades of the 20th century, Brazilian football was an amateur practice, destined to the free time of students who could exhibit the civilized trends coming from Europe. To play football at the clubs was a practice for young men, played for fun and leisure.

The Brazilian expression "torcer" (to twist, but also to cheer), indicating the simpathy for a team, came from the common practice, at the bleachers from the beginning of the century, of twist the tisue. Whether to dry the sweat from the sunny afternoons, whether to swing during the thrill for a team, the tissue was a registered mark of the bleachers in the beginning of last century.

Most elite clubs forbade the participation of black and mixed blood athletes at the associations. But they, who were monstly fatory workers, also practiced football during their leisure hours, in shift breaks at the factories or in the outskirts fields, making their own associations.

The first Brazilian player to be called a "star" was Arthur Friedenreich. Grandson of Germans, mulato (African-Brazilian), son of a schoolteacher and an employee of the Secretary of Roads and Public Work. He was the protagonist of the winner Brazilian caimpaign at the South-American championship of 1919. Top scorer of the competition, the striker received the nickname "El Tigre" from the Uruguayan journalists.

Football became a professional sport in 1933, when the president Getúlio Vargas set the directives of the national sport and allowed the professional practice of players. This had established a new era in Brazilian football, which had already conquered the urban crowd, living in big cities. During the 1930s and 1940s, the radio was a major player to advertise the main clubs all over Brazil, creating new sport idols, making championships and highlighting the National Team. What would come next is a history full of victories and conquests.