There are several versions of how soccer came to Brazil but the most commonly held is that the game originated because of Charles Miller. Born in Brazil, he was the son of a railway company employee and was sent to England to study at Banister Court School. There he became an admirer of the game and on his return to Brazil packed two balls in his suitcase.
He called a group of friends together and invited them to play a game of football. No-one had heard of the game as cricket was the game of choice.
Apparently the conversation went something like this…
- What is this game like?
- What ball are we going to play with?
- I have the ball. What we need to do is to fill it up.
- Fill it with what?
- With air.
- Then go and get it and I'll fill it up.
And thus soccer began in Brazil. On April 14, 1895, at Várzea do Carmo, in São Paulo, there was a match between Englishmen and Anglo-Brazilians, employees of the São Paulo Gaz Company and the São Paulo Railway Company. The friendly match, which is considered the first football game in the country, ended 4-2, with victory for the São Paulo Railway.
Apparently the conversation went something like this…
- What is this game like?
- What ball are we going to play with?
- I have the ball. What we need to do is to fill it up.
- Fill it with what?
- With air.
- Then go and get it and I'll fill it up.
And thus soccer began in Brazil. On April 14, 1895, at Várzea do Carmo, in São Paulo, there was a match between Englishmen and Anglo-Brazilians, employees of the São Paulo Gaz Company and the São Paulo Railway Company. The friendly match, which is considered the first football game in the country, ended 4-2, with victory for the São Paulo Railway.
Carlos Alberto
First championships and clubs
The São Paulo Athletic Club was the first football team in Brazil, formed in 1894 by Charles Miller, and the Associação Atlética Mackenzie College, from 1898, was the first team dedicated to Brazilians. The first club destined only for football was the São Paulo Sport Club Internacional, founded in 1899 and already extinct. Soon after, in the same year, the Sport Club Germânia was founded by the German Hans Nobiling, today under the name Esporte Clube Pinheiros.
However Germânia's football department closed and Sport Club Rio Grande, located in the city of Rio Grande, is considered the first football club founded in Brazil that is still active. In 1976, in honor of the club, the extinct CBD (now CBF) established the date of the club's foundation - July 19 - as the Football Day. After Sport Club Rio Grande, Associação Atlética Ponte Preta (AAPP) of Campinas, São Paulo, is the oldest active club, founded on August 11, 1900.
Between 1910 and 1919, more teams and federations emerged and the sport became increasingly popular. Initially, only white-skinned people could play football in Brazil as professionals, since most of the first clubs were founded by foreigners. The mestiço Carlos Alberto, in a match against his former club, America of Rio de Janeiro, in the 1914 Campeonato Carioca, covered himself with rice powder to make him look white. However, as the match progressed, sweat washed away the rice powder make-up and the ruse was undone. The America fans, who knew him, started chasing him and shouting "rice powder!", a nickname that was eventually absorbed by the Fluminense fans, who started throwing rice and talcum powder at their team's entrance to the field.
Regional championships emerged, and the public and press, increasingly interested in the sport, spread it throughout the country. Football split from tennis and cricket, the sports of the elite, to arouse the interest of the general public, especially in the 1920s, when blacks began to be accepted at other clubs. Vasco was the first of the big clubs to win titles with a team full of black
The São Paulo Athletic Club was the first football team in Brazil, formed in 1894 by Charles Miller, and the Associação Atlética Mackenzie College, from 1898, was the first team dedicated to Brazilians. The first club destined only for football was the São Paulo Sport Club Internacional, founded in 1899 and already extinct. Soon after, in the same year, the Sport Club Germânia was founded by the German Hans Nobiling, today under the name Esporte Clube Pinheiros.
However Germânia's football department closed and Sport Club Rio Grande, located in the city of Rio Grande, is considered the first football club founded in Brazil that is still active. In 1976, in honor of the club, the extinct CBD (now CBF) established the date of the club's foundation - July 19 - as the Football Day. After Sport Club Rio Grande, Associação Atlética Ponte Preta (AAPP) of Campinas, São Paulo, is the oldest active club, founded on August 11, 1900.
Between 1910 and 1919, more teams and federations emerged and the sport became increasingly popular. Initially, only white-skinned people could play football in Brazil as professionals, since most of the first clubs were founded by foreigners. The mestiço Carlos Alberto, in a match against his former club, America of Rio de Janeiro, in the 1914 Campeonato Carioca, covered himself with rice powder to make him look white. However, as the match progressed, sweat washed away the rice powder make-up and the ruse was undone. The America fans, who knew him, started chasing him and shouting "rice powder!", a nickname that was eventually absorbed by the Fluminense fans, who started throwing rice and talcum powder at their team's entrance to the field.
Regional championships emerged, and the public and press, increasingly interested in the sport, spread it throughout the country. Football split from tennis and cricket, the sports of the elite, to arouse the interest of the general public, especially in the 1920s, when blacks began to be accepted at other clubs. Vasco was the first of the big clubs to win titles with a team full of black
Brazil vs Exeter City 1914
Creation of a national team
With the foundation of the Brazilian Sports Federation (FBS) in 1914, the Brazilian national team has its debut (in a game considered unofficial by FIFA) against the British team of Exeter City.
How Exeter City, who finished just five points outside the League Two relegation places in 2014, helped form the first ever Brazilian side is little known, to those in both South America or south-west England.
En route home from their 1914 pre-season tour of Argentina, the Exeter City stopped off in Brazil, after Nottingham Forest and Southampton had turned down requests to make the trip.
Despite a desire for them to also travel to Sao Paulo, Exeter chose only to play in Rio de Janeiro, forcing the invention of a team with a mixture of players from the two largest football states, and thus creating the 'Selecao' (the selection), which to this day remains the Brazilian national team's nickname.
With England being the birthplace of football, the opinion held in Brazil was that the English were the gods of the sport and it left the locals anticipating a match akin to the flowing, beautiful football they were used to watching.
But disaster struck before a ball had been kicked, when Exeter's players chose to go for a dip in the sea and found themselves in a spot of bother as they were charged with gross indecency.
The players did make it onto the pitch, however, and the 3,000 fans that were packed into the Estadio das Laranjeiras were surprised with the roughness of the visitors' play.
The natural flare of the hastily put together Brazilian XI shone through and although their star player, Arthur Friedenreich, lost two teeth in the battle, the South American side ran out 2-0 winners - Oswaldo Gomes and Osman both finding the back of the net - against the professionals they had believed to be unbeatable.
With the foundation of the Brazilian Sports Federation (FBS) in 1914, the Brazilian national team has its debut (in a game considered unofficial by FIFA) against the British team of Exeter City.
How Exeter City, who finished just five points outside the League Two relegation places in 2014, helped form the first ever Brazilian side is little known, to those in both South America or south-west England.
En route home from their 1914 pre-season tour of Argentina, the Exeter City stopped off in Brazil, after Nottingham Forest and Southampton had turned down requests to make the trip.
Despite a desire for them to also travel to Sao Paulo, Exeter chose only to play in Rio de Janeiro, forcing the invention of a team with a mixture of players from the two largest football states, and thus creating the 'Selecao' (the selection), which to this day remains the Brazilian national team's nickname.
With England being the birthplace of football, the opinion held in Brazil was that the English were the gods of the sport and it left the locals anticipating a match akin to the flowing, beautiful football they were used to watching.
But disaster struck before a ball had been kicked, when Exeter's players chose to go for a dip in the sea and found themselves in a spot of bother as they were charged with gross indecency.
The players did make it onto the pitch, however, and the 3,000 fans that were packed into the Estadio das Laranjeiras were surprised with the roughness of the visitors' play.
The natural flare of the hastily put together Brazilian XI shone through and although their star player, Arthur Friedenreich, lost two teeth in the battle, the South American side ran out 2-0 winners - Oswaldo Gomes and Osman both finding the back of the net - against the professionals they had believed to be unbeatable.
The Roca Cup team of 1914
Brazil’s first title came two months later, when they beat the Argentine team at the Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata field in Buenos Aires 1-0 and took the Roca Cup home.
In the 100 years since the Exeter match Brazil have featured in all 20 World Cups, winning football's top accolade a record five times. Not bad for a country that started with a soccer ball that needed pumping up.
In the 100 years since the Exeter match Brazil have featured in all 20 World Cups, winning football's top accolade a record five times. Not bad for a country that started with a soccer ball that needed pumping up.
