All of Real Madrid’s Champions League wins aren’t enough to impress Brazil’s president Lula.
The president has said that European-based players aren’t as good as their predecessors, and that could be a cause of the country’s terrible spell at international level.
Brazil exited the past World Cup and Copa America at the quarter-final stage, and they’re now at risk of missing out on the World Cup for the first time in their history.
Discussing the current situation, Lula said: “I have been proposing for a long time that the Brazilian national team should have players who play in our country.
“The two players who scored the goals against Chile play in the Brazilian league (Igor Jesus and Luiz Henrique play for Botafogo).
“We must give opportunities to players from here, not those invited from abroad. Outside Brazil, there is no Garrincha, no Romario.
“There are many youngsters who, God willing, will succeed, but they are not stars yet. Here in Brazil, you have good players of the same quality.”
Commenting on the team’s current Europe-based stars, he said: “Raphinha? I recognized him by his hair. I didn’t know the players, and it’s not possible.
“I was with the president of the CBF in Brasilia and I told him: ‘Why don’t you call a team composed only of players who play in the Brazilian championship?’”
Bemoaning the current situation with football in Brazil, he finished: “We have become a country that exports players. We sell them at 17 and buy them back at 34. That is the logic of Brazilian football.”
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