Where in the hell are the Brazilians in MLS? It is so wierd that MLS will recruit players from El Salvador. Canada, Guatemala, Jamaica, Korea and etc but does not have any Brazilian forwards. In Brazil good forwards and attacking midfielders are over the place. They are also not that expensive.
He's got a point. They seem to flock to the J-League, so why not MLS? Faria and the only other I remember is Welton. Isn't Faria an American that was born in Brazil? I just find it really odd that there have only been a couple. Branko wasted our time for like half a season.
Almost every leagues around the world have founded some no name Brazilian players who can play the game. MLS.... there must have been over 20 Brazilians who had played in MLS. So far, no one has made any impact. Cate or Welton came closest to be good players. What's wrong with our scouts in Brazil????
I say this over and over. Players are a dime a dozen down there. And while it might not be their lifelong dream to play in the USA, there are Brazilians all over the world - even in Iceland (there was a story in a Brazilian magazine about a couple of Brazilian players in Iceland). Judging by the number of Brazilian immigrants there are living in the USA, I would say most Brazilians wouldn't be opposed to living and working here rather than, say, Cambodia. We aren't going to get the level of player that goes to Europe, but we can definitely compete with the J-League because, even though the salaries aren't as high, things like culture, language, and cost of living make up for that. We should have multiple full-time scouts scouring South America, but especially Brazil.
does anybody know if ze roberto of the montreal impact is good enought o play in MLS? it seems like hes their best player from match reports and such, never actually seen him
Exactly. Plus, Japanese soccer has traditionally had a strong Brazilian influence, couple that with large Brazilian communities in Japan (I know, I know, there are Brazlians in the US too...), the number of Brazilians in J-League isn't all that surprising.
Maybe because our teams and coaches play a northern european style and most mexicans, brazilians, latin players don't match up well with it? I think this is the answer.
Etcheverry. Moreno. Cienfuegos. Zarco. Ruiz. Valderrama. Etc. Latin players can flourish under any system with good coaching. The only Latin player I think has been absolutely wasted by a euro-style coach was Catê.
good question,, there are really not a lot of brazillians in the mls,,, dont know why,, most of them either play in the j league and even in dubai. They even go to india for gods sake! the mls definetly needs some brazillians.
For a Brazilian forward, not an up and comer recently dubbed "the next big thing" like Diego or Robinho, just your average Joe Blow. It's a much more appealing route to start at your local youth squad, work your way up to the pros and eventually land a gig with an European club that's gonna pay way more than MLS. Besides, many European CLUBS have massive scouting operations in Brazil that would leave the entire scouting operations of MLS to shame, so basically think about it: Ajax Amsterdam comes up to you promising all sorts of stuff, including a briefcase full of money, then comes MLS and says "well, we could hire you as a youth int'l and pay you the league minimum and blah blah." You wouldn't even think twice before taking up the offer of an Ajax than the MLS. It's basically a status thing: they want to go where the game is already established and there's no learning curves or fears that your team is gonna collapse. Swiss clubs are gobbling Brazilians left and right, Dida did a two season stint with FC Lugano and other Brazilians that never made it big internationally, but were fundamental for their then teams played all over smaller European leagues. Those are my $0.02.
MLS salaries? While we are on the topic of pay, does anyone even know what the MLS is paying players? My roommate leased an apartment to Paul Broome and said he makes around $50,000 a year. Is that league minimum or what? If so, what does an established veteran make, say Kreis or McBride?
Mexican 2nd Division Clubs have more Brazilians than the MLS Anyways to answer the question it is quite simple. The MLS is looking for the most part to recruit young talents like Ruiz ect. Brazilian youths have better options staying at Home or going to more prestigious leagues if they came to the MLS they would lose recognition. The only option left to MLS is older players but the better ones end up in the J-league,MFL or Portugal ect.. That said the best option for the MLS is to give an American player an oportunity to play First Division ball than to bench him for a Brazilian that sucks ass.
all good points but i don't think that explains it because, there are SO STINKING MANY PLAYERS! not everyone is going to get an offer from Europe or Japan. my point is that there are soooo many players, and I think they'd jump at the chance to play in the USA just like they jump at the chance to play in leagues all over the world. I think the explanation is that we aren't doing enough work down there, period. there are thousands of brazilians playing outside of Brazil, and surely some of these guys are better than Eliseo Quintanilla.
Re: MLS salaries? I think league minimum is about 20k per year. The key players like McBride, Kreis, et al make about 200k a year, which is the league maximum. However, Hong Myung-Bo, Cobi Jones and Marco Etcheverry reportedly recieve payments up to three times the max. *cough* Luis Hernandez *cough*
One other reason: there isn't a large cohesive Brazilian-American community. MLS tries to increase attendance by recruiting for ethnicity. Thus, they sign Central Americans to increase their presence in the latino community. My feeling is that they would do better, both in terms of football and attendance/revenue if they spent their money on good players wherever they may be found, not on targeted signings. If there were no single entity, that might be more likely to happen.
I know this is off topic, but does anyone here have a ballpark figure or even a guess as to how many Brasilians play in Europe at all pro levels? Thanks in advance.
No way this thread reached the second page without someone bringing up Roberto Gaucho! Anyway, I like VS' answer best so far.
2001 Copa America, Quarterfinals Honduras 2, Brazil 0 Brazil fielded a high-priced line-up of players from strong European clubs. Suffice it to say, those guys are much better than anyone MLS could hope to get from Brazil. But MLS has since acquired Honduran national team stars Guevara and Reyes. These are great moves. Arguably, scouting Central America instead of the dregs of Brazil is the smartest thing MLS ever did. It's too bad the likes of Wanchope and Caballero slipped through the cracks before the league caught on.
Don't know about Europe specifically, but the CBF estimates that there are over 2,000 Brazilians playing abroad: http://www.cbfnews.bol.com.br/cbf FWIW, Alex Bellos, The Guardian's man in Rio, claimed in his 2002 book, Futebol - The Brazilian Way of Life, that there are about 5,000 Brazilians playing abroad.