In a mixture of myth and fact, many say that Brazilians and Argentinians despise each other. This is not entirely true — if you are traveling in Buenos Aires, you will notice Brazilians in many tourist places, and this is also true for the Argentinians in Rio de Janeiro. In both cases, these tourist populations are treated extremely well. That is not to say the rivalry is fake, as it remains very strong indeed when it comes to sport — especially football. And the Brazil-Argentina football debate was brought to the forefront again this week, and from an unlikely source: Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
On a social media live broadcast, Brazil’s head of state sent his best wishes to Argentinian football legend Lionel Messi, who won his eighth Ballon d’Or trophy this week from magazine France Football — giving him one more win than Pelé.
“Messi should be an example for Brazilian players,” Lula said. “He’s 36, a world champion, with the Ballon d’Or and everything. Messi has to be an inspiration of dedication for these kids. If you want to win the Ballon d’Or, you have to be dedicated, you have to be professional. This success doesn’t come with partying and nights out.”
If it were just a compliment to Messi, perhaps the controversy wouldn’t even exist. Even for Brazilians, Messi has been by far the best player in the world this century, perhaps only behind Pelé and Diego Maradona.
But many understood that Lula’s comments weren’t just about Messi, and were actually a dig at Neymar Jr., who still wears the number 10 shirt for the Brazilian national team.
Criticized for what many believe is a lack of commitment to the national team, Neymar Jr. has a real target on his back, as even the president himself is giving out some not-so-friendly advice… Will it make any difference?
Check out the creation of this cartoon on The Brazilian Report’s TikTok (@brazilianreport) account.
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