If anyone can speak with knowledge of what a World Cup means, it is coffee. Marcos Evangelista de Moraes, the most remembered right-back of all time, shows his white-toothed smile every time he responds in an extensive football talk, alone with Clarín. With Brazil he played four World Cups, reached three consecutive finals and won two (United States 1994 and Korea-Japan 2002). Today, at 52, he is still tied to football as a FIFA ambassador ahead of Qatar 2022, but he has also taken other initiatives.
“I have positions in UEFA and FIFA. I work with seven advertising companies in Brazil. And I have humanitarian actions in Italy, Mozambique and Brazil,” says the former defender who, in almost 20 years of career, has passed through San Paolo, Zaragoza, Palmeiras, Rome and Milan. And he fully enters football.
“There is a great expectation, I’m sure it will be a very different World Cup. Very well organized. It will be the first time that there are four matches in one day at the same venue, which will be great for football fans. We will inaugurate the last stadium next month “, enthuses Cafú, which tackles all problems without filters.
-Do you like watching football or don’t you like to sit and watch whole games?
-I watch football a lot, I’m passionate about it. I like to watch games carefully and in silence to understand how to play. I watch Italian, English, Argentine, Brazilian, Portuguese football … The game that is happening, if it goes well, I watch it.
What impresses you about football today?
– English football is the football that attracts the most attention today, without a doubt. For the investments they have made, for the important players who are in that league. The best teams are in English football. It is competitive. That’s what Italian football was a few years ago.
-What kind of World Cup do you expect?
I am absolutely certain that there will be no big surprises. It will be the World Cup of the great teams: Argentina, Brazil, England, Spain, Holland (Editor’s note: Holland), France … Belgium is a team that has been playing well for a long time. Denmark is also playing very well. And Serbia, which is in the key of Brazil. I expect a competitive World Cup and I hope it will be like this because we are all waiting for it.
-Can it affect the game that this time the World Cup is played in the middle of the season?
I don’t think it’s harmful, quite the contrary. The players will arrive in excellent physical shape. November and December are a good time as everyone will arrive in their best shape. Matches can be more dynamic, engaging and fun.
-Is Argentina more of a team than Brazil today?
-Today I see an Argentine national team … (makes the ok gesture with both thumbs up). It is an optimal selection that is in full condition to reach the World Cup final. Just like Brazil. The only problem Argentina has, which is always talked about here in Brazil, is that it doesn’t play with its best crepe, apart from Lionel Messi. This is what I cannot understand. They have the best players in the world, the best in recent years in history after Maradona. But Argentina does not play with the best. Why don’t they play as we did with Bebeto and Romario in ’94, with Ronaldo and Rivaldo in ’98 and also in 2002? If Argentina played with all their best players it would be a real problem for the others and for Brazil. I see the Argentine national team with good eyes, they have the conditions to reach the final and win the World Cup. Brazil too.
Did Argentina’s triumph at Maracana in Copa América surprise you or did you think it could happen?
– They are two great teams. Anything can happen anywhere in the world between Brazil and Argentina, both in Bombonera and Maracana, in Qatar and in Germany, in Italy and Dubai … Every time they meet they will be the protagonists of great encounters.
-You have been champion twice, what does it take to win a World Cup?
-First you have to have great players, ah. This is essential. When you talk about a World Cup, it is very relative. There are teams that are not believed to make it to the final and they do; other favorites that are eliminated in the first phase. There is no exact formula for winning. I do not have it. There were four of me and I had the opportunity to play three finals in a row. But they were all very difficult and there was a lot of work in between. A key element in being able to win is not having vanity. When there is vanity and arrogance within a team, the goal will not be achieved. I am not saying that I have won a World Cup, but that we have won a World Cup. One team won. I always ask the boys: if they want to be simple footballers or if they want to go down in history by winning a World Cup. Being world champion leaves you in history, in a painting. Anyone can play a World Cup, but a national team must be aware of what he wants. What will keep you in the draw is winning the Cup, not playing it.
-Lionel Messi is not on the list of candidates for the Ballon d’Or this time, do you agree?
-It is strange to see Messi off the list of the best in the world. But one important thing nobody talks about is that he spent 15 or 16 years fighting for the title of best in the world, as a Christian. He has a fantastic career. And if after 16 years he isn’t … It’s normal for him not to be on that list.
-Does Messi deserve to win a World Cup?
-This is a question that can also be asked of Neymar. He deserves it too. Yes, for every great athlete and professional, winning the World Cup is the best thing and it would be ideal for him to end his career in the national team by winning the World Cup.
-Do you think Messi needs to win the World Cup to be the best in history?
– He does not need to win the World Cup because Messi is already one of the best in history. It would crown his career because being world champion is something very strong. He just has to say: “I’m world champion”.
-When playing football with friends, if someone plays right right, the reference automatically comes out if you believe Cafu. It happens all over the world, how does it feel to be the absolute first reference in that position?
-I am satisfied, I am happy to be a reference not only for the boys but also for those who play football. It’s great to be a reference for other people. The important thing is to be a positive reference, if I were negative and they mentioned my name when someone played badly, it wouldn’t be nice.
-You have won everything, you have played in great teams and great national teams. Do you have a pending account?
– Honestly no. I am very direct, I am happy with everything I have and what I have earned. Defeat is also inherent to great champions and defeats have made me stronger. I have losses and wins. I do not regret anything.
Technology and football, according to Cafú: “There are fewer goals because the VAR cancels them all”
Cafu raises the flag of classic football. It is assumed on the side of the crack of those who believe that the referee error is part of the game, of its essence, and that it is not bad to live with it. On the contrary, the Brazilian thinks it is natural. Therefore, when asked about the implementation of technological tools, he answers without hesitation.
We are going through the era of technology in football. Do you like it when games are reviewed?
-(Series). I don’t like it, honestly. They are more than the old football, which allows the game to continue. Now all reproductions are reviewed. The bets are reviewed to find out if five minutes ago there was a foul in the other area and a goal disallowed to charge for something that happened half an hour ago. I think it’s killing football. Football must be more dynamic, more open, faster. Arguments in football about whether the ball was in or not, whether or not there was a penalty, were fine. Today what was part of football is no longer there because everything is being revised. Football today has fewer goals because the VAR is canceling them all.
-Is VAR killing football?
-It is an exaggeration to say this, but the technology needs to be more dynamic because football is dynamic. What we see on TV is clear, crisp and it’s okay to let the referee make a mistake because the referee is human. The responsibility now rests with a machine instead of a person.
The gap between Brazilian football, Argentine football and Europe
In recent years, investments in Brazilian football have increased. And the clubs in the neighboring country make million dollar contracts, they even come to Argentina to look for players. This has meant that Brazilian teams make a difference on the pitch in International Cups. In fact, in the semifinals of the current Libertadores there are three Brazilians and an Argentine: Atlético Paranaense-Palmeiras and Flamengo-Vélez.
However, Cafu offers a different point of view on this aspect. “I don’t think there is a supremacy of the Brazilians over the Argentines. We have had problems like Argentina and like Italy and other great teams. Brazil and Argentina are always on par when it comes to the World Cup. And they have great players also at club level. I don’t see supremacy, yes, difficulties like all nations. Brazil and Argentina are equal at the club level “, he analyzes.
-And between South America and Europe?
-Here, yes. At this moment Europe is above the South American countries. It is a step above. This has changed because years ago there were great teams here like Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia … They left South American football at a high level. But today European football is above.
Source: Clarin
