Because Brazil has become the great club-level ruler in South America

The echoes that Angel Di María’s goal generated last year in, perhaps, most important final in the history of the Copa América for Argentina. Background: in Maracana, against Brazil at the top of the FIFA rankings, after 28 years without titles, with six consecutive finals lost in international competitions since then. Wherever you look at it: a milestone and a party forever.

Then, on June 1st this year, almost like a consolidation of a candidate for the World Cupat Wembley, Argentina beat Italy, European champion 3-0, for the Intercontinental Cup (called the endorganized by UEFA and Conmebol, heir of Artemio Franchi, the same one that Argentina had won in our summer of 1993, with Diego Maradona and against Denmark).

However, at the club level there is no correlation with the national team which has the national record of 33 games without defeats. Among the local teams the one that dominates in South America is Brazil. To begin with, he has the last two champions of the most important competitions: the Libertadores won by Palmeiras and the Sudamericana won by Athlético Paranaense.

There is more data to support this growing phenomenon. Beyond the fact that Argentina is the historic dominatrix in both the Libertadores (played since 1960 and those from the country of Diego and Messi add 25 titles against 21 of their historical rivals) as in South American (has been played since 2002, and the advantage is also for Argentina, 9 to 5). But the last few years have changed the setting of the story. Come and see:

1) Of the last five editions of the Libertadores, the Brazilians have won 4 (For two consecutive times Palmeiras, the most recent, Flamengo in 2019 and Gremio in 2017.

2) In the last two finals there were only finalists from Brazil: the two titles of Palmeiras and their losers, Flamengo and Santos.

3) The four finalists of the two main competitions of 2021 were also from the village of Pele: Palmeiras and Flamengo (like São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the two sports powers of the largest territory of our subcontinent) in the Libertadores and Atlético Paranaense and Bragantino in South America.

4) In South America, however, counting the last five years, they are even: with two champions (Paranaense in both cases for Brazil; and Independiente and Defensa y Justicia for Argentina) and two finalists each (Flamengo and Bragantino on one side; Colón and Lanús on the other).

5) La Recopa recalls an exclusive duel between the two giants with an advantage for Brazil, in the last five years: three titles (Palmeiras, Flamengo and Gremio) and three runners-up (Paranaense twice and Palmeiras); A little further back is Argentina with two trophies: (River and Defensa y Justicia, the last Argentine international champion) and a finalist (Independiente). The only exception: Independiente del Valle, from Ecuador, in 2020).

6) The one exception to Brazilian dominance on this tour of the past five years was one of the most controversial, controversial and remembered finals of all time: River’s victory against Bocain 2018, curiously at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, in Madrid.

7) In the current edition of the Libertadores of the eight qualified for the quarter-finals, five are Brazilian (Paranaense, Mineiro, Palmeiras, Corinthians and Flamengo, who face off in the duel of the two teams with the most fans, according to various polls, such as the one conducted last June by the consulting firm Convocados) and three from Argentina (Students, Workshop and Columbus). Consequently, due to the crosses that have taken place, it is already known that there will be two semi-finalists from Brazil and one from Argentina.

8) Y in the quarter-finals of the South American there are four Brazilians (Inter de Porto Alegre, Goianiense, San Pablo and Ceará; and as the latter two intersect there will be at least one semifinalist from that country) and nothing Argentine.

9) In defense of the surprises, in the South American, a miracle happened: Venezuelan Táchira knocked out award-winning Santos in the round of 16.

What are the reasons for this supremacy?

As in the case of the Champions League, the matrix is ​​economic: almost always whoever wins and / or who goes furthest is the one with the most money and investment opportunities.

A few examples:

1) Of the 20 players with the highest market value, 14 are Brazilian. They represent all the Brazilian teams that are in the quarter-finals. Y to them we must add an Uruguayan and an Argentine who are among the top 20: Giorgian De Arrascaeta (Flamengo midfielder) and Matías Zaracho (Atlético Mineiro midfielder).

2) Of the top 20 there is only one who has not played this edition of the Libertadoresbut it is in the South American quarter-finals: Facundo Farías (from Colón, valued at 12 million euros).

3) Leaving aside the other Argentines present: Enzo Fernández (sixth, 15 million, from River) and Ezequiel Barco (nineteenth, 10 million, from River). They are joined by another Uruguayan, also from River: Nicolás de la Cruz (ninth, 13 million).

4) AND Extending the ranking to the top 40, 28 are Brazilians and 31 of the total compete for Brasileirao.

What happens with individuals, of course, also happens with clubs: based on market value 12 of the top 14 are Brazilian. The only two exceptions are the superclassics: River (fourth, behind Palmeiras, Flamengo) and Boca (seventh, behind the four mentioned plus Corinthians and Bragantino, now owned by the multinational Red Bull).

He had reported this the year before his death in 2015 by the imperishable and essential Eduardo Galeano to the newspaper The stadium of San Paolo: “I pray to God that the players don’t miss out on that pleasure of playing football, because in recent years they have only been conditioned to win, which translates into more money. Football has lost that spark of amazement that it has to score at every party. And now it risks being a profitable business like drugs or weapons “. So true, so painful. Almost as it now shows – perhaps exaggerating – the German series via Netflix Dogs of Berlin.