Yes, you read that correctly. Brazil, the most iconic footballing nation of them all, is currently on the outside looking in at 2018 World Cup qualification. That, of course follows Brazil's 7-1 shellacking by Germany on home soil in the 2014 World Cup semifinals, a humiliation that still haunts the national psyche.*
Situating soccer as a pillar of the Brazilian identity is by **w common e**ugh to border on banal — but even the briefest visit to Brazil proves the cliché true.* Read more...