Thus soccer outside North America is truly a game for the masses, which can identify with its passions, its sudden triumphs and its inevitable disillusionments. Soccer stars are dependent on their teams even while transcending them. Contemporary soccer superstars never reach even 50 goals a season. Its style affirms that virtue without joy is a contradiction in terms. Its players are the most acrobatic, if not always the most proficient.
Brazilian teams play with a contagious exuberance.
Brazil's opponent was Italy, which played its tough defense coupled with sudden thrusts to tie the game 1-1, demoralizing the Brazilians. Italy could very easily have massed its defense even more, until its frantic opponent began making the mistakes that would encompass its ruin. Attacking as if the Italians were a practice team, the Brazilians ran them into the ground, 4-1. He was no longer as fast, but he was as exuberant as ever. Most modern fans never saw him play, yet they somehow feel he is part of their lives.