Diversity of the Beautiful Game: Rio to Merseyside

Iniesta and Schweinsteiger: Different countries, different styles

Now, I want your equally crazy friend to go to the streets of England. I’m guessing you have some high-end smart phone and a good 3G connection. If you don’t have a 3G connection, throw the phone – you probably don’t know how to use it. Your phone is more like Torres, a striker who doesn’t know how to score goals.

Now, ask him to Skype you and then look at the streets of England. Yes, they are empty. The kids are at the nearby lush green football complex of sufficient width and breadth to shoot as far and wide as they want to.

When I look back at the days in Brazil I never spent, I realize how beautiful it would have been to stand alongside the future generation of footballers who epitomize flair.

The culture of Brazil has more to do with their style of play than their coaches. They are a free flowing society. They enjoy the diversity around them, in the form of plants and animals, along with personalities. They try to imbibe the same versatility and disparity in their art form, which is football.

On the other hand, most of the footballing super powers of Europe have striking manufacturing units and industrial areas. So what they grow up watching is a monotonous set of acts driving their daily life. They have an artless yet competent way of doing things. They are like machines but nonetheless successful.

When we look into the language the footballing nations speak and compare their footballing styles, we can find glaring similarities. If you have heard the Germans speak, you will know the roughness and the characteristic bold features of their language. Now, compare the same with Bastian Schweinsteiger’s playing style; he is strong, bold and sometimes rough.

Take Spanish as a language; it has a rhythm to it. If we compare this to Andres Inesta, oh! So similar.

The economy of Brazil is developing and so is their playing style, and the kids are observing and learning other styles of football from a very young age. They do not have to play with torn shoes and balls any more. All this has led to a more monotonous style of Latin American footballer. If you don’t agree with me look at Lucas Leiva and Coloccini.

The world has become smaller. You’re just one click away from knowing football history and driving its future to a whole new direction.

However, there is so much more to football than La Masia and dribbling. Football defines a culture, it brings people closer and it takes them apart. And that’s why a Gareth Bale will never be a Cristiano Ronaldo and a Lionel Messi will never be similar to a Steven Gerrard.