Sports
Brazil are trapped in a cycle of apathy – just as rivals Argentina thrive
Brazil have endured so many low ebbs over the past 15 years that it can be hard to remember them all.
The historically embarrassing 7-1 defeat to Germany at their own World Cup? Sure, but don’t forget the moronic reappointment of Dunga as coach in the immediate aftermath or the twin Copa America meltdowns of 2015 and 2016. The doomed, drawn-out pursuit of Carlo Ancelotti has to be on the list, too, as should about six other federation-level failures. You’d need a team of forensic experts to properly sift through all this rubble.
There is also a more recent option that might have passed you by. In November 2023, led by their second interim coach of the year, Brazil welcomed Argentina to Rio de Janeiro for a World Cup qualifier. They lost 1-0, a predictable result that nonetheless tipped the crisis-o-meter towards ‘existential’.
It was Brazil’s third defeat in the first six rounds of qualification. It left them sixth in the 10-team South American group. Venezuela, no one’s idea of a major football power, were above them in the standings. So were Ecuador and they had started the campaign with a points deduction.
The expansion of the World Cup and an extra automatic qualifying spot for the CONMEBOL region (there are now six, with an inter-continental play-off for the nation finishing seventh) ought to have reduced Brazil’s chances of failure to nought. Instead, they were flirting with disaster.
Sixteen months on, the situation is under control. A hard-fought victory over Colombia last week lifted Brazil to third. There is an eight-point buffer between them and seventh. We can say with some certainty that they will be at the 2026 World Cup. The drama is over.
That, though, is not to say that all is sunshine and roses. Indeed, as Brazil prepare to face Argentina for the first time since that reversal in Rio de Janeiro, there is a lingering sense of unease about the direction of travel.
Vinicius Junior celebrates his late winner in Brazil’s 2-1 win over Colombia on Friday (Buda Mendes/Getty Images)
Brazil’s results have improved, but it would be generous to say they have been playing well. They were stodgy in the extreme at last summer’s Copa America and recent matches have followed the same template: there are little spurts of inspiration, most of it individual, but also long periods when Brazil are fretful and frantic. They started well against Colombia but let all momentum seep away, as they often do.
Vinicius Junior’s late winner, a deflected strike from range, owed more to pluck and luck than any collective plan. “I hope it unlocks something,” Vinicius Jr said after the game. He is not the only one.
Dorival Junior, who took over as coach in January 2024, is a likeable character. He arrived with a reputation as a firefighter, someone who could avert the impending crisis. On that count, it’s job done. Mathematically, Brazil are safe. The question now is whether he has the tactical acumen to turn them into a proper team.
The jury is very much out on that one. He says he wants his star forwards — Rodrygo, Vinicius Jr, Raphinha — to play with freedom, but more structure is needed against organised defences. His system can leave Brazil’s two midfielders exposed and he is slow to react to shifts in the pattern of a match. “Sometimes it’s difficult to get your message across clearly,” he said after the Colombia game, an admission that was far more revealing than he can have intended.
Another line from his press conference — “We’ve seen a considerable improvement in every game” — drew the ire of the Brazilian press. “You need a magnifying glass to see any progress,” deadpanned Jessica Cescon of GloboEsporte. “We need something different, a gust of originality,” wrote Tostao, the former Brazil striker.
The juxtaposition with Argentina is a painful one on every level. Few would ever admit to such heresy, but all sensible Brazilian football fans will feel an acute pang of jealousy when they look across their southern border.
Most obviously, there are the trophies. Argentina won the World Cup in 2022, something Brazil have not managed in over two decades and don’t look like doing any time soon. The last two editions of the Copa America have gone Argentina’s way, too. Brazil won that competition in 2019, but that seems a long time ago now. For the past six years, this has been an incredibly one-sided rivalry.
Part of the charm of this period of Argentine dominance is that it was so unexpected. Argentina, like Brazil, spent the 2010s lurching between crises, yet found a winning lottery ticket down the back of the sofa. Lionel Scaloni has not solved every issue behind the scenes — he came close to walking away from the job last year after allegedly falling out with the federation hierarchy — but he has filtered out the noise and the nonsense to transformative effect. Brazil would kill for a little slice of the same.
Dorival Junior took over as Brazil head coach in January 2024 (Evaristo Sa/AFP via Getty Images)
On the pitch, Argentina are everything Brazil are not: settled, drilled, coherent. Obviously, the presence of a world-historical footballer is always likely to swing things in your favour, but Argentina know how to get by when Lionel Messi is absent, as he will be in Buenos Aires on Tuesday. This is Scaloni’s seventh year in charge and you can tell. Brazil’s players, as Marquinhos put it this week, “are still getting to know each other”; Argentina’s dogs of war know each other inside out.
Perhaps the most stark contrast, though, is to be found in the stands and in the streets.
It is impossible to think about Argentina’s World Cup win without remembering those amazing scenes of support and jubilation in the country’s cities: the swaying seas of fans in city squares, the tears, the singing, the lads clinging to telephone poles, hollering themselves hoarse.
Success always breeds attachment, but there is something extra here, genuine communion. Argentines do not just watch these players; they feel in tune with them, represented by them, ennobled by their many attributes. (And, less positively, defensive of their flaws.)
Things are different for Brazil. There is, understandably, no great groundswell of support for the Selecao in its current iteration. More interesting is the lack of any great national outrage about the team and its diminished standing. The overriding feelings are apathy and drift.
This is not a new phenomenon. Brazilian pundits have wrung their hands about the lack of connection between the national team and the public for years, maybe even decades. The players are asked about it all the time. Every game is painted as an opportunity to get people onside, to start forging a new, united front. It’s an impossible thing to track empirically, but the persistence of the discourse tells its own story.
A few factors are usually cited as reasons for the malaise. One is that many national team players have no real links with the Brazilian public, having left the domestic scene before playing much — or any — senior football. Another is that Brazil spent years playing friendlies all over the globe, prioritising revenue over kinship.
Then there are the usual, tired tropes about players caring more about their bank accounts and club teams than they do for their country, an argument completely undermined by the willingness of those same players to cross the Atlantic multiple times per year to get jeered whenever they don’t win 3-0. (It would be unfair to conduct any analysis of the team-fan relationship without noting the strains of entitlement and impatience that exist within the Brazilian fanbase.)
It’s not clear how you solve any of this. It’s not clear that you even can. The best hope, you’d say, is simply to start winning things — to kickstart a virtuous cycle that obscures all of the fissures, much as Argentina did when they appointed Scaloni in 2018.
As Brazil head to Buenos Aires, to another raucous stadium, to yet another exhibition of symbiosis between team and public, they will know that there is a path out of purgatory. Bottling lightning like Argentina did, however, will not be easy.
(Top photos: Getty Images)
Sports
Steve Sarkisian denies claims Texas spent excessively to build roster, cites 'irresponsible reporting'
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The University of Texas at Austin’s athletic department has long been heralded for its access to seemingly unmatched financial resources.
The Texas Longhorns football program maintains arguably some of the best — if not the top — amenities in the nation.
Since the advent of name, image and likeness (NIL), there has been a noticeable uptick in the amount of financial resources programs across the U.S. have allocated to football, basketball and other sports.
Ohio State reportedly built one of the country’s most expensive rosters en route to January’s national championship.
Some have asserted Texas’ spending heading into the 2025 campaign was on par with or even surpassed the $20 million the Buckeyes spent.
Head coach Steve Sarkisian of the Texas Longhorns sings “The Eyes of Texas” after the Valero Alamo Bowl game against the Washington Huskies at the Alamodome Dec. 29, 2022, in San Antonio. (Tim Warner/Getty Images)
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian denied the $40 million price tag linked to the Longhorns.
Sarkisian referenced a recent Houston Chronicle column that highlighted Texas’ roster payroll. The column accounted for revenue sharing and Texas NIL collective payouts. According to the outlet, revenue-sharing funds totaled $20.5 million. The total spent on the football team was reported to be between $35-$40 million.
TEXAS’ STEVE SARKISIAN TEMPERS HOPES OF FUTURE ‘UNDEFEATED CHAMPIONS’ CONSIDERING MODERN COLLEGE LANDSCAPE
Sarkisian suggested $25 million was a more accurate figure for Texas’ investment. He also hinted the $40 million figure was a result of “irresponsible reporting.”
“There was one anonymous source that said that’s what our roster was. I wish I had $40 million on our roster. We’d probably be a little bit better team than we are,” the coach said during a recent appearance on SiriusXM’s College Sports Radio.
Sarkisian then addressed the current landscape of college football.
“The idea to think that a lot of other schools aren’t spending money to get players? It’s the state of college football right now. It is what it is,” he said.
Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian heads toward the locker room. (John Rivera/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Texas has advanced to the College Football Playoff the past two seasons. The Longhorns lost 37-31 to Washington in the 2023–24 playoff semifinal.
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian watches a play during the Allstate Sugar Bowl playoff game between the Texas Longhorns and the Washington Huskies Jan. 1, 2024, at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. (Nick Tre. Smith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
After defeating Clemson in the first round last season, Texas survived a double-overtime thriller against Arizona State in the quarterfinals. But the Longhorns could not get past Ohio State in the semifinals.
“It’s been a great run. I wish I had about another $15 million or so, though. We might have a better roster,” Sarkisian said.
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OKLAHOMA CITY — Jessica Clements had been here before.
In April, against Oregon pitcher Elise Sokolsky, when the UCLA center fielder hit a home run in the first game of a three-game series in Eugene.
Clements found herself in a similar position as Thursday night turned into Friday morning at the Women’s College World Series. Only this time, the Bruins were looking to break a 2-2 tie in their final at-bat and move a step closer to a 13th national championship.
“Yeah, this is every girl’s dream,” Clements said after hitting a walk-off, two-run homer off Sokolsky in the seventh inning to send ninth-seeded UCLA to the winner’s bracket at Devon Park with a 4-2 win.
“This is my dream for as long as I could remember. Super blessed to be here.”
Catcher Alexis Ramirez also hit a two-run homer in support of Bruins’ starter Kaitlyn Terry, who pitched a four-hitter and gave up one earned run. UCLA (55-11) will play No. 12 seed Texas Tech on Saturday at 4 p.m. (PDT) for a spot in the semifinals. Oregon (53-9) will face unseeded Mississippi in Friday’s elimination game.
“Yeah, we just knew it would be a great game,” UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “They’re a great competitor, a great team. But I love the way my team fought tonight. Things happen out of our control that can actually frustrate you and get you out of your game, and one thing I talked about to the team … is eliminate the noise. Things are going to get crazy, eliminate the noise. Figure out how to play the game one pitch at a time.”
The Ducks tied the game 2-2 in the seventh on a call at home plate that was overturned.
Oregon’s Paige Sinicki doubled inside the third-base line to lead off the seventh, but the ruling was challenged by UCLA. The call was upheld, but the next batter, Dezianna Patmon, bunted Sinicki to third with one out. Emma Cox followed with a ground ball to third baseman Jordan Woolery, who tried to throw Sinicki out at home. The throw to Ramirez was on time and Sinicki was ruled out at home for the second out.
Oregon challenged the call, and it was overturned after a video review showed obstruction by Ramirez.
“Prior to having possession of the ball, the catcher’s left foot was blocking a portion of the leading edge, so therefore, we have obstruction,” Cody Little, director of video review, said in a statement.
Oregon led 1-0 in the fourth inning when Ramirez hit a two-out pitch from starter Lyndsey Grein over the left-field wall to give UCLA a 2-1 lead. It was the first runs the Bruins had scored against Grein in four games this season. The Ducks took two of three from UCLA in April.
After Woolery singled and Megan Grant walked to open the sixth, Grein was pulled in favor of Sokolsky, who retired the next two batters.
“I loved our fight throughout the entire game,” Oregon coach Melyssa Lombardi said. “It was a dogfight. I thought Lyndsey did a great job on the mound. Our defense was great. It was a total pitcher’s duel, and I just look at two swings that were the difference-maker.
“But I’m just proud of these guys, how they came back, tied the game up and gave us a chance to win the ball game.”
Lightning and rain resulted in a 75-minute delay, and two brief power outages lasting less than a minute each, turned Devon Park dark in the first inning.
Oregon scored first against Terry in the third inning. Kaylynn Jones singled, moved to second on a bunt by Katie Flannery, took third on a ground out by Kai Luschar and scored on a single by Kedre Luschar.
The Bruins nearly answered in their half of the inning when Savannah Pola drove a pitch from Grein 220 feet to the base of the center-field wall that was hauled in by Kedre Luschar to end the inning.
Clements, the graduate transfer from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, used the first at-bat against Sokolsky to her advantage.
UCLA’s Jessica Clements hits a walk-off home run against Oregon at the Women’s College World Series.
(Ross Turteltaub / UCLA Athletics)
“I was just trying to take it one step at a time, one breath at a time, one pitch at a time,” she said. “I had a good first hack. And it started also with a base runner getting on, and I was quite honestly looking middle, looking for a good pitch that I want to drive, and just going for a base hit to keep the rally going, not trying to do too much.
“And I got the payoff from it. I’m so blessed to be here and have that opportunity to have that at-bat, and that started with getting a base runner on. And, yeah, I feel on top of the world. That was awesome.”
Sports
Fever coach Stephanie White reveals she was fined over apparent criticism of WNBA officiating
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Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White didn’t mince words when sharing her thoughts on officiating in the WNBA, which followed Saturday’s game where Caitlin Clark suffered a quad injury that will sideline the star guard for at least two weeks.
Apparently those strong remarks landed White in some trouble with the league.
Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White gives her team direction during the first half of a WNBA basketball game against the Atlanta Dream, Thursday, May, 22, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
After the Fever suffered a disappointing loss against the Washington Mystics in the team’s first game without Clark, White was asked during the postgame presser whether she believed the league needed to step in to protect top players from “intentionally rough play.”
“Obviously, I think we can get better in certain areas as far as how we call the game, consistency with how we call the game. . . . Are we going to say that we want a free-flowing offensive game, or are we going to have tough, grind-out physical games? And whatever way it is, the players will adjust and coaches will adjust but we can’t have it be one way one quarter and another way another quarter.”
She continued, “I don’t think collectively as a whole the league has to step in and do something, I just think that there has to be some improvements in certain areas.”
But when pushed further on what those areas might be, White revealed that her previous remarks – likely those on Saturday night – resulted in her receiving a fine.
Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White looks up on Tuesday, May 20, 2025, during a game between the Indiana Fever and the Atlanta Dream at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (IMAGN)
INDIANA FEVER SUFFER WORST LOSS OF THE SEASON IN CAITLIN CLARK’S FIRST MISSED GAME OF CAREER
“Are we trying to get me fined again? Because I did just get fined,” she said with a smirk.
White did not elaborate further, but the fine likely stemmed from her comments following Saturday’s loss to the New York Liberty.
“I think it’s pretty egregious what’s been happening to us the last four games, you know, a minus-31 free throw discrepancy,” White said, adding she believed Clark was fined in the play of the game. “And I might be able to understand it if we were just chucking 3s. But we’re not. We’re attacking the rim and the disrespect right now for our team has been pretty unbelievable.”
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark talks with head coach Stephanie White before the game against the Washington Mystics at Entertainment & Sports Arena on May 28, 2025. (Emily Faith Morgan-Imagn Images)
White said Monday that she was not sure when Clark sustained the injury exactly.
“Sometimes great players don’t tell you when they’re hurting,” she said. “I’m glad that she did because we need to nip this in the bud.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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