Soccer

Soccer is unquestionably a game of the world, but with histories, dimensions, and passions that are more likely to be felt locally. In the context of the Americas, there is no doubt that the legacy of the African diaspora has proven to be a key element in the evolution of the sport from North to South America. Moreover, the result of the African presence can be measured by Brazil's status as the only five-time World Cup champion and its national hero, Pelé, as the greatest player of the world. Thus, while the African presence and influence must be contextualized by region and nation, the connections between Pelé, Brazil, soccer, and the notion of the jogo bonito (the "beautiful game") are virtually coextensive. Still, while Brazil and its players are the apex of the sport and the reification of African influence on the game in the new world, the Americas offer other interesting histories of the black experience within soccer.

In the context of Brazil, long rated among the world's soccer powers, the contributions of blacks have been largely felt on the field, beginning with the goal-scoring prowess of Arthur Friedenrich and the contributions of the first great black Brazilian internationals, Domingos and Leonidas, who participated in the 1938 World Cup. Still, the great Brazilian teams from 1950 through 1970 were heavily reliant on the creative talents of a number of black footballers, including Jair, Garrincha, Zizinho, Pelé, and Carlos Alberto. World champions again in 1994, the image of the Brazilian team is now cemented, a multiracial squad engaged in creative work. From the late 1980s to the present, the Brazilian team has competed with a large number of black stars and a succession of key creative and scoring talents (Romario, Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Robinho), each of whom has extended the legacy established by the earlier generations of black Brazilian stars. An important part of this legacy is the Brazilian style of play, a reflection of the individual brilliance and inventiveness of black players who have demonstrated an unequaled capacity to create and score.

Notwithstanding the brilliance of such pivotal players, Brazil has also had a brace of defensive players (notably Junior and Cafu). Still, the issue of race has also been in question in Brazil, extending from the early days of the twentieth century when the game was effectively segregated to the almost traditional location of white players in the pivotal role of goalkeeper. This latter fact is perhaps due to the trauma of the Brazilian populace after losing, on home soil, the 1950 World Cup with the unlucky black goalkeeper, Barbosa. Taken as a whole, across several generations, black athletes in Brazil have been central in the nation's ability to secure an unprecedented five FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) World Cups, the quadrennial culmination of regional and international group competitions.

The centrality of blacks, however, is not limited to Brazil. Across many parts of Latin America where generations of forced and unforced immigration have led to significant populations of Afro-Latinos, the presence of blacks has been marked and important. For example, in Peru, a nation with a long history of national and international participation in soccer and a period of punctuated excellence in the early- to mid-1970s, Teofilo Cubillas stands out as the seminal figure within the sport. Similarly, black players have contributed to the successes of Uruguay and, especially, Colombia, the latter having finally produced a run of success through the 1990s based on the talents of midfielder Carlos Valderrama and forwards Freddy Rincon and Faustino Asprilla. Colombia is also notable because of the contributions of coach Francisco Maturana at both the club and national team level. He thus represents the incursions, not yet fully realized, of black managers in the game.

Like their counterparts in Brazil, Peru, and Colombia, various Central American nations (principally Honduras, Costa Rica, and El Salvador) and Caribbean nations (Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaica) have experienced success at the international level and have contributed important black players to the best Latin American and continental professional leagues.

Indeed, the Central American and Caribbean region, which at the international level was regionalized to include the Caribbean islands, Mexico, Canada, and the United States, also has a rich history of black athletes. Costa Rica became highly competitive in the 1990s because of the contributions of players such as Paulo Wanchope (who has played much of his club football in Europe). Similarly, Haiti in 1974, El Salvador and Honduras in 1982, and Jamaica in 1998 have demonstrated the excellence of largely Afro-Latino teams in World Cup competitions. Jamaica is particularly notable because so much of its team was and

remains comprised of the sons of Jamaican immigrants who moved to the United Kingdom. Thus, a large percentage of these players have developed in England's Premier League and the lower divisions of the English Football Association. Likewise, Trinidad and Tobago's team was reliant on expatriates based in the United Kingdom, including Dwight Yorke, a starting striker during the dominant 1990s iterations of Manchester United.

Closer to the United States the impact of such players can be marked by the importance of Pelé in the grassroots popularity of soccer beginning in the mid-1970s with his arrival in the United States to play for the New York Cosmos in the now-defunct North American Soccer League (NASL). Shortly thereafter, other players of high caliber, including Cubillas, the Brazilian Mirandinha, and the Portuguese Eusebio, and a raft of British imports, often with roots in the Caribbean Islands (e.g., Clyde Best, Clive Charles, Godfrey Ingram, and Vince Hilaire), as well as African players (Jomo Sono, Jean-Pierre Tokoto, Andreis Maseko, Ade Coker, Ken Mogojoa, and Ace Ntsolengoe) began appearing for various clubs during the height of the North American Soccer League (1968–1984).

Although black imports like Pelé and Cubillas raised the profile of soccer, this did not necessarily draw African-American youth to the sport in significant numbers. Unlike in Latin America, soccer has long been the sport of the white suburbs and thus the NASL did not connect well with black communities already drawn to baseball, basketball, and football. Within the U.S. national team, which has persisted in regional and international competitions even while an alphabet soup of professional soccer leagues has risen and fallen in the United States, there had been very few black players between 1930, which marked the first U.S. entrance into the World Cup, and 1990, which marked the team's first World Cup appearance since the historic 1950 competition that saw the U.S. team defeat a seemingly all-powerful squad from England. The 1990 team had among its ranks only two African Americans—Jimmy Banks and Desmond Armstrong.

Nevertheless, the emergence of Major League Soccer (MLS) in 1995 also demonstrated a deeper integration of African-American and Afro-Latino players. Thus, apart from bringing such Afro-Latinos as Carlos Valderrama, Eduardo Hurtado, and Jose Dely Valdez to the league, an impressive list of African Americans has emerged. These players have contributed to the league, as well as the development of the national team, which has qualified for each of the last four World Cups (1990–2002), a feat unparalleled in the history of U.S. soccer. Key players in MLS and on the national team have included goalies Tim Howard and Zach Thornton; defenders Eddie Pope and Tony Sanneh; midfielders Earnie Stewart, Cobi Jones, and teenage sensation Freddy Adu; and Roy Lassiter and DeMarcus Beasley. Indeed, the caliber of such players is marked by their presence on top-division teams in England, Germany, Holland, and Italy.

For most Americans, the issue of African Americans and sport is dominated by the important social and historical developments within the "big three" of U.S. professional team sports. However, a broader geographical view demonstrates that the historical developments and flows that brought Africans to the shores of the Americas have resulted in profound and spectacular developments across a variety of sports, including soccer. It is impossible to think of the game without its African-American contributors, who have left indelible marks on how the game is played by club and national teams across South, Central, and North America. Undoubtedly, these contributions will continue as the sport moves forward and looks forward to the African continent hosting a World Cup.

See also Pelé (Nascimento, Edson Arantes do); Sports

Bibliography

Bellos, Alex. Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life (spine title: Futebol: Soccer, the Brazilian Way). New York: Bloomsbury, 2002.

Lever, Janet. Soccer Madness: Brazil's Passion for the World's Most Popular Sport. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983; rev. reissue, Long Grove, Ill.: Waveland, 1995.

Murray, Bill. The World's Game: A History of Soccer. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1996.

Radnedge, Keir, ed. The Complete Encyclopedia of Soccer. London: Carlton, 2002.

fernando delgado (2005)