As preparations gather pace for the football World Cup in France this year, Brazil are still firm favourites to win the championship for the fifth time. But some of their opponents have been attempting to capture a little of that footballing magic by importing Brazilian managers to run their national sides. And Brazil's own top players are rarely seen in domestic games because most of them play for foreign clubs. As our correspondent, Stephen Cviic reports, concern is being expressed that this massive export of footballing talent may be damaging the national game.

It's the Sunday before Christmas, and nearly 100,000 people have packed the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro to watch Brazil's biggest domestic game of the year. Vasco are playing Palmeiras to decide the outcome of the 1997 Brazilian championship. It's an exciting match, full of creative football, and the fact that it's a draw means that Vasco win the title. But although these are supposedly the country's top teams, hardly any of their players are candidates for the national squad.

Meanwhile, on the same day, on the other side of the world, the national side is in action. It's the final of the Federation Cup in Saudi Arabia and Brazil are in the process of demolishing Australia by six goals to nil. But despite their success in the tournament, the manager, Zagallo, has come in for criticism from the sports minister, Pele, who feels the team is playing below its potential.

Juca Kfouri is one of Brazil's top sports journalists. He agrees with Pele and says the problems stem from the fact that most of the best players spend their time abroad. He says the national team doesn't train, because "three players play in Italy, four play in Spain, two play in Japan, two play in Brazil". Then when it is time for a match against another country the side just meets and plays.

The Pequeninos do Jockey youth football club in Sao Paulo is one of the great breeding grounds for Brazilian football. Many of its youngsters aged between nine and 17 will not make the grade as professional footballers, but some will, and the dream is universal.

In the clubhouse, the founder and President of Pequeninos do Jockey, Jose Guimaraes Junior, shows off photographs of some of his famous ex-players. But one thing is striking. Many of the successful footballers play for foreign clubs. Some have even gone abroad without ever working for a professional Brazilian side.

And it's not just players that Brazil is exporting. Brazilian managers are now also going abroad to help other countries in their World Cup campaigns. One such team is Jamaica who are managed by Rene Simoes. He explains why he and his fellow countrymen are such a hot export property:

"The first reason is because Brazil are four times world champion and we have one of the athletes of the century - Pele. We have great players. Also in the Brazilian culture I think we are very flexible."

According to one fan at the Palmeiras ground in Sao Paulo - where tickets were on sale the day before the Palmeiras versus Vasco match - the domestic game is in trouble.

"It's true football is very badly run here. For example, the Brazilian championship has lost a lot of credibility because teams get relegated to the second division and then for political reasons they end up back in the first division the following year. Here in Sao Paulo the result is that for most of the games, the stadiums are getting pretty empty."

But if the sports minister Pele has his way, all this is destined to change. Despite considerable opposition from some of the clubs, his proposals for reforming Brazilian football have been approved in the lower house of Congress, and now only need to pass through the Senate. According to Juca Kfouri, the legislation, known as Pele's law, will have an extremely positive impact on the Brazilian game:

"I think that in the next century Brazil will have a new face in football. Because Pele's law will make football more business-like."

Some people might argue that it may be no bad thing that Brazil is exporting some of its talent. After all, the country appears to be brimming over with superb footballers. But the national side is by no means invincible, and if Brazil wants to go on winning World Cup after World Cup, it will have to make more of an effort to nurture its resources.
 

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