why i hate brazil

here's a post to answer canadian gooner's query. these are the reasons i hate brazil. all of them are personal, to some extent, and some are purely emotional, but they are the reasons and there are plenty of them:

their 5 stars -- they've won five world cups, and my very makeup rails against the overdog. i am not always required to appreciate the underdog, but the overdog -- the yankees, the canadiens, the lakers, and all historically dominant sports teams (barring the oilers, which i can defend but have no reason to here) -- force bile into my throat.

their ego -- and part of that bile comes from the egos that necessarily develop around that "greatness". i read a lot of soccer mags, and the first thing i do every day is read the soccer websites, and i've seen a lot of interviews with the current crop of brazilians. only two of them show any humility and ronaldhino is not one of them. of those whose interviews i've read, only juninho and gilberto silva see themselves as working parts of an exceptional team -- the rest consider themselves gods among mortals. and maybe they are. but carrying that attitude around the footballing world and shoving it into the faces of everyone is no different and no less vexing than the world's only "superpower" doing the same politically. adriano is called the emperor and believes it; ronaldo pissed off raul so badly on real madrid, saying "i score goals. i don't need to run," that they don't talk anymore; ronaldinho has bought into the idea that he's the greatest ever and is only capable of admitting that some other players are good; cafu is the captain of the gang and feeds their egos by continuing to mystify their greatness when he talks; kaka considers his abilities "magical"; and roberto carlos figures he's the best left back who ever lived, let alone in the world.

their luck -- the other thing that pisses me off is that they are lucky. sure they pound on crap teams on a regular basis, and even simply good teams, but they usually find a way to win against really good teams, squeaking out one goal wins, and that is often done with a stroke of crazy luck. good on them, certainly, for taking the risks that lead to the luck. that is admirable. but it is frustrating when your team falls because of their luck -- and that clearly adds to my disdain for them.

their whining & diving-- i will admit straight out that they aren't the biggest footballing nation of whiners in the world, but they are the ONE nation that has both no cause and no need to whine or dive. and it's the way they whine and dive. lots of teams are theatrical and that's annoying (and the brazilians aren't the most theatrical), but the way they complain one would think they were trinidad and tobago, a crap team having their job made even more difficult by horrible calls. and in damn near every game i've seen the calls and the benefit of the doubt go their way. moreover, a different standard is set for brazils whining than for everyone else. you all know i hate england, but consider this: ronaldo complained to the ref at half time during the france game, contesting a perfectly valid yellow card, all the way back to the tunnel. does anyone think that if that had been rooney he wouldn't have been shown a red card immediately? because they are brazil their whining and diving get them further than anyone else (except maybe italy). and that is impossible for me to admire or like.

les bleus -- and on a completely personal level, brazil was set up to be my villains right from the start because it was the 1998 World Cup and les Bleus that brought me back to football. and whoever played les Bleus in the final were doomed in my eyes for all time.

so there you have it. i probably forgot some reasons. i am sure that gio can add a couple. but that is why i hate brazil.