Brazil and Argentina are two of world football’s superpowers. From Pele, Maradona and Zico to Juan Román Riquelme, Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi and Neymar, they have produced some of the greatest players in the history of the game.
While the globalisation of the sport has undoubtedly had a detrimental effect on the two nations’ domestic game, the conveyer belt of talent shows no signs of slowing. Almost 100 are competing in this season’s UEFA Champions League.
The increased movement of players across the world has left some national team coaches frustrated as the pool from which they can draw upon includes fewer and fewer playing regularly at the top of the game, but for Argentina and Brazil, and South America as a whole, there have been no such issues.