Analysis: In a World Cup year, Datafolha research shows that Brazil is a mystery

Datafolha surveys are a beacon, a pendulum, to understand what is happening in this country. The sphinx is the Brazilian people. Sometimes we analysts do too. They say that voters are more decisive, because 64% already know who to vote for.

Now, if you can only go to the North Pole or the South Pole, it is obvious that you already have an opinion, or one or the other.

What improved was not the voter, what got worse was the menu.

It’s different when it comes to the World Cup. Around half of the population (51%) is not interested in the World Cup, which starts in November, three months from now. But 54% of the people believe that Brazil will come back champion.

Like this? Are the people informed about the likely rivals or don’t they care?

We are a mystery.

The 2014 World Cup was the most vibrant of the century. And look, Germany, in 2006, was a party. We discovered that the German people love football and, more than that, they are proud of themselves. They took to the streets after the winning goal over Poland, mainly because they knew that the invasion of the Polish area had nothing to do with the memory of the Warsaw ghettos.

They were proud of the striker Neuville, not of Goebbels.

It was just football!

One month before the 2014 World Cup, the TV was turned on in Rio and São Paulo, and comments were heard that the Brazilian people did not care. When the ball rolled, the world was overwhelmed with joy. The average was 53,000 spectators per match, lower only than in the 1950 and 1994 World Cups, when the stadiums were much larger.

My first World Cup game was Colombia 1 x 3 Romania, in 1994. The day before, in Los Angeles, there were signs of public failure. At dawn, Colombians came out from all corners of California. Whoever said that Americans don’t like football forgot the Latinos who inhabit the United States.

Adding up the latest consultations from Datafolha results in a very hard conclusion: Brazil is a discouraged country. Because 51% are not interested in the World Cup, and 49% have stopped talking about politics, so as not to fight.

The immediate impression, when knowing that more than half of these suffering people don’t care about high-level football, in November, is: now we’re talking about Lula x Bolsonaro. Just not. We also divided those who sit at the table and debate the most important issues for the future of this nation in half. Fear of contradiction.

So, what do we talk about? Of Jô’s death and the loss of a genius. Great theme. The price of watercress, which 70 years ago bought an airplane, as one of his characters said. Ah, but then we bumped into politics. As we know, politics and football are not discussed.

So let’s talk about the dispute for the evangelical electorate.

I only think about the World Cup.

Anyone who doesn’t think about it thinks that Brazil is the favorite to win the sixth, when it is a candidate, not the main force. It can win, at a time when there are nine possible world champions – and it can still give Croatia, current runner-up.

From the point of view of those who work with football, especially managers, Datafolha’s report is one of opportunity. If the Brasileirão stadiums have the third largest attendance in 40 years, even with 51% of the population not being interested in the World Cup, imagine the inertial market that exists in this country, of possible fans-consumers-customers not yet reached.

People who will read, write, buy, have fun watching football, when this country finally returns to being a living country that loves and breathes its sport and its culture.