YELLOW FEVER IN BRAZIL

So I'm not a follower of football. There I said it.

The days of the World Cup were just another day in the paradise I call Dubai summer. 

Nevertheless, I love design and I love Brazilians for many reasons unconnected to football :P



Yellow: strange bedfellow

For years, whether they play at home or not, and when the shirt of the opposite team allows it, Brazil plays with a yellow shirt decorated with touches of green on the collar or the sleeves and blue pair of shorts. 

It makes sense; both colors are dominant of the Brazilian flag. 


 Brazil Graffiti Artist Barba Works on a Mural in Celebration of the 2014 FiFA World Cup
White: quite trite

It wasn’t always the case that the Auriverdes donned yellow. 

Originally, in 1914, date of the creation of the Brazilian football federation, the shirts were mainly white. 

That lasted all of five years, with two exceptions. First in 1916 with a wide yellow and green striped t-shirt, and in 1917 for the South American Nations Championship, Brazil didn’t wear white shirt as Chile were already playing in this color. 

In fact, its the only time Brazil played in red and still won 5-0.


The first Brazil national team ever, 1914
Blue: not so cool 

From 1919 on, Brazilian wears a blue and white set, until the shocking defeat against Uruguay. 

The setting was the 1950 FIFA World Cup at the Estádio do Maracanã in Rio in front of 173,850 fervent fans. 

As Uruguay striker Alcides Ghiggia peeled away to celebrate, he noticed the huge new Maracana stadium had fallen silent. "Only three people have silenced the Maracana - Frank Sinatra, the Pope and me," he joked. 

The result was considered to be one of the biggest upsets in football history and was considered a tragedy by all.


Host Brazil ready to exorcise the World Cup ghosts of 1950
Canarinho in da house

Following the defeat by Uruguay, Brazil supporters demanded a change of color to forget this humiliation. 

What better time launch a contest!

Local newspaper, Correio da Manha, seized the moment to launch a competition for the new design of the shirt. 19-year-old football fan Aldyr Garcia Schlee won, creating a yellow, green and blue number, three dominant colors of the national flag. 

Brazil played in their new colors for the first time in March 1954, when they beat Chile 1-0 at the Maracana in Rio. Finally some love.

However, Brazil only won its first World Cup four years later, beating Sweden in Stockholm to lift the trophy. The great irony for Schlee was that because Sweden wore yellow, Brazil won the World Cup wearing blue shirts. 

Since then, Brazil plays in yellow. 

Brazil's football kit designed by 19-year old football fan

But is Yellow Fever over?

With the recent humiliation against Germany, is Yellow Fever coming to a halt? Do we foresee another contest in the horizon? 

I'd love to see local designers Osklen or Pedro Lourenco take a stab at designing the new duds. Both have made big waves at Brazil Fashion Week, and are designers to watch.


All eyes on Osklen by Oskar Metsavaht at Brazil Fashion Week

Images:
http://www.qdlake.com/painted-streets-celebrating-the-world-cup/rio-de-janeiro-brazil-graffiti-artist-barba-works-on-a-mural-in-celebration-of-the-2014-fifa-world-cup/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_national_football_team
http://www.latimes.com/topic/sports/baseball/boston-red-sox-ORSPT000005-topic.html
http://www.theguardian.com/football/video/2014/jun/11/history-of-brazilian-football-kit-design-video
http://thebritishfashionista.com/2014/05/27/world-cup-brazil-fashion-week/

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