Brazil

In Goal We Trust

Shobhan Saxena

Football in Brazil is more than the opium of the masses. It is more about individual expression, playing out fantasies and climbing the social ladder

Where history is a penalty

Simon Kuper

Luck apart, there is something majestic about penalty shootouts, and the Cup has a habit of making fools of forecasters, Pele included

Confessions of a Flamengo Fanatic

Florencia Costa

Still, Florencia Costa is now singing Fly Canarinho for Brazil to become Hexacampeão

The Other Side of Brazil

Sergio Mukherjee

What the country’s recent football glories conceal

Neymar

arindam

Comparisons have already started with Lionel Messi, the biggest South American star in the game

Unequal Music

Achal Prabhala

Like the next hedonist, I too dream of Brazil

The Socratic Method

Sopan Joshi

A philosopher-footballer passes on

The Story of a Kashmiri Footballer

Atiya Hussain

Basharat Baba was selected to train in Brazil. It was only once his passport was rejected that he learnt his father was a former militant

Just like their athletes, countries too train hard and compete for the right to host the Olympic Games. But winning the bid is only half the battle. Not many host cities have reaped the promised long-term benefits of hosting this greatest of all carnivals. Rio’s no stranger to hosting carnivals. Still, here are a few lessons it can learn from some of the previous Olympic hosts.