Edivaldo Rojas from Cuiaba had the honour of scoring the opening goal of the tournament, his flick from a corner creeping under the foot of Ever Banega at the near post and crossing the line before goalkeeper Sergio Romero could interrupt its progress. Argentina had conceded a goal, but Rojas’ strike counted not for Brazil but for Bolivia, the land of his mother’s birth.
The story of Rojas is a curious one. The game against Argentina was only his third in the green shirt of Bolivia – he has only recently taken out nationality. But this is not a case of a player operating under a cynical flag of convenience in order to get a chance to feature in international football. Rojas has a strong connection with his adopted country. He grew up on the frontier, he speaks Spanish, and whenever he sets foot on the field he makes it very clear where his loyalties lie. On the back of his shirt is his nickname – ‘Bolivian.’
After an undistinguished time flitting around clubs mainly in the south of Brazil, Rojas set sail for Portugal three years ago to join Naval. During the last season a Bolivian fan living in Portugal brought it to the attention of national team coach Gustavo Quinteros that a useful support striker was playing in the local first division with the word ‘Bolivian’ on his back. Quinteros was curious, decided to have a look, liked what he saw, and the rest is 2011 Copa America history.
Watching Rojas celebrate his goal on Friday night, I was suddenly reminded of the excellent film ‘Jean Charles,’ which tells the story of the Brazilian so tragically and mistakenly killed by the London police in 2005. Directed by Henrique Goldman, the film does much more than concentrate on the events of the death of Jean Charles de Menezes. It is more an exploration, even a celebration of his life and that of the Brazilian community abroad. An unspoken but no less explicit idea underpins the work – that Brazil was once a country of immigration, and has now become an exporter of people. Some of the Brazilian diaspora are moving back as economic prospects back home improve. Others have laid down roots and will remain abroad. What kind of seeds will they plant in their adopted countries?
Football is ahead of the game on this one. For decades now players have been travelling to other countries, sometimes settling there with a local girl and starting a family – and the children of this process are now coming through strongly, as can be seen in this Copa America.
We have a splendid example in Rojas’ own team-mate and strike partner in the Bolivian line up, Marcelo Martins Moreno.
The double surname is an indication of the confusion Brazilians sometimes have with Hispanic surnames. The striker made his mark with Cruzeiro as Marcelo Moreno. In Bolivia he is Marcelo Martins. The latter is technically correct, since Martins is the surname of his father – which should be all the clearer to a Brazilian audience because the Martins in question is Brazilian, a midfielder who once played for Palmeiras before moving to Bolivia. His son had the chance to play for both countries, and only threw in his lot with Bolivia when Brazil left him out of their squad for the 2007 World Youth Cup.
A more senior example is Paulo Da Silva, a stalwart of the Paraguay defence on nearly 90 occasions – the son of a Brazilian player whose career took him to the land of the Guarani.
And then there is Giovani Dos Santos of Mexico. Brother Jonathan is no longer in the squad for the Copa – sent home after some late night high jinks with Ecuadorian call girls – but Gio has flown in to re-enforce the squad fresh from winning the CONCACAF Gold Cup in the United States.
The pair are sons of Zizinho, a talented Brazilian striker who moved up north to Mexico. Gio punished his father’s country in the final of the 2005 World Under-17 Cup, when he was the outstanding player as Mexico beat Brazil 3-0.
Brazil can hardly complain, though, that this process is taking players away. For decades it worked in Brazil’s favour, with talent pouring in rather than draining out. Think about it – without the huge waves of immigration across the Atlantic, Zico would be Portuguese.
