Brazilian football has reached the historic mark of 300 foreign athletes registered in the Daily Information Bulletin (BID). The number takes into account the entire spectrum of the sport in the country, from amateur and youth divisions to the most prominent national championships. In the Brasileirão, there was a 45.5% increase – rising from 101 to 147 registered this year. The portion of these athletes in Serie B had an exponential increase of 181.25%, jumping from 16 to 45 players from outside the country.
Among the countries with the most representatives in Brazil are Argentina, with 43 athletes, followed by Uruguay (28), Colombia (19), and Paraguay (13).
For the Serie A of the Brazilian Championship, the CBF responded to a request from the clubs to increase the limit of foreign players eligible for a match, per team, from seven to nine.
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Eight foreigners score in the opening of Brasileirão
In the first round, Brasileirão had eight foreigners finding the back of the net. On Saturday (13), Fortaleza visited São Paulo and left MorumBIS with a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Machuca and Lucero, both from Argentina. At Maracanã, Thiago Borbas, from Uruguay, scored the second goal for Red Bull Bragantino in a 2-2 draw against Fluminense.
On Sunday (14), Uruguayans Canobbio and Mastriani and Argentine Leo Gody scored for Athletico Paranaense in a 4-0 rout over Cuiabá at Ligga Arena. In the clash between the rubro-negros at Serra Dourada, Uruguayan Nicolás de la Cruz scored a beautiful free-kick goal for Flamengo, which won 2-1 against Atlético-GO. In the champions’ duel between Vitória and Palmeiras, Colombian Richard Rios was responsible for the away victory for Palmeiras by the minimum score.
The presence of players from outside Brazil reinforces the ability of Brazilian football to attract talents from around the world to shine on the country’s pitches.
