WHEN Daniel Alves moved back to Brazil, he was picked up by Sao Paulo on a basis similar to Kevin Costner in ‘Field of Dreams’ – if we sign him, the money will come.
They lured the veteran right back with a hefty contract at the age of 38, to be financed by marketing deals they hoped to close in the future.
The pandemic, of course, did not help.
There are one or two tentative tries, but Brazilian football is still playing behind closed doors, and losing out on an important source of revenue.
And so Sao Paulo’s debt to Daniel Alves kept climbing. Two things made the situation unsustainable.
At the end of August, when he was part of the Brazil team that beat Spain to win the Olympic gold medal, Daniel Alves gave an interview where he moaned about unpaid wages.
It did not go down well with the club that he used a moment of national celebration to wash this dirty laundry.
Straight afterwards, Sao Paulo were knocked out of the Copa Libertadores, South America’s Champions League, suffering a humiliating 3-0 quarter final defeat to local rivals Palmeiras.
The club’s supporters now had little sympathy for a millionaire star with more millions to receive.
It had become impossible to paper over the cracks of the relationship, and player and club have decided to part company.
So what does Daniel Alves do now?
Offers have come in, and he can probably choose to continue his career either in Brazil or back in Europe.
Indeed, some in the Catalan press have been arguing in favour of a return to Barcelona, who have struggled at right back ever since he left the club in 2016.
The priority of the player – the missing part in his jigsaw – is the World Cup. The competition has been cruel to him.
He broke into the Brazil squad soon after 2006. He played 2010, but in midfield rather than at right back.
In 2014 he lost his place during the course of the competition, and injury forced him out of Russia 2018.
Qatar 2022 is his dream, and, although he will be 39, it is entirely possible.
Right back has been something of a problem in recent times. Daniel Alves is in the squad, competing with Danilo of Juventus – a good player, but no great.
Recent Tottenham signing Emerson Royal is still very raw.
If Daniel Alves is fit and in form, then a place in the squad is his to lose.
It could be for this reason that a return to Europe makes more sense.
Next year’s calendar makes it hard for Brazil-based players.
Qatar 2002 takes place at the end of the year, which is at the end of the Brazilian season.
It is a long and wearying campaign, with game after game, lots of travelling and no break in the middle of the year.
And because of the pandemic the 2020 season ran straight into the 2021 campaign.
Players are already tired, and they will be feeling the strain come the end of next year.
As he approaches 40, Daniel Alves will surely need to dose himself.
There is more chance of that in Europe, where he will be able to rest his weary bones in June and July – putting some gas in the tank for when he really needs, it, when he aims to round off a glorious career with a last dart at the World Cup.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
