Brazil is quite busy at the moment. Not only is the country in the final preparation stages for this summer's FIFA World Cup event, but it is also gearing up for the Summer Olympics set to be held in Rio de Janeiro two years from now. Amidst all of this massive planning and extensive global scrutiny, however, Brazil also has the responsibility of putting a team on the football pitch, and many soccer fans around the world are wondering if the sharp yellow of the Brazil football shirts will be the sight at the top of the podium when all is said and done.
Undoubtedly, soccer prognosticators have plenty of reason to speculate about the chances of the Brazil 2014 World Cup home jersey being the last in the team's history to include a crest with five stars. The stars in the team's crest, of course, represent the unrivaled five World Cup titles that Brazil has accumulated over the years. Those five wins are enough to make the team a contender in any World Cup event, but this year, with the added factor of being the host team, Brazil is getting even more buzz than usual.
That additional buzz has been felt at Soccer Box, where our online store has been inundated with purchases of the various Brazil football shirts. The team's World Cup jerseys both the yellow home shirts and the blue away kits will be one of the most ubiquitous sights at this year's tournament, and Soccer Box has everything you will need to blend in with the local football fans.
The Benefits of Being a Host
A widely held belief in sports culture is faith in the so-called "home-field advantage." In almost every sporting event, it is assumed that a team playing in its own country, state, territory, or city has a better chance of winning than one in unfamiliar territory.
There are numerous reasons for this perceived advantage, from the fact that athletes are simply more at ease in familiar environments (and can therefore give the totality of their focus to the game at hand) to the idea that nothing can spur on an athlete's adrenaline like a roaring crowd of adoring fans. Brazil will be particularly inundated with fan support at this year's World Cup, and it's likely that every match the team plays will have a crowd made up almost entirely by people wearing the Brazil 2014 World Cup home jersey.
These hosting advantages have given many soccer speculators the fuel they need to predict that the Brazil national football team will claim its sixth World Cup victory this year. However, the question is this: does being the host of the World Cup actually improve a team's chances of success?
The Home Team Champions
On five occasions in World Cup history, players have hoisted the trophy to the skies in their home countries. In fact, the first two World Cups in 1930 and 1934 were both won by the home teams (Uruguay and Italy, respectively), an occurrence that undoubtedly caused many fans to wonder if the home field advantage would ever prove false.
Obviously, though, the home team doesn't always win. In fact, the last time Brazil hosted the World Cup (in 1950), the team lost in the championship match to Uruguay. Of course, that was before Brazil football shirts became symbols of FIFA domination, as the team wouldn't win its first World Cup until 1958, but it's still a notable statistic.
The next two home World Cup victories didn't take place until 1966 and 1974 (in England and West Germany), while the fifth happened in France in 1998. The other 15 countries that have hosted the World Cup were forced to watch foreign teams take the lion's share of the glory.
In other words, while the home-field advantage may be a very real thing, there is no guarantee that the Brazil 2014 World Cup home jersey will become synonymous with a sixth World Cup victory. With so much going on in Brazil right now, it could be that the nation's soccer team is simply not a prime focus right now.
Of course, we will have to wait and see about that, and there is no reason for fans of Brazil not to heartily root for the team. So book your ticket to Brazil, stop by Soccer Box to check out our supply of Brazil football shirts and get ready for an exciting summer of soccer history in the making.
