How can root for that nation of anti-semetic, anti-american, foul smelling, arrogant jerks?

The French outplayed the Brazilians. I'll have to pull for Germany against the Italians. :)

Be well informed about who you root for or against. Despite all of the country's problems, apparently, Argentina's captain is Jewish, as is one of the team's coaches. I don't know if Brazil accepted as many Jews after WW II as Argentina did, but it has a Jewish population, some of whom are the descendants of Jews who fled the Portuguese Inquisition.

Lynne, there's politics and there's soccer. And they don't have to be the same.

In terms of the pure aesthetics of soccer playing, France had Brazil beat. Zidane was in top form in that match, exercising beautiful control of the game; though less so in the match today. Here's a tribute to Zidane from the London Times:

IF NOTHING becomes a man so much as the manner of his leaving, it is only right that Zinédine Zidane’s last game of football should be a World Cup final. Italy will have something to say about it, but the neutral’s heart will surely be with the greatest player of his generation on Sunday night in the Olympic Stadium in Berlin.


Sport’s vagaries rarely allow a man to choose how he departs the stage. It has a habit of spoiling the best laid plans - but Zidane will believe that he can shape his destiny as he did last night in scoring the penalty that carried his team past Portugal.

Thanks for letting me know about Argentina's captain, which is neat. I doubt, however, that Brazil is quite as friendly to Jews. Unlike, say, France, it voted for the UN Human Rights Council's decision to make a review of alleged human rights abuses by Israel a permanent feature of every council session.

Hi everyone, and maybe this is a bit too late (since the topic is France's victory over Brazil) but I decided to check comments regarding Mr Zidane on the net(after he attacked Italian player Materazzi) and came across this comment from someone who questions Brazil's attitude to Jews.

As a Sephardic Jew living in Brazil what I have to say is that Brazil's got the secong largest Jewish population in South America. Jews have lived in Brazil since the beginnings of the country and most, at that time, came as a result of the Iberian (Portuguese/Spanish) Inquisition. After WWII Brazil became one of the destinations of Jews fleeing Europe. Most Brazilian urban centres such as Sao Paulo, Rio, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte and Salvador of Bahia and even Manaus and Belém up North have Jewish populations. The only reason why there aren't Jews in the Brazilian squad is that not many Jews in Brazil have played soccer football professionally. Religious Jews will not play on Shabat, will they? Most matches are played over the weekend, aren't they? Besides, the very Mr Sorin, of whom I'm a big fan, played for a long time on the Brazilian team Cruzeiro of Belo Horizonte and was "worshipped" by local fans, did you know that? We do know that both in Argentina and Brazil limitations on the number of Jews willing to come to South America were imposed but the fact is that a good number managed to enter and build a new life here and there. In Brazil, Jews are generally successful and respected. Senor Abravanel, aka Silvio Santos, is the most famous TV presenter in the country ever. Luciano Huck is another very successful one. Roberto Justus is one of the business geniuses of the country and many actors here are Jewish. One of the most famous religious people in the country is Rabbi Henry Sobel, very charismatic and highly respected as well. Furthermore, Brazil hasn't got a history of large terrorist attacks against Jewish institutions. Those have, unfortunately, happened in Argentina, and not only once (desecration of Jewish cemeteries, the bombing of the Jewish Community Centre -AMIA in 1994, etc).

There's no doubt, however, that the Argentine Jewish population is larger than the Brazilian one and rabbis from Argentina are coming to help Jewish communities in the process of assimilation, my rabbi, for example, is an Argentinian. My question is, would Denmark's smaller Jewish population than that of France, for instance, make it an anti-semitic country?

I hope next time Brazil is mentioned here it will be based on facts and not impressions. Shalom Shalom

Hi Luciano and thanks for writing in and giving us new data points to consider.

It's true, I don't know much about the Brazilian Jewish community.

However, given what you describe, I'm left wondering why Brazil voted yes, on the resolution at the new UN Human Rights Council, to make a review of alleged human rights abuses by Israel a permanent feature of every council session.

Is there a big difference between the perception of the individual Jews and the Jewish community in Brazil, on the one hand. And on the other hand, the conventional wisdom in Brazilian political thought about Israel?

Dear Alcibiades,

That's my point. That's just my opinion but if one has something to say about Brazil, or any other country for that matter, one should do it based on facts and not only impressions, otherwise it sounds like prejudice. What you did, by bringing up a fact, is not only correct but helpful, for we, Brazilian Jews, should keep an eye on those occurrences. That, however, does not rub out the fact that Brazilian Jews do enjoy respect in the country, which is a good thing, and we know very well that many times governments act against the will of their people.

In addition, since it all began from a comparison of Argentina's friendliness towards their Jewish community as opposed to a "doubt" concerning Brazil's attitude, all that because the captain of the Argentine soccer squad has a Jewish captain, I had to say something especially because if we look back into Argentina's relatively recent past we'll see facts like the ones I mentioned in my first post.Nevertheless I don't mean Argentina is an anti-semitic country. We know Jews have found a home there and have been able to establish a beautiful community. I just didn't think the comparison was fair.

And since you've mentioned Brazil's vote against Israel regarding Human Rights, which is a shame, I need to point out that Brazil said YES when the UN General Assembly voted 33 to 13, with 10 abstentions, in favor of the Partition Plan. Unfortunately, Argentina abstained.

OOps. Where I wrote "(...)all that because the captain of the Argentine soccer squad has a Jewish captain(...)". Please read "all that because the Argentine soccer squad has a Jewish captain(...). Accept my apologies concerning that. Thanks!