No soccer team in history has surpassed the achievements of Brazil soccer team, not even their fellow Latin American teams.

Many great records had already been lined up in their history vault. As the Brazilian team continues to plow the soccer field everyday, their feats continue to add up even more.

Here are some of the facts and trivia regarding the team’s success:

Of all the soccer teams, Brazil is the most successful and yalla shoot the one and only team up to date that has participated in all the 18 World Cups since the team’s beginning in the 1930’s where they played a record of 92 matches, of it they won 64 games, draws 14 games and had lost 14 times only. Out of those games, they scored 201 goals, also a record. Aside from World Cup feats, they also held the record win in Confederations Cup together with France. They won two times in 1997 and 2005. The Brazilian U17 team has also set a record for winning three times in the U17 World Cup, won 2 out of 3 Panamerican Championship, a now defunct league held sometime in 1952 and 1960. The only national team that Brazil did not claim any victory is Norway. They were also the only team that had won World Cups in all continents that had been able to host the competition, except for Africa and Oceania, they were not able to host any World Cups.

Host Any World Cups

Of all the seven national teams that had claimed World Cup victories, Brazil is the only team that had not won in their own home ground.

Every national team prospers everyday but it is fairly clear enough that Brazil soccer team is the trailblazer, others just follow. They were the trendsetter of the field and no one can refute it.

Assembling one of the most powerful teams in the history of Peru’s football, Lima’s club earned the trophy in 1946. The key to the Peruvian club was the trio of Victor Espinoza, Eduardo and Lolo Fernández. Under a new system of qualifying matches, the Limean side obtained 11 wins.

Toward the end of his career, Lolo and his club recaptured the trophy: it defeated Atlético Chalaco 4-3 to claim the first place in the Peruvian Championship in 1949 (Almanaque Mundial, 1977). In that year, the club celebrated its 25th anniversary.

A Universitario Icon

In contrast to players from other parts of the world, Fernández was not an international player, being one of the few footballers who had stayed with one club (Universitario) his entire athletic career despite several offers from top clubs (including Racing club of Argentina, Peñarol of Uruguay and Colo Colo of Chile). He refused, citing his strong connections to Universitario. This club is one of the most-supported squads in Peru. Curiously, Lolo remains Universitario’s all-time goalscorer with 157 goals.

Fernández, at the age of 40, retired from the world of soccer in the early 1950s during a series of exhibition matches in a stadium built by the country’s head of state Manuel Odría. On August, 30, 1953, his team had a sensational victory over his traditional rival Alianza Lima (4-2). Here, Lolo scored a hat-trick, among the most notable of his more than 157 goals during his career with the Lima-based club.

Before an audience of some 30,000 spectators, Fernández played only six minutes with Universitario during a game against Centro Iqueño, the darkest day for Peru’s football. His presence was symbolic in a memorable event at Lima’s national stadium. He left the national stadium to a roaring ovation.

After retiring from soccer, he worked mostly with top junior soccer teams from Universitario.

After a battle with Alzheimer, on September 17, 1996, Lolo Fernández died in a Lima hospital at the age of 83. It was a great loss to South America’s sport.

Rivaled only by Teófilo Cubillas, he has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards both within and outside Peru, including a museum. The country’s legendary Olympian was immortalized by Lorenzo Humberto Soto Mayor, who wrote a song entitle “Lolo Fernández”, a tribute to the Peruvian footballer. On October 27, 1952, the country’s ruler Odría conferred him the Sports Laurels, the highest sports award of Peru. In the early 1950s, the Universitario stadium was renamed in his honor (Witzig, 2006). Within Latin America, several sports-oriented magazines and Spanish-language newspapers have devoted many pages to Lolo.

Lolo Fernández died in the mid-1990s, but the legacy of this Olympic carries on. He was so advanced for his time and place. A man that always worked with love for his homeland country of Peru and a personal hero of mine.

Further Reading

1. (1)- Almanaque Deportivo Mundial 1977, Editorial América, Ciudad de Panamá, 1976 (Spanish)
2. (2)- Almanaque Deportivo Mundial 1976, Editorial América, Ciudad de Panamá, 1975 (Spanish)
3. (3)- Almanaque Guayaquil Total 2003, Editarsa, Guayaquil, 2002 (Spanish)
4. (4)- Campomar, Andreas. ¡Golazo!: A History of Latin American Football, Quercus, 2014
5. (5)- —————- Golazo!: The Beautiful Game From the Aztecs to the World Cup: The Complete History of How Soccer Shaped Latin America, Penguin, 2014
6. (6)- Dunmore, Tom. Historical Dictionary of Soccer, Scarecrow Press, 2011
7. (7)- “Fuimos Heroes”. 170 Años Suplemento Especial, El Comercio, 4 de mayo del 2009 (Spanish)
8. (8)- Grasso, John. Historical Dictionary of Boxing, Scarecrow Press, 2013
9. (9)- Guevara Onofre, Alejandro & Chaname Orbe, Raúl. Enciclopedia Mundototal 1999, Editorial San Marcos, 1998 (Spanish)
10. (10)- Hill, Christopher. Hitler’s Olympics: The Berlin Olympic Games,The History Press, 2011
11. (11)- Loveman, Brian. For la Patria: Politics and the Armed Forces in Latin America, Rowman & Littlefield, 1999
12. (12)- Mandell, Richard D. The Nazi Olympics, University of Illinois Press, 1971
13. (13)- Murray, Bill & Murray, William. The World’s Game. A History of Soccer, University of Illinois Press, 1998
14. (14)- Newton, Paula. Viva Travel Guides Machu Picchu and Cusco, Viva Publishing Network, 2011
15. (15)- Parrish, Charles & Nauright, John. Soccer Around the World, ABC-CLIO, 2014
16. (16)- Risolo, Donn. Soccer Stories: Anecdotes, Oddities, Lore, and Amazing Feats, University of Nebraska, 2010
17. (17)- Reyna, Claudio & Woitalla, Michael. More Than Goals: The Journey From Backyard Games To World Cup Competition, Human Kinetics, 2004
18. (18)- Walters, Guy. Berlin Games: How Hitler Stole the Olympic Dream, Hachette UK, 2012
19. (19)- Witzig, Richard. The Global Art of Soccer, CusiBoy Publishing, 2006

Alejandro Guevara Onofre

Within a span of three years, Alejandro has produced a host of high-quality articles/essays about cultures of the world, “re-discovering countries” and exploring exotic locations -from Chad to Vietnam, from Kosovo to the paradise island of Dominica – and new biographies (from such disparate individuals as Lionel Messi, Halle Berry, Jose Gamarra Zorrilla… ). He also has made a name for himself as an expert on Summer Olympics, becoming the top “Olympian author” at EzineArticles.com; stories based on athletic perseverance and Olympian spirit in global sports, including the United States of America. Under this backdrop, he has declared himself as “the world’s No. 1 fan of the Olympics”. As a keen sports fan, he says “I am passionate about sport–writing about it, playing it, watching it, and talking… “

gulamali