Post by Oana Vadeanu

At the end of the 2020 Olympic football final, Oyarzabal scored Spain’s goal against Brazil. Brazil went on to win the gold medal. Unfortunately, very few players from that Brazilian Olympic team were later integrated into the senior national team. From 2015 to 2021, Brazil seemed to have a very promising future based on its youth development: * 2015: FIFA U-20 World Cup finalists * 2016: U-23 team won Olympic gold * 2019: FIFA U-17 World Cup champions * 2021: The U-23 team defeated a Spain side featuring dani Olmo, Pau Torres, Unai Simon, Oyarzabal, Pedri, Cucurella, coached by Luis de la Fuente. And what came of it? About half of Spain’s U-23 squad from that year, along with their coach, are now part of the senior Spanish national team. The only conclusion I can reach is that the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) simply doesn’t know how to develop and transition its youth players properly, even though that stage is supposed to be where they grow and prepare for the senior level.