A concept that I learned about through Leticia is pelada, a word that means naked in Portuguese. In certain contexts, however, it is used to describe pick-up soccer games that occur all over Brazil. The nickname is meant to represent the stripped-down nature of these games. They can occur anywhere, on any surface (beach, stone, concrete, asphalt…), and are a central component of Brazilian culture. Formal soccer that is played on curated fields and in stadiums with spectators is called futebol in Portuguese (the term for soccer). However, pelada is considered to be very different. It sometimes involves a ball, or other times it involves a ball of socks, cardboard, or plastic bags. Anyone who can come plays and it is usually, to use the English term, shirts vs skins. The rules are simple. Someone sets a timer on their cellphone for 10 minutes and then the game begins. The game ends when either a goal is scored or the timer goes off. Players then switch off to play as many continuous rounds as possible. A lot of times these matches will begin at night after people get off work, but they can go into the early morning, depending. Instead of a crowd of spectators surrounding pelada, there are just people waiting to get into the next game. It’s pelada, the game being played for the sake of the game. It also can be an escape from long workdays and neighborhoods that have higher levels of crime and violence. Some community organizers are using it as a way of keeping kids away from engaging with illegal activity.
The article linked describes the diversity of people who will play in these games, some with shoes and some without. It describes a player who said that he dislocated his toe during a game. He just set it back so that he could keep playing. Apparently, scouts will come to peladas or organize their own games to find and recruit players that they are impressed by. Romário, Ronaldo, and Rivaldo, all Brazilian soccer legends, were discovered this way. Brazil is one of the top exporters of professional soccer players. However, some scouts have been brought to Brazilian court because of their treatment of recruits they ask to come from other regions to play in peladas in more populated regions.
Pelada has had to adapt to the changing landscapes of Brazil. For example, pelada games used to be concentrated on the shores of the rivers in São Paulo. The games would be called futebol de varzea (lowlands soccer) but as it has developed as a city, the games are now limited to quadras, small, open squares in the city surrounded by metal fences. The reporter of the article attached visited one of these games and said that it was played silently, except for infrequent inter-team dialogue.
Most games usually only involve men, but can involve female players. However, there is a lot of stigma related to women playing to this day. Brazil still does not have a national women’s soccer league.
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