Marcos Evangelista de Morais ‘Cafú’ (51 years old, Itaquaquecetuba, State of Sao Paulo, Brazil) was two-time world champion with the Brazilian team winning in the United States 1994 and South Korea and Japan in 2022. One of the best full-backs in the history of the As an ambassador, football analyzes the keys to the next World Cup event and gives his opinion on the Canarinha team’s chances of winning, the future of Vinicius and the possible role of Spain.
There is one year left until the 2022 World Cup and all the eyes of football in key national teams are focused on the appointment of next November in Qatar. One year from now, how do you, as an ambassador, see the next World Cup?
With one year to go to the World Cup, I anticipate that the World Cup in Qatar next year will be wonderful. It will be unlike any previous World Cup we have seen and it will be an opportunity for the world to get to know Qatar, as well as its people and its stadiums, which have been built exclusively for this tournament. We are preparing to welcome fans, national teams and people from all over the world. Qatar will open its doors to everyone. The eyes of the soccer world will be on Qatar for what will be a special event. On November 21 we will be exactly one year away from the first Qatar 2022 match, so I’m excited.
It is a different World Cup, the soccer planet changes its itinerary for the appointment. The question is a must. How about the date?
The world has changed and there are several factors that led to the date change in Qatar, which will start in November instead of June. I don’t see there is a problem with the new date. Players will arrive at the tournament in top form rather than at the end of a long season, which should be a huge benefit. It is also worth saying that while the heat in Qatar can reach almost 50 degrees in June, in November and December it will be much colder, around 18-25 degrees, which is the perfect conditions for football in my opinion. I think teams will easily adapt to playing in Qatar.
“Those who do not believe in the potential of the Brazilian team will be surprised, I have no doubt that Brazil can lift that World Cup”
You are two-time world champion but since Brazil in 2002 the last four World Cup champions are European. France, Germany, Spain and Italy. After a great summer at the Euro and Copa América, do you think the distance between the European and South American teams has narrowed?
It’s true, the last victories I contributed to were in 1994 and 2002 when Brazil was world champion for the fourth and fifth time. I think the distance between the European and South American teams has decreased a lot. European teams keep pushing and trying hard and tend to have a lot more unity. But the South American teams are difficult to face, like Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile. They are teams that make their opponents work hard and that will also be the case in the World Cup next year. We hope that this distance can decrease again in Qatar 2022 with one of the South American teams crowned world champions, preferably Brazil!
Is Brazil strong enough to surprise and lift the World Cup?
Brazil has a very strong team and is definitely capable of lifting the World Cup. Brazil always has a very competitive team, it is the only country that has been world champion five times, and by nature we always demand respect. They can go a long way. Those who do not believe in the potential of the Brazilian team will be surprised, I have no doubt that Brazil can lift that World Cup again in Qatar.
“Vinicius will be one of the best in the World Cup in Qatar, for sure”
From Spain when we think of Brazil we think of Vinicius JR, at the age of 21 his emergence does not go unnoticed. Do you think he can be the next great Brazilian star in the world of football? What do you think is his ceiling?
Vinicius Junior is undoubtedly a great Brazilian talent who is very proud to be playing for a great team like Real Madrid. I’m sure he will be one of the best players in the Qatar World Cup. He needs to play, he needs to be confident, he needs to make sure that he is useful for the Brazilian team. He is a talent, he is young and I know that if he plays, he will make a great World Cup. He is a hopeful young man not only of Brazilian football, but also of world football. He has started very well in Madrid, scoring several goals, but that is not a surprise. I know that he will use his full potential in the World Cup to help Brazil try to win the World Cup. We are still a year away from the World Cup and during this year you can definitely gain a lot of experience and keep improving.
Let’s talk about Messi. His Copa América left no doubts, he raised that long-awaited great title with Argentina and he did so leading a great generation. The Qatar World Cup is your last chance, do you see it possible for Messi to lift this World Cup?
It would be the great culmination of his career, I am a Messi fan. Being Brazilian, it is difficult to talk about Messi. Messi is an innate talent, and he is undoubtedly a candidate to lead Argentina to win the World Cup. He is a player who excites people: he scores goals, wins games and wins titles. We also know that Messi is the leader of a generation of players as you say with Martínez, Romero, Paredes, Di María. I have great admiration for Messi, as do soccer fans around the world, but here in Brazil we don’t want him to lift the cup in Qatar because we want Brazil to win. But of course, we support and love Messi, everyone wants him to be successful.
The Qatari National Team opens in a great World Cup event and for many it is a true stranger. After being champions at the 2019 Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates and finishing third in the last edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, do you think the team will be able to compete face to face against great teams with more international experience?
The Qatari team will play at home and certainly have the support of the whole world. Brazil, Germany, Argentina, Italy, they are teams that are talked about internationally with a lot of experience and that are used to playing this type of competitions but I believe that Qatar can have a great World Cup and use the experience it gained by winning the Cup 2019 Asian and going far in this summer’s Gold Cup tournament. So in short, I hope Qatar has a good tournament and they will hope to go as far as possible.
“Luis Enrique is doing a fantastic job with the Spanish National Team, he is one of the favorites to win”
With respect to Spain. His European Championship stunned more than one, being one of the surprises of the tournament thanks to the young talent. How do you see the Spanish National Team?
Yes, the Spanish team is undoubtedly one of the favorites next year. Luis Enrique is doing a fantastic job with the Spanish team, reaching the semifinals of an important competition with such a young talent. Giving young players the opportunity to show their talents I think is very important and these young Spanish players can now use this experience to good effect at the World Cup next year. All the great teams and all those who have won the World Cup in the past, of course, have a chance in Qatar. But once again Spain is one of the favorites to win, yes, for sure.
And Pedri? At the age of 18 he played everything in the Euro, he is indisputable at Barça and in the world of football he is considered a great player. How do you see your future?
At 18, Pedri is undoubtedly a great young talent. He had the opportunity to play almost every minute of every game in the European Championship and is another great Barcelona talent that is still developing. I really like seeing these young emerging talents, whether they are Brazilian or not! I like players with personality and Pedri is one of them. I hope that he too can have a great World Cup and continue to play well for Barcelona and Spain.
Finally, to finish, in the face of the fans. What do you think is going to be the best thing about Qatar’s experience hosting a World Cup of this size?
It will be a fantastic experience, probably one of the best World Cups ever. It will be the first World Cup where fans will have the opportunity to watch two matches on the same day due to the compact nature of the country and the proximity of the stadiums. The country is preparing itself with the best infrastructure in the world to be able to provide players and the public with the best facilities, such as state-of-the-art, air-conditioned stadiums and interesting places to stay while in Qatar. The stadium infrastructure is now more than 98% complete, so Qatar is almost ready to host fans from all over the world. I was in Qatar this week to witness the opening of another stadium, this time Al Thumama, and it was amazing. So I’m excited for next year and I think the fans should be too. Qatar is ready with open arms to welcome everyone. They have said from the beginning that they want to host an incredible World Cup and they are on track to do so.