Diniz is playing a long game but his opponents for this World Cup qualifier show what can be done. France then lost their final game 2-1 to hosts South Africa and failed to advance to the knockout stage. This is a fact not lost on Diniz, ecuador jersey 2024-25 a known admirer of the team who recently suggested that “what happens artistically remains in the memory”. That magical team of Zico, Socrates and Falcão is remembered for its dazzling samba sway rather than ultimate victory on the scoreboard. Argentina’s spectacular rediscovery of their identity at the World Cup only served to highlight the absence of the Brazilian spirit that was perhaps embodied most poetically by the 1982 World Cup side.