No texto a seguir o autor, Uidá Santos Conceição, que reside em Zürich, reflete sobre a Copa Mundial de Futebol da FIFA a partir de sua tripla identidade. Filho de casal negro, nascido na favela do Calabar em Salvador, Bahia, há mais de 30 anos emigrou com a mãe para a Suíça. Faz parte da equipe de empregados da multinacional Microsoft naquele país.

O artigo completo, com análise de conjuntura e imagens multiculturais particularmente das seleções da Suiça e da Argentina, pode ser lido em https://medium.com/@uida87/one-shirt-more-than-one-identity-a1639229f2c1

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ONE SHIRT, MORE THAN ONE IDENTITY

Football Changed How People Saw Me

I was born in Brazil and arrived in Switzerland in 1995, when I was seven years old. People often saw a Black child first, clearly a foreigner. Then they learned I was Brazilian, and the reaction often changed. Children and adults smiled. The conversation became warmer.

Brazil meant the beautiful game, the yellow shirt and great players. I grew up watching Brazil win two World Cups. Football gave people a positive story about where I came from before they knew much about me.

I enjoyed that welcome. Of course I did. Only as an adult did I understand the bargain hidden inside it. Not every foreign child received those smiles when people heard where they came from. Brazil had given me a story that travelled well, and football had written much of it.

This World Cup brought that memory back. National teams tell us how a country understands its own “we”. They also show how quickly that “we” can create belonging for one person while turning another into a simple “they”.

Me during Swiss Winter, around 1997

Two Identities, Both Real

Coming into the World Cup, I knew the Brazilian national team would have a difficult time. I was only semi-optimistic. Switzerland, on the other hand, looked like a team to fear. We still remember their wins against France and Spain in past tournaments.

I supported both teams. That isn’t confusion, and it isn’t a contradiction. It is simply true.

Brazil went out, and on 11 July Switzerland faced Argentina in the quarter-final. Argentina won 3–1 after extra time. Switzerland played the decisive period with ten men after Breel Embolo’s contested red card. The score is clear. The feeling isn’t.

Switzerland had pushed the defending champions beyond 90 minutes before losing in a way that felt cruel. I noticed how naturally I had started thinking “we”. I have Swiss citizenship and a Swiss passport. Switzerland is my home. But Brazil wasn’t being replaced. A second national identity had grown beside the first.

That is often how belonging works. It gathers over time. A childhood memory doesn’t disappear when a new passport arrives. Supporting Switzerland doesn’t make me less Brazilian, and supporting Brazil doesn’t make my Swiss identity less real.

Football likes a clean choice. Life isn’t black and white.