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The original was posted on /r/soccer by /u/bluefoxlive on 2024-05-11 11:45:38+00:00.
This has gotten quite a bit of attention in Spain, but it doesn’t really surprise me. When I last travelled to South America, I always got a feeling that international football was huge there due to nationalism, etc. But, over there I realized that particular teams like Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay (so, the world champions) are seen as near mythical cultural entities, actually essential to their nation’s histories. If you saw how Lionel Messi reacted after his first Copa America win, none of him Champions League wins came close to comparing to that. From what I’ve seen, there was another level of reverence when I visited or spoke to people from particularly those 3 countries, so I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that they’d trade several Champions Leagues for international success.