Samba rhythm is sure to quicken every heartbeat
Sydney Morning Herald
Well done, Sydney FC. It's not often I've had the opportunity to utter that phrase in the first two seasons of the A-League, but their signing of Juninho Paulista will have far-reaching ramifications for our domestic game.
Juninho is the most exciting name recruited to the fledgling competition - the most successful player ever to commit himself to more than a few games in this country.
Sure, Adelaide's signing of Romario last year was a bold move and made for great marketing. But given little time to understand his new teammates, who play an entirely different style of football, the ageing legend was always going to find it difficult to cope.
Romario left these shores complaining about the physicality of our game, saying that a culture which does not properly value skill and technique does not suit Brazilian coaches and players.
This points to one reason why Juninho is an outstanding signing - he has played successfully in the English Premier League, another culture in which a tackle is more celebrated than a beautiful pass.
So he comes here well aware of how we play the game, well aware that we like to play as fast as possible and always go forward.
Although 34, he until recently produced wondrous displays of skill for Middlesbrough. This indicates his transition into the A-League will be smooth.
And, with the greatest of respect, his signing bears no comparison to that of Dwight Yorke. Yorke was a Champions League winner - this bloke won a World Cup. While Yorke played alongside Roy Keane and Paul Scholes, Juninho played with Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Romario.
Yorke's presence brought a championship and much needed promotion to the league, and credit to him, but Juninho brings pure quality.
What is more, this signing is not just the perfect tonic for the club - after Australia's fizzer at the Asian Cup it should excite all fans.
Slowly, but surely, we are moving to a better vision of the game.
At last we are importing a player who can help lift the standard of our game, and there should be longer-term benefits as tens of thousands of kids and coaches, players and spectators, through watching one of the most gifted players to grace these shores, start to know the artful side of our game rather than the merely industrial.
For those of us who have been around too long, I wonder what would have happened had we, as youngsters, been able to watch such a player week in and out in the flesh. How fundamentally would our view of the game have changed?
Having a Brazilian star here can only further, or more accurately begin the process, of building strong ties with our South American football-loving community, and we hope Sydney will extend an olive branch to those who most understand and respect the beautiful game, and who surely were most offended by the football of the Terry Butcher era.
And should we see Brazilian dancers and drums before every home match and a new samba style on the pitch, then Sydney FC will show they have woken up to a major advantage football has as a form of entertainment - its ability to tap the infectious joy other cultures have in our game.
So, at last, although it has taken three years, samba has come to the big city. Which means our South American community, with all its passion and love of football, might be enticed to add its joyous flavour to the mix that is Sydney FC.
The glamour is back, but this time hollow bling will be replaced by soulful samba.