Nick is a soccer and motor 
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and appreciater of all things 
Japanese, trapped inside a 
mundane office job and looking 
for a way out.

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To go from the sweltering hot sands of the Copacabana, to Moscow in the heart of a Russian winter may not seem to be the most attractive move for a footballer, but it is one that is becoming increasingly more common. As of this week, there are currently nineteen Brazilians, as well as six Argentines and one Colombian plying their trade in Russia’s top division. Add to that, a further twenty Brazilians in the Ukrainian first division and there is quite a community growing across the former USSR countries.

The main reason why many of them are keen to make the move is money. As Maxi Moralez, a young Argentine midfielder, voted the second best player at this year’s U-20 World Cup, said on his recent move to FC Moscow, “I would have liked to stay with Racing, but I think about the economic progress for me and my family”. Most of the recent signings by Russian and Ukrainian clubs have been of players aged between 19-22, who are just starting to establish themselves in their own domestic leagues. At this stage in their careers, many of them will be earning very little and therefore cannot afford to hold out for an established big European club to come in for them, when the Russian or Ukrainian clubs are offering at least three or four times their current salary.

The secondary reason for a great number of them is the opportunity to play in the big European competitions, such as the Champions League and the UEFA Cup. Clubs such as CSKA and Spartak Moscow in Russia, and Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kiev in the Ukraine, are guaranteed at least UEFA Cup football almost every year, and a chance to test themselves against Europe’s best is obviously an attractive proposition for many Brazilians and other South American players. There is also the hope that by impressing against famous opposition, they will be able to engineer a move to one of Europe’s big leagues.

Although Spain, Portugal and Italy are clearly the most popular European leagues for Brazilian players, it may surprise you to find that the English Premier League, officially the richest league in the world, can only count twelve Brazilians between its twenty clubs. In fairness, this is mainly due to the restrictive work permit conditions for non-EU players in England, in fact, only two of those twelve players (Denilson of Arsenal and Lucas Leiva of Liverpool) had no experience of European football before signing for their respective sides.  It seems that the Russian and Ukrainian leagues could become a feeder league for the Premier League, with Brazilian playmaker Elano being the first player to make the switch, signing for Manchester City from Ukrainian side Shanktar Donetsk this summer.

For the clubs, the signing of young Brazilian players is the only chance they are likely to have to attract players of that calibre to their sides.
Although the Russian, and more recently the Ukrainian national sides perform solidly in International tournaments, they are often lacking a creative force, which is something that South American players in general are famed for providing. Therefore bringing these players to the club not only provides success on the field, but their playing style often results in larger crowd attendances and more merchandising sales off the pitch.

The greatest exponent of success generated by an influx of Brazilian players is CSKA Moscow, who became the first Russian side to win a major European trophy when they defeated Sporting Lisbon by three goals to one in the 2005 UEFA Cup final. The winning side included striker Vagner Love, who scored the third goal in the final and creative midfielder Daniel Carvalho, who was man of the match in that game, and also became the first foreign player to ever win the Russian League player of the season award in 2005. CSKA also won the Russian League and Cup double in 2005 and retained the league title in 2006. Their present side, which now includes no fewer than six Brazilians, currently lie in fifth place in the 2007 league, and have qualified for the first group stage of the Champions League.