Brazil set for NorCal return in Copa America 30 years after South Bay takeover

SANTA CLARA – The Brazilian national soccer team, traditionally packed with endless attacking options and trademark flair, should thrill the Bay Area when the Seleção takes on Colombia at Levi’s Stadium in a Copa America match on Tuesday.

Something the South Bay has seen before.

Brazil’s arrival to the region will no doubt bring back memories of the 1994 World Cup, when legions of Seleção fans took over mainstreet Los Gatos during the early stages of the iconic team’s run to the championship on United States soil.

With two of Brazil’s group-stage games 30 years ago being played at nearby Stanford Stadium and the team taking up residence at a Los Gatos hotel, fans flooded Santa Cruz Avenue, turning the upscale South Bay community into a carnival reminiscent of scenes out of Rio de Janeiro.

Los Gatos native Charles “Chuck” Perry vividly remembered the vibrant scenes of Brazilian fans taking over the town, and the media circus that followed.

On his way to work, he would pass Santa Clara University, where 20-plus satellite TV trucks would be parked at the practice field to record the national team. And while the visitors certainly wanted to have a good time, he said they were very respectful guests.

“Brazilians were coming out of the woodwork, like the 49ers faithful on steroids,” Perry recalled. “The Brazilians lived to party, and they were dancing in the street. They were a lot of fun.”

Brazilian faithful had reason to party back in those days.

The brilliant Romario was at the peak of his goal-scoring powers in 1994, and Beneto and Jorginho provided all-world support for the team’s star.

Brazil defeated Russia and Cameroon at Stanford Stadium before taking a trip to the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan, to beat Russia 3-1.

The eventual champions then traveled back to NorCal and used a 72nd-minute goal by Bebeto to squeak past host USA 1-0 to advance past the round of 16.

Brazil cut the USA’s run short, but the Stars and Stripes had already captivated the country and laid the foundation for soccer’s explosion in popularity in the U.S. over the next 30 years.

“The World Cup in 1994, it was a launching pad for the sport,” said Elliott Almond, a former longtime Mercury News sportswriter who covered the World Cup in the U.S. for the Los Angeles Times.

Brazil eventually went on to defeat Italy in the final at the Rose Bowl legendary for Roberto Baggio’s penalty kick miss that gave the Seleção the championship.

Four years later, Brazilian fans still felt Los Gatos’ impact as the World Cup moved across the Atlantic to France.

Paris’ finest establishments were compared favorably to classic Los Gatos haunts such as the Black Watch bar.

“Here, we have parties everywhere,” Brazilian visitor Antonio Leonardo told the Mercury News in 1998. “There, we go to Los Gatos for the party.”

Thirty years after Brazil took Los Gatos by storm, the world’s most decorated national team has a whole new generation of superstars that is seeking to reclaim its title-winning form.

Scintillating talents such as Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr. and the precocious wonderkid Endrick headline the attack that remains fearsome despite losing the legendary Neymar to a knee injury.

But championships have been missing since the team’s last World Cup title in 2002. It has been 18 years since Brazil last appeared in a World Cup final. The powerhouse was knocked out in the quarterfinals in 2022 and 2018.

Of course, almost any other nation would love to have those kinds of results, and Almond said that Brazil isn’t far away from another golden era on the world stage.

“They always have someone in the pipeline … the next great Ronaldo is somewhere a minute away from catapulting Brazil into the upper echelon,” said Almond, who now writes for the Seattle Times and Cascadia Daily News.

Recent results show that Brazil tied an improved but still less-talented U.S. team 1-1 in a friendly in Orlando on June 12, and then bumbled its way to a scoreless draw in its Copa America opener against Costa Rica. Brazil may have stabilized Friday night with a 4-1 win over Paraguay in its second group-stage game of the Copa.

A lot can obviously change in two years, when North America will play host to the 2026 World Cup. But many of the Brazilian players that will line up at Levi’s Stadium are expected to represent South America’s biggest nation in its pursuit of a sixth Copa do Mundo.

And just like all those Brazilian fans in Los Gatos 30 years ago, the people who make the trip to Levi’s on Tuesday might get to see an eventual world champion.

“For this Brazilian team, it’s all about what’s going to happen in two years,” Almond said. “I would not discount that when they come back to the United States, Mexico and Canada for the World Cup, that they are going to be right there as a contender.”