1895, the year when it all started. The first ball on the pitch, the first dribble. Brazil didn´t know what was happening at that very moment: the birth of a national obsession.
Charles William Miller, an Englishman born in São Paulo in 1874 to a Scottish father and a Brazilian mother from an English family. At ten, he was sent to study in England. A curious and bright kid, he quickly learned to play football and, no surprise, he fell in love with it. He played as a player, was referee and even managed a club, which gave him a super cool perspective on the game. On February 18, 1894, he returned home with two balls, a pair of cleats, a book of rules, a pump to inflate the balls, some used uniforms, and a dream.
Back to 1895: on April 14, the first organized football match was played between employees of the São Paulo Gaz Company and the São Paulo Railway Company. Who won? Miller’s team beat the São Paulo Railway Company 4-2. But who really won? The Brazilian people. From that day on, Brazil had the start of its own “seleção” in its feet and in its history.
