Cafu and the World Cup: "Small national teams should thank European clubs"

 The legendary defender of the Brazilian national team, **Marcos Cafu**, in an interview for the Italian newspaper "La Gazzetta dello Sport" emphasized how important European clubs are for smaller national teams. "The World Cup has started, and we have already received an important message: football at the national team level is now more balanced than ever. I have seen the matches so far and it is clear that the level of smaller national teams has increased significantly. An example is **Cape Verde**, which drew with **Spania** 0-0. This result cannot be treated as a weaker performance by Spain, but rather as an excellent performance by their rivals. The truth is that smaller national teams now have better training conditions, better training programs and excellent players who play in the best leagues in the world. Many players from Africa, Asia and less developed countries play in **European clubs** and gain experience there, which they later translate into playing for the national team," Cafu said. --- ## Related Articles 1. [2026 World Cup](https://khidarikhabran.com/khabran/2026-138) 2. [World Cup 2026](https://banthangvn.com/vi/news/fifa-moi-blogger-han-quoc-oi-mat-voi-su-phan-biet-chung-toc-toi-tran-au-world-cup)