The creation of the current canarinha shirt dates back to the 1950 World Cup
Aldyr García Schlee was the one who designed the yellow shirt that now characterizes Brazil
Until July 16, 1950, the Brazilian national team wore the white jersey. A traumatic event the ‘Maracanazo’ made Brazil looking for a new design to play football matches.
It was the final of the World Cup in 1950, the first edition after fourteen years of inactivity due to World War II. the maracana, a new stadium with capacity for more than 200,000 viewers he was burning to see his team.
Brazil and Uruguay faced each other to decide which country would be the best on the planet. In a final four format, a draw was enough for the Brazilians; while Uruguay was forced to win the match in order to win the title.
The ‘local’ team opened the can, but the Uruguayans were able to come back from the match, leaving almost 200,000 spectators speechless and Brazil without the World Cup they wanted so much. A crisis of national identity began in the country.
After the Maracanazo, they crossed out the damn white t-shirt and a contest organized by the Rio de Janeiro newspaper Correio da Manhã was held to present designs that would lead to a new shirt for the Brazilian team. There was only one condition: it should include the color green, yellow, blue and white, the four that the national flag includes.
This contest was won by Aldyr Garcia Schelee, an 18-year-old who ended up becoming a Brazilian journalist, writer, translator and teacher; but mostly it was remembered for bringing yellow to the national team jersey, with a green neck Combined with blue pants and white socks.
The young designer was born on the border between Brazil and Uruguay, and in fact, he was a fan of the light blue.
The uniform invented by García Schelee it was exhibited in a friendly in 1954 and in the World Cup in Switzerland of that same year. In that edition he was eliminated, but in 1958 they won the World Cup with Pele in the squad. They were able to repeat that trophy in 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002.