A Scottish man’s legacy is being felt in Brazil’s soccer history. Malcolm McLean, 77, is a physical representation of the sporting connection between the two nations. His grandfather, Archie McLean, introduced Brazilians to the short, quick-passing game for which they would come to be famous.

Archie McLean’s Impact on Brazilian Soccer

Archie McLean was sent to Brazil in 1912 to help open a factory for the textile company J&P Coats. He stayed for nearly 40 years and got heavily into playing football. A team photo from August 1914 shows him lining up alongside Arthur Friedenreich, one of the first great legends of the Brazilian game.

According to Scottish broadcaster Billy Kay, Archie recalled that when he arrived in Brazil, players were competing to see who could kick the ball the highest and the furthest across the field. He and Hopkins then “mesmerized opponents” with their “high speed, short passing interplay,” as Kay describes, very much in the Scottish tradition, but innovative to Brazilians at the time.

Brazilians, famously, ran with it. In 1949, Brazilian soccer historian Tomás Mazzoni wrote that “McLean was an artist, a worthy exponent of the Scottish school.” The Brazilians recognized it as something new and called it tabelinha, Portuguese for “the chart” or, with unintentional irony, sistema inglês: the English system.

Malcolm McLean’s Divided Loyalties

Malcolm McLean inherited the divided loyalties. “They’re both close to my heart,” he said. “My dream would be that Scotland can beat Brazil – but Brazil win the World Cup.” Malcolm was born in Brazil and moved to Scotland at age 10. He has followed Scotland to World Cups since 1974, when he watched them exit at the group stage in Germany without losing a game – still, he says, their best-ever performance.

Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.