ABSTRACT
One of Brazil’s largest and most popular soccer clubs, Sport Club Corinthians Paulista established in 1910, takes their name from the Corinthians. The Corinthians visited South America on three occasions prior to the First World War. In 1910, the tourists played three matches in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, respectively. The tourists played matches against the Anglophile social elite of both cities. Cricket was played too. The tourists proved popular on and off the field. They won all their matches in Brazil and were fêted off the field of play by local elites and dignitaries. The Corinthians soon returned to Brazil in 1913. The tourists were not as dominant on their 1913 tour as three years earlier but proved a successful draw card in that they were invited to tour Argentina in 1914. The Corinthians travelled to South America in 1914 against the backdrop of the truce between the FA and the Amateur Football Alliance. Arrangements for the tour were undertaken by the breakaway Federación Argentina de Football. The tour threatened to undermine the fragile agreement reached in Britain. No official matches were played in South America as war against Germany was declared, and the Corinthians returned to Europe after docking in Brazil.
