A Traição que Destruiu a Chuteira da Seleção do Sócrates: A Trágica História da Topper

On July 5, 1982, at the Sarrià stadium in Barcelona, ​​Paolo Rossi scored Italy's third goal against Brazil. Telê Santana's team only needed a draw to reach the World Cup semi-finals—and returned home without the title. On the feet of Sócrates, Zico, Falcão, Júnior, Éder, and Cerezo was a Brazilian brand that seemed to dress the entire country: Topper. The boot that accompanied the most romantic generation of Brazilian football, from Sócrates' Corinthians to Zico's Flamengo, today survives more as a memory, nostalgia, and outlet surplus. In 2022, Topper's last major Brazilian factory, in São Leopoldo (RS), closed its doors and laid off around 300 people. The brand became a licensing agreement. For a younger generation, the name that dominated courts, schools, fields, and shop windows has practically disappeared. How did a brand created in Buenos Aires in 1975 as a sub-brand of Alpargatas Argentina arrive in Brazil, become the official supplier of the Brazilian National Team, and lose ground to Umbro, Nike, and Adidas? Why did Alpargatas sell Topper in 2007? And why did J&F, owned by the Batista brothers, buy the brand in 2018 but give up a few years later? In this episode of Oxidized Crowns, we tell the complete story of Topper and the era of the Brazilian soccer cleat: ▸ Its origins in Argentina and its arrival in Brazil through Alpargatas ▸ The São Leopoldo factory and national expansion in the 80s ▸ The contract with the CBF in 1980 ▸ Spain 1982: Sócrates, Zico, Falcão, Maradona and Paolo Rossi in Sarriá ▸ Mexico 1986: Careca, Müller and Zico's missed penalty against France ▸ Copa América 1989: Romário's debut with Topper on his feet ▸ The loss of the national team contract to Umbro in 1989 ▸ Italy 1990, the 1994 World Cup victory and the US$200 million Nike-CBF contract in 1996 ▸ The invasion of global brands in Brazilian soccer ▸ The positioning error From Alpargatas: Havaianas rises, Topper falls ▸ The sale to SBI Lifestyle in 2007 and the purchase by J&F in 2018 ▸ The factory closure in 2022 and the future of Topper in Brazil ▸ 3 brutal lessons about Brazilian brands facing global competition Subscribe to follow more stories of companies and brands that dominated Brazil and disappeared: Varig, Transbrasil, Mappin, Parmalat, Encol, AIWA, Gurgel, Banco Nacional and many others. Also watch: ▸ Parmalat — The Tragic Truth About Palmeiras' Titles ▸ Mappin — How it Lost Downtown São Paulo After 86 Years ▸ Transbrasil — From Frozen Chicken Plane to Billion-Dollar Bankruptcy ▸ AIWA — The Brand That Dominated Brazilian Christmas and Then Disappeared ▸ Encol — The Construction Company That Left 42,000 Families Homeless Did you own a pair of Topper sneakers? Tell us in the comments which model was yours: the white sneakers from school, the futsal shoes for Sundays, or the pair that marked your childhood. And where were you during Brazil vs. Italy in 1982, or during Zico's penalty against France in 1986? #Topper #BrazilianNationalTeamBoots #Sarriá1982 #Sócrates #Zico #BrazilianNationalTeam #WorldCup1982 #WorldCup1986 #BrazilianFootball #HistoryOfBrazil #BrazilianIndustry #OxidizedCrowns #NikeBrazil #UmbroBrazil #Alpargatas #SãoLeopoldo #ValeDoSinos #Falcão #TelêSantana