Brazilian club soccer is in a bad way with small clubs underworked while big ones have too many games

The talented midfielder at small Brazilian club Presidente Prudente rushes to finish his rounds delivering food for a local restaurant so he can make it to practice in time. His teammate has to leave training quickly so he can get to his parent's diner in time to prepare pizzas.

Don't be fooled by Pele's fortunes, Neymar's massive contract or Brazil's powerful national team. Professional soccer in the World Cup host nation is struggling, with lower-division teams unable to play enough games, players forced to take multiple jobs and even top-tier teams competing in mostly empty stadiums.

The best players leave quickly for offers to play in other nations. More than 70 per cent of Brazil's nearly 700 professional teams play only about three months a year, meaning nearly 12,000 players are out of a job for most of the season. Meanwhile, the best teams are forced to play up to 85 games a year, more than any other league in the world.

Presidente Prudente's season started in April and will end in mid-June. The team did not advance past the group stage of the fourth division in Sao Paulo and will play about 10 matches the entire year. They played only eight matches last season. It's hard to find opponents and difficult to pay for travel.

"The calendar is the biggest problem," Presidente Prudente president Mateus Grosso said at the club's headquarters. "Teams have to hire players for at least three months, but many times they may not get play for that long the entire year."

The debts of Brazilian clubs increased by nearly 75 per cent in the past five years, and they owe more than US$1 billion to the government alone, according to numbers from a players' movement created last year. Of the nearly 20,000 professional players in Brazil, about 16,000 earn less than US$650 a month.