To paraphrase a Simpsons’ episode... Moe: Go home, Brazil. Brazil: I am home. Moe: Good, stay there. Tonight’s defeat at the hand of Holland was their just desserts after a humiliating main course. Brazil has for long been everyone’s favourite or second favourite team and I am no exception. However, I find it beyond my capacity to root for this Brazil team just because of my nostalgia for the vintage Selecao artists of the past. The reason: this is the worst Brazil team I have ever seen other than the 1974 one; well that is no reason to dislike them? you may say. True; that is no reason to dislike a team, not being good enough. But, if it were only that - lack of ability/talent, I would still wish them well, especially in a world cup at their own turf, but this is one of the dirtiest, thuggiest teams I have ever seen in a World Cup. They thought they could kick the opposition off the pitch and stopped playing football. When they had to play football to get back in the game... they had forgotten how. To be fair, this has been going on for a while. The dirty, thuggish Brazilian side has been a feature for a decade with Carlos Alberto Parreira at the helm and accelerating even more under Dunga whose archetype was Felipe Melo considered more invaluable to the team than a creative type like Elano. That trend found success when a brutish Brazilian side kicked Leo Messi to the ground in the 2007 Copa America final like they did James Rodriguez in this World Cup. My soft corner for Brazil as the home team ended when their fans spent every single game booing and whistling the opposition when they had the temerity to have possession of the ball. In fact, this spread into other games where the Brazilian crowd had obviously favoured one team over another. More boos and whistles. Felipe Scolari is the Tony Pulis of Brazilian football. From Mario Zagallo and Tele Santana to this clown. How have the mighty fallen. As usual though, no one will blame the coach, all the blame will be deflected onto the players. Scolari was a disgrace keeping with clowns like Fred. Then, to the comedy of errors, on what planet is it a good idea to take off Fred and bring on Jo as he has done several times in recent games? Fred is pretty poor but he at least looks a bit like a footballer. Not sure what Jo is. Personally I would have played Hulk up front, at least hes mobile, Willian and Ramires should have started - at least they would have given them energy in midfield. Scolari is a very limited coach when it comes to tactics. He has no plan B, he never has had. He doesnt have a clue how to change the tide of a game. This was very obvious when he managed Chelsea and it has been very obvious in this World Cup. After what Brazil did to James Rodriguez and Colombia; the semi final boys and girls, was what they call karma! Thankfully, Germans were good enough and finally Brazil were found out. Their fullbacks’ tendency to push forward and thier midfields slowness to track back was fully exploited by Germany. Simple pattern for most of the German goals - run into space behind fullbacks on either flank, pass to someone in the centre who knocks back to unmarked shooter in the space between defence and midfield, and then some clinical finishing. Prior to semi final I had become a bit demoralised by thinking that the World Cup was going to be won by an unexceptional side, the least inspiring of all being the diving, cynical Brazil. I wasnt a big fan of Spain over the last few years but they were definitely an exceptional side. If Neymar and Silva had been in the side and they had bluffed their way to the World Cup it would have been a scandal and without them they were shown to be the collection of timid, creatively bankrupt, makeweights that they are. Frankly, Neymar on his best day wouldnt have made a damn bit of difference to the result. Thiago Silva might have shored things up a little bit, but watching on he was probably glad to be suspended. So, David Luiz, why werent you on your knees in the centre circle at the end of the game, giving Him the Vs with one hand and furiously waving your knackers at the sky with the other? Or maybe you should have motioned towards God with one of your scandalous forearm smashes that could/should have got you sent off tonight? Its so sweet to see the veneer being stripped away from such a living-on-memories-and-reputation side. Germany were merely decent while Brazil were an embarrassing shambles and a total disgrace. We knew that they werent a very good side but they should have had some self-respect and professionalism at the very least. The Brazil performance was the mother of all flights; a total abdication of responsibility by every single player. Germany could hardly do anything else but to knock seven past such a pitiful excuse of an international team. The silver lining for Brazil is that Argentina will now not have the luxury to disembowel them in the final. Good riddance to them. And on to the final, which is Germany’s to lose.
Posted on: Sat, 12 Jul 2014 22:01:16 +0000
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