What went wrong for Brazil?
Belo Horizonte: the scene of a very gruesome death.
The build up was dominated by one name and one name only.
Neymar; the nation’s saviour, the World Cup’s golden-boy, out. Taking with him the hopes and dreams of millions.
All a touch melodramatic? Absolutely. And all this even before a ball had been kicked in the eagerly anticipated semi-final clash between the host nation and the overbearing machine that is the Joachim Löw ’s German XI.
Such was the despair of Neymar’s absence, few people even acknowledged the loss of Tiago Silva, perhaps pound-for-pound the best central defender in world football right now.
As the national anthems boomed out, a passion-fuelled David Luiz and Julio Cesar held aloft, in unison, Neymar’s number 10 Seleção shirt to the skies, very ceremonious yet seemingly very far-fetched.
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The losses of the iconic Neymar and Silva were undoubtedly a huge blow for Scolari’s men, yet it all too soon became apparent that their ‘plan B’ was hastily drawn up, worryingly transparent and most importantly lacking serious orientation.
The diminutive Bernard came in to replace the felled Neymar, yet from the first whistle, stepping into the boots of the nation’s sweetheart was all too evidently beyond him.
As Germany took a commanding grip upon the tie, dictating play via the imperial Toni Kroos and his equally impressive henchman Sami Khedira, the frailties in Brazil’s game came to the fore.
It was no secret that A Seleção had been far from convincing in their previous ties, showing occasional flashes of brilliance yet thanking their lucky stars that a top international team were yet to come calling.
As David Luiz whipped himself into an emotion-enthralled frenzy in attempt to single-handedly carry the aspirations of Brazil upon his imposingly broad shoulders, the flaws in his game were soon exposed, thick and fast.
His faltering concentration levels, questionable decision making and poorly disciplined forward-roaming with the ball, all of which received scrutiny during his Chelsea days, each returned with a vengeance, extracted purely as a knee-jerk reaction once the German goals began to flood in.
Luiz’s demise, along with the painfully stagnant performances of Fernandinho, Luiz Gustavo, Hulk and Fred, signalled the opening of the flood-gates for the Germans, as Julio Cesar’s goal began to take a humiliating onslaught.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28102403
Thoughts must have gone out to Scolari at half-time. After all, what can possibly be said to a host nation, losing by 5 goals to nil with no evident signs of penetrating an irrepressible German resistance? Any inspirational calls for resurgence would surely have come across as patronising at best, bordering on the disbelieving.
In truth, the sides returned for the second period with both firmly in the knowledge of who would be playing in the final; no fairy-tale comeback was on the cards for this one.
Brazil’s play continued, as stunted and as fragmented as the first 45, the brace of substitute André Schürrle coming as no great shock to either the disheveled Brazilian players or the stands of tear-streaked fans.
Chelsea’s Oscar managed to pull one back, however this was more of a bitter annoyance to Germany rather than a redeeming factor for Brazil; the pure rage in Manuel Neuer’s reaction spoke volume as to how militant, merciless and malevolent the Germans had been in their performance.
The dream was over — yet in truth this never truly seemed like a World Cup that Brazil were capable of winning. Even with a fully fit Neymar, hemorrhaging flair and oozing creativity, the peripheries of the Brazilian team never really appeared capable of adequately filling the gaps in order to mount a convincing challenge for the World’s greatest footballing prize.
http://www.sfgate.com/worldcup/slideshow/Brazil-fans-mourn-World-Cup-thrashing-by-Germany-89280/photo-6570135.php
It would have taken a solo effort of monumental proportions for Neymar to drag A Seleção into the final, emerging victoriously on the other side. It was an ask that was quite simply beyond him.
Putting the romanticism to one side, Neymar came up with the goods for his nation on a few occassions this tournament, yet a whole host of players have simply been better than the young Barcelona attacker during the World Cup.
Joachim Löw’s German side merely served as the mirror that the Brazilians greatly needed, one that wasn’t afraid to identity their every failings and speak a thousand critical words in the form of one 90 minute performance.
