Criticized still in many factions for the horrific mistake against Netherlands in the World Cup quarter-final four years ago, Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar’s display against Croatia on Thursday night was as reassuring as the overall belief the Brazilian public have in the team.
Though the former Inter shot-stopper was hardly called into question early on in the game, he was put to test in the dying stages first by a low drilled Luka Modric effort, followed by another from midfielder Ivan Perisic, comfortably managing his goal post, whilst retaining his nerve.
However, the veteran will be disappointed at not having kept a clean sheet, although he was never at fault for Croatia’s opening goal that was done to naïve defending.
Happening at a time of uncertainty regarding Cesar’s position in the team, fuelled by the hard hitting notion that the Queens Park Rangers man doesn’t, in any way, reflect the quality the Selecao possess in other departments. In turn, leading to calls for him to be replaced with Botafogo’s Jefferson, who is considered to be pretty under-rated.
We’re discussing a player who won the Champions League as well as five league titles with Inter, a player who tried his best to save QPR from relegation, and yet because of rare and unfortunate shortcomings, is unfairly censured, branded weak and indecisive, and vulnerable to derail under pressure.
To substantiate my stance, I would like to point out the two Serie A Migliore portiere(Goalkeeper of the Year) awards the 34-year-old claimed in 2009 and 2010 and more recent performances while playing on loan at FC Toronto ensure he is still up to task.
To further underpin his importance, last year’s Confederations Cup was the ideal place to be to stake his claim as Selecao number one, bagging yet another individual prize, the ‘Golden Glove’, for the most clean sheets (three) in the tournament.
Therefore, by no means is Julio Cesar a finished on the international stage. His ability to read set pieces isn’t what it used to be admittedly, but his shot-stopping skills combined with tons of experience provides Brazil the much needed reliability from their last line of defence.
The fact that Cesar has been living away from the spotlight for many years now, unlike players like Iker Casillas and Gianluigi Buffon has somewhat undermined the quality that he brings to the table, however, in no ways should project him as inferior to any of the world’s current crop of elite goalkeepers.
Despite such harsh prejudices and extreme views it is rather pleasing to see Brazil head coach Luiz Felipe Scolari not influenced by the public perceptions and stick with Cesar, who might have just proved his indispensability yet again in his own way – it was not only Oscar that saved the day for the hosts.
