For a nation which still vilifies Moacir Barbosa for his part in the tragic loss to Uruguay in the 1950 World Cup final, can the current Selecao players now avoid becoming lifetime pariahs and, more importantly, can the five-time world champions one day return to the glory days and make us all fall in love with jogo bonito again?
Since the 1982 World Cup when perhaps the most talented Brazilian side ever lost 3-2 to Italy, a result made all the more regrettable when a mere draw would have put the Selecao into the semi-final, the nation has played a much more pragmatic style and has rarely displayed the creativity and free-flowing expressive play so vital in the world’s love affair with iconic heroes such as Socrates, Zico and Falcao.
While the nation has twice lifted the World Cup trophy since that cruel afternoon in Barcelona, the samba style has been more myth than reality and generations of talented Brazilians have sacrificed flair and expression for efficiency and results.
Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari’s men certainly succumbed to the excessive burden of hosting the World Cup as their rare moments of solid team play were almost exclusively focused around Neymar while they hacked their way to the most fouls (107) and yellow cards (11) at the tournament. However, their historic capitulation in Belo Horizonte against Germany had been in the making for a long while.
At issue is not whether Brazil can produce creative players, look no further than Oscar, Willian or Hernanes for evidence; the issue is will Brazil allow these players the opportunity to take chances, and sometimes fail, as a result of expressing their creativity on the pitch?
Neymar was given the keys to this Selecao side and his injury, along with the regrettable suspension of Thiago Silva by virtue of a meaningless yellow card picked up in the Colombia match, meant the side had no one with the required experience or ability to spearhead the attack nor marshal the back line and the reverberations are likely to last longer than the 1950 calamity if Brazil does not return to its roots.
Scolari played Oscar in the traditional number 10 role against Germany but it was obvious the Chelsea man was overwhelmed by a stingy German midfield trio and a barely present centre-forward in Fred, whose biggest contribution at this World Cup was a comical dive against Croatia which swung the balance of the match and typified the side’s cynical nature.
A World Cup trophy is rarely decided by the exploits of a single player, particularly given the array of talent spread across the majority of sides represented at the tournament. The exceptions all occurred over a generation ago, 1986 – Maradona, 1962 – Garrincha, 1958 – Pele, and we’re as likely to see them again as we are to see Brazil destroyed by a six goal margin.
Creativity and expression on the pitch are learned and cultivated, but at the national team level time constraints and national xenophobia all favour a risk averse approach.
The freedom to fail and unshackle the nation which gifted the world jogo bonito would be a brave and difficult task and may be accompanied by mistakes along the way, however it could very well be the key to unlock a lucky sixth star for Brazil.
Zico is famously quoted as saying the loss against the Azzurri at the Estadio Sarria was the day football died, perhaps Brazil can rise from the ashes of the Belo Horizonte turf 32 years later by cultivating its roots rather than playing the same dance card again.
