FRANKFURT, Germany -- He arrived confident and secure, consistent in his coaching and his comments. It seemed there were no doubts on Carlos Alberto Parreira's mind.

It looked like the coach knew exactly what to do to lead Brazil to its record sixth World Cup title.

Then it fell apart -- quickly.

The usually coherent Parreira turned into an unpredictable commander on Saturday, steering Brazil in all directions in a quarterfinal match against nemesis France.

Brazil played poorly from the start, losing 1-0 and heading home without the trophy many thought it would easily capture in Germany.

It didn't help that Ronaldinho, Kaka, Ronaldo and Co. had a dismal performance, but Parreira's unexpected changes before the match -- and the late ones during it -- seemed to heavily affect Brazil's performance against France.

Parreira surprisingly put an end to Brazil's "magic quartet" scheme, using a starting lineup with midfielder Juninho replacing striker Adriano. Ronaldinho moved to attack, considerably changing the style in which Brazil began the competition.

Even worse, Parreira changed the formation Brazil had been playing for the past year and a half -- and the staring lineup he had announced eight months ago.

In the 40 days Brazil spent in Europe, the coach rarely practiced using the lineup he fielded against France.

Parreira said loud and clear after Brazil's 4-1 first-round win over Japan, when he fielded five reserves and the team had its only brilliant performance of the competition: "Our goal is to win the World Cup, and you don't win a World Cup with two teams ... you can't keep changing the way you play."

Apparently he didn't say it loud enough to hear it himself.

"We all agreed we needed to crowd the midfield a little bit better," Parreira said, defending his decision.

After watching his team constantly challenged by France, the coach changed his mind again, putting Adriano on the field and going back to the "magic quartet" scheme. He did it only in the 63rd minute, however, after France had already scored its goal.

Brazilian media and fans also complained that Parreira took too long to make other changes.

Cicinho replaced a visibly tired Cafu only in the 76th, and standout striker Robinho substituted Kaka in the 79th. Robinho added spark to Brazil's attack, but 11 minutes weren't enough.

Parreira said he is leaving Germany with no regrets over his decisions.

"We made the all the right choices," Parreira said. "We are frustrated with the result, but our effort was good. We lost one match and have to go home, that's how things work in the World Cup."

He won't even regret the decision to have Brazil play weaker opponents in its pre-tournament preparation, including Fluminense's under-20 squad, New Zealand and Swiss club FC Lucerne.

He forgets, however, that he blamed the team's shaky 1-0 win over Croatia on Brazil's lack of rhythm in game situations.

"Croatia was at an advantage because it faced several tough opponents in friendlies before the competition," he said at the time.

That was the same Parreira who said his team would improve at the right moment, when it needed the most. He obviously ran out of time.

Parreira and the rest of the players were insulted by a group of 50 people as the team left Frankfurt on Sunday evening on its way to Brazil. The fans cursed and yelled "National Shame" as the bus carrying the Brazilian delegation left the hotel. The group of fans was among about 300 people watching Brazil depart.

Although they should expect more of the same upon arriving in Brazil, Parreira said he knows that's part of the job.

"It's always like this," he said. "When the team wins, it's because of the talent of the players. When it loses, it's because of the coach."