Brazil needs a reality check

Another humiliating loss by host squad leaves fans wondering what went wrong

The last place Brazilians expected to be embarrassed in the World Cup was on the pitch.

But that is precisely what happened for the second straight game on Saturday as Brazil bowed out of the tournament after losing 3-0 to the Netherlands.

Brazilian fans react after a Netherlands goal during Saturday's World Cup third-place playoff game in Brasilia. The Dutch vanquished Brazil 3-0. Silvia Izquierdo / Associated Press

Fans at Brasilia's Mane Garrincha stadium were left scratching their heads, wondering what happened to their once-feared national team.

"I came here hoping we were going to win and restore our pride. That didn't happen," said psychologist Renata Barros.

She was one of thousands of Brazilians who turned out for the third-place playoff match, willing to give the team one more chance even after last week's humiliating 7-1 meltdown against Germany - Brazil's first loss in a competitive match at home in almost 40 years.

The country's consecutive failures threaten to spoil a tournament that exceeded everyone's expectations after facing criticism for repeated delays in building stadiums and other infrastructure, much of it also way over budget.

"It was the other way around - things worked fine outside of the soccer field; our team was the real disappointment," said Robson Cintra, an electrical engineer.

After dreams of playing in Sunday's final were crushed, many Brazilians could not even bear to watch the match against the Netherlands.

Bars in major cities that had been standing-room only a week ago were all but empty. Some diehard fans even swapped stories on Facebook about what they would do instead of watching what they rightly feared would be another embarrassment.

Inside the stadium, however, the mood remained festive with fans cheering loudly for Brazil even after Robin van Persie's third-minute penalty put the Dutch ahead.

But any hopes of a comeback seemed to vanish when Daley Blind put the Netherlands up by two goals at the 16-minute mark, leaving the stadium silent.

By the end, Brazilians were applauding the Dutch team's cool control of the game and wondering about the future of soccer in what many consider the sport's spiritual home.

'Bring back Pele', read one sign held up by a fan, a reference to the legendary player who won three World Cups with Brazil.

Though fans cheered for their players before the match, especially when an image was shown of star forward Neymar who was on the sidelines with a back injury, they loudly booed coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.

It was Scolari who led Brazil to a record fifth World Cup title in 2002, and the Brazilian soccer confederation brought him back before this Cup in the hope he could work his magic again on home soil.

But this Brazil team never quite gelled and showed itself to be too dependent on Neymar's remarkable talents, prompting fans and sports commentators to turn against Scolari.

Many are calling for his resignation, and some are even urging Brazil to bring in a foreign coach for the first time in its proud soccer history.

Meanwhile, Scolari declined to make a decision on his future on Saturday, saying it will be up to the Brazilian soccer confederation to decide whether he will stay on after the World Cup.

"It's the president (of the confederation) who has to decide," said the 65-year-old coach. "We had already agreed that after the tournament we would hand over the command regardless of whether we won or lost. I will turn in a report to the president and he will analyze what he wants to do."

Since his second stint with the national team began in late 2012, Scolari led the team to 19 wins, six draws and four losses. Brazil won last year's Confederations Cup, the World Cup warm-up tournament, under his command. He had promised to win the World Cup at home, saying it was Brazil's obligation.

Confederation president Jose Maria Marin has not spoken publicly since Brazil was eliminated. He had said before the tournament that he would like Scolari to remain as coach no matter what happened with the national team.

The coach was largely blamed by fans and media for picking a lineup that was too offensive against Germany. He apologized after the loss, but said he thought his work with the national team was good until then.

"We didn't have great performances but we were reaching our goals," Scolari said. "We still finished in the top four. I don't think we can't criticize the national team."

Injured striker Neymar showed up during Scolari's news conference after Saturday's loss, hugging the coach and saying a few words to him before leaving.

Brazil's next official tournament is the 2015 Copa America. The team is expected to play four friendlies this year, the first against Colombia on Sept 5.

(China Daily 07/14/2014 page24)