The loss of Brazil was not a failure of capacity, but of ambition

After having himself had a bad night during Brazil's catastrophic defeat at the last World Cup, David Luiz felt the need to provoke public self-excoriation.

"My apologies, my apologies to all the Brazilian people," sobbed Luiz during a live television interview. "I just wanted to see my people smile."

It did not do much to him.

Although one of the most expensive defenders in the world, Luiz has been gradually moved away from the brazilian setup. It has not been selected for the World Cup roster of 23 players this year.

In the end, it was a little pity. There is once again time for neutrals, nostalgic and four-wheeled riders every four years to don their mourning shawls. Everything is wrong for everyone's favorite team.

Rhythmically, there is also someone to blame this time too. If there is a special ring of hell reserved for a Brazilian football player who collapses under the colors of his country, Fernandinho is the last resident of the latter.

The 33-year-old midfielder has a reputation for being tough. Brazil is mainly composed of emotional traps and flibbertigibets, but the team still includes two or three really tough men. Fernandinho was among the hardest of them.

He did not start this World Cup, but he was called in the quarterfinals on Friday against Belgium due to the suspension of a teammate. He was – and there is no good way to say it – abyssal.

Charged with controlling the space in the middle, he conceded several times to his colleague from Manchester City, Kevin De Bruyne. In a first movement, De Bruyne made it turn like a high. Fernandinho fell, dizzy. De Bruyne continued on the ground. This set the tone.

In the 13th minute, Fernandinho came out and fired the ball from a Belgian corner. He was alone and without any pressure. He managed to deflect him into his own net.

At that time, several Belgians were distinguished. But you would have said that their best player was a guy in yellow and blue.

In the final stages of the match, Fernandinho was staggering without any particular duty except to try to stay away from everyone.

Once the match ended 2-1 for the Belgians, the only person brave enough to come to console him was De Bruyne.

It was a charming gesture, but Fernandinho did not seem ready to receive a speech of encouragement. He looked more like someone who wondered about cloistered monasteries and how one engages.

Unlike Luiz, he did not cry. Also, unlike Luiz, he does not have the luxury of blaming a match lost by six goals. This one is entirely on him.

Some athletes have bad years and overcome them. It will not work like this. No one at home will want to see Fernandinho overcome adversity. There is no second act. This – scrambling the value of a career disaster in two hours at the wrong time – is how one will remember him.

It will continue to play. It will not do it for Brazil. It is time for the spiritual home of football to begin exorcising it from history.

A word about the disasters in Brazil and football – every defeat in the knockout stages of a World Cup counts as such. But there is a specter of disaster between "burning the team" and "burning everything around you".

Friday 's loss was on the end less flammable on the scale. Although she spent a large part of the game defending, Belgium showed real quality where it counted – on the counterattack.

If there is an overall tactical theme at this World Cup, it is the emergence of the counter as something more than a deterrent. For most of the best nations here – France (the other winner of Friday, on Uruguay), Belgium, England, Croatia – it has become the first option.

Rather than trying to carry opponents with a half-court offense – the now discredited Spanish way – you get them on the break.

You need a specific staff to do it – intelligent, technically competent and, above all, able to work in tandem at high speed.

Who does it look like?

The first name that comes to my mind is Brazil. But this ability never came up.

Brazil is making its way to victories, slowly making its way through fewer staff. You had the feeling that the key virtue of the team was wearing the right jerseys. The teams were overcome by the aura of Brazil.

The Brazilians rolled out all the familiar tricks against Belgium – trying to cross them in slow motion, without good reason, sneaky tricks, the usual dives and moans. Belgium was not interested and, to its credit, the Serbian arbitrator was not interested either.

Brazil lost 2-0 at the half, thanks to Fernandinho and a remarkable goal from De Bruyne. It was bad.

But this was the second half that will really annoy the fans of Brazil. Far too late to make a difference, the team they hoped would eventually arrive in Russia.

Desperate, Brazil begins to play without hesitation, without selfishness and without theatrical performance after each tackle. The Brazilians have done it at a faster pace than any team in this tournament has yet shown. Even Neymar finally looked serious.

Apart from a goal from Renato Augusto that made the end interesting, he did not get Brazil where he wanted. But it was sometimes breathtaking.

Where was Brazil in the last three weeks?

No one can play at this level for 90 minutes each game, but it is certain that athletes who know that their reputations of a lifetime are at stake can handle it when it counts. Without taking anything from Belgium, it did not look like a failure of Brazil's capacity, but a lack of ambition.

Now, Brazil will perform the sacred rites of post-loss – pulling the coach, funeral pyre for some old soldiers, a good boost on the public square for players who can not get rid of.

In four years, there will be a new generation of stars. We do not know their names yet. But since we are in Brazil, we know that they are coming.

Then they must make the same decision as all Brazilian players – will we remember to have won everything, or something terrible? There is no in-between.