Brazil vs Belgium, 2018 World Cup: Brazil on the outside, but not down

Belgian Axel Witsel (L) rejoices after Friday's 2-1 win in the quarterfinals while Neymar and his Brazilian teammates are inconsolable. (Reuters photo)

Fifteen days before his death from a heart attack at the age of 79, Maracanazo's keeper, goalkeeper Moacir Barbosa, wrote a moving epitaph for his life and career : "Under Brazilian law, 30 years old.But my imprisonment lasted 50 years."

The pain of defeat and condemnation haunted him for the rest of his life to such an extent that He has never played for the country, his club career has collapsed and there have been rumors that he was in the habit of stealing the Maracana poles and the cook on the barbecue to burn the pain. No other Brazilian footballer has experienced Barbosa's contemptuous damnation, no more than anyone in this more lenient environment, but few other countries – neither the public nor the players – are as tragic as Brazil or do not find a convincing parable with the morale of the nation. . The chroniclers would thus link their latest defeat to the plunging economy of the country, the debilitating recession, their most influential leader lately being in prison, and the imminent prospect of Jair Bolsonaro, called the Atout of the Tropics, ready for another

Several years after Barbosa's unforgivable weaknesses, when Tele Santana's electro group failed to win the World Cup, his much-maligned striker Serginho carried the cane of defeat. Their talismanic leader, Socrates, has resumed his heavy habits of alcohol and smoking. Santana himself took evangelism and disappeared in the Middle East before having a second chance.

Closer to this century, Ronaldo, who blamed the loss to France in 1998, battled depression four years ago. the whole nation cries and cries again the Minierazo. And now in their catalog of national tragedies will pbad the defeat to Belgium in Kazan. As Barbosas and Serginhos expect to be supervised and sentenced. Philippe Coutinho is already preparing for the eventuality: "I am sure we will be beaten by critics from all sides."

But to equate the last defeat – Kazaneiro if you will – in Minierazo or Maracanazo is an exaggeration, Gilberto Freyre, the country's most famous writer, wrote: "Our country is bathed in sunshine and hyperbole, it is at the rhythm of our football, its magic dribbling, its dynamic races as the glow of his skin. We lose a slice of reality without the hyperbolas that make us. "

The instinct of exaggeration is all the more obvious as the defeated Brazilian side in Kazan was widely considered the most artistic since the Santana lot, before a cloak of gnarly football pragmatism, its famous stylistic flourishes manifesting itself only sporadically.The team at Tite had something about this old Brazilian charm and romance, although he has welded it with tactical rigor and discipline They did not imagine a dream football brand like Santana's protections, but seeing the canary yellow float and flapping its wings was perhaps the most distant sight to evoke romance in this World Cup. [19659006] is left with teams from Europe, is less exhilarating, but there is a noticeable de rigueur about them – a football brand that puts the result forward and beauty in the back seat, which in Brazil is derisively called resultados futebol. Even France, which plays with a refreshing fluidity, is fundamentally based on the surgical dissemination of its opponents rather than on exciting football. In this sense, the World Cup is a loser in the loss of Brazil.

Even in the defeat of Belgium, shone the unbridled creativity of Brazil's Tite – and their defeat casts doubt on the diversity of the World Cup, for the rest of the world The Cup will drag in an extended version of the Champions League, teammates suddenly embracing the colors of their country.

There is no doubt that the twisted approach of Belgium has exhausted Brazil, to such an extent that they have been terribly reactive lead, and then doubled it. Some would be tempted to say that they were repeating the mistakes on Socrates' side, illusory devotion to their philosophical curve and not configuring or neutralizing the tactics of their opponents.

Superior in the second period
But in the second half Brazil began to flicker, silky-haired forefeet popping up, Neymar evoking that rare trick of the feet – the elastic or the dribble illusory, slippery, snaking in the thick defensive labyrinth. Willian pushed the pace, Coutinho harpooning empty spaces, firing shots of that raw fury and deception that Thibault Courtois was to be at his best, what he was. The saved fingertip of Neymar could one day make the walls of his living room. And above all, the dynamism of Renato Augusto and the dynamism of Renato Augusto.

To quell such bursts of attacks, it took a lot of effort, and the Belgians threw everything to the Brazilians, and another night, Brazil should have beneficiaries. at least one penalty, or eked in a goal or two. But Titus, who is so reminiscent of Santana after the tragedy of Sarria, did not fall into the familiar trope of unfortunate misfortune. His grace sparkled as much as his grace. "Luck", he so eloquently expressed, "is an educated way of putting down people's skills. They were clever. They finished well. There was no chance. There was Courtois. Was he lucky? No, he did well. At the end of his press conference, the heart of the most rigorous critic melted and some applause fell in the room. If Neymar and Co, Tite will be missed.

In the midst of the chills of defeat, he left the room prophesying a resplendent future. "For those who think that Brazilian football is over, these guys will prove it.How do not be excited when you have talents like Neymar, Jesus, Costa or Coutinho, they are young and I have to say that they will have happier moments in a World Cup, "he said, in a measured way that sums up the man himself. There are Roberto Firmino, Wagner, Casemiro and Danilo, all a few kilometers from their summit. And there must be hundreds of early, unknown talents hitting the ball in the distant favelas of the vast country.

The biggest fear, though in Brazil once grief is extinguished, would be the return of austere football, like those observed after Santana. days, symbolized by former captain and coach Dunga. They would like Titus to stay, but those intuitive words of Socrates could resonate between their ears. "It may have been the last team to represent Brazil in a World Cup that played the country, it was irreverent, cheerful, creative, fluid, and from that moment La Seleçao became like any other national team in the First World. "Perhaps, like all things, his words might seem too hyperbolic over time. And Brazil will continue to inspire and inculcate romance in the biggest sports shows.

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