Brazil in mourning

For a country with a rich championship tradition in soccer, Brazil will remember the debacle in the World Cup this year as a nightmare to end all nightmares. Losing is forgivable if you fight to the finish. But if you concede 10 goals in dropping your last two matches before a disappointed homecrowd, the jury will call for a hanging.

Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari should’ve read the writing on the wall and resigned his position with a $3.7 Million annual salary before he was terminated by the national federation. It would’ve been shameless for the 65-year-old coach to stay on. At the 2002 World Cup, Scolari piloted Brazil to the championship, beating Germany, 2-0 in the final behind Cafu and Ronaldo. Four years later, he took Portugal to fourth place.

Scolari was back in the saddle for Brazil at the Confederations Cup last year. Brazil whipped Japan, 3-0, Mexico, 2-0, Uruguay, 2-1 and Spain, 3-0 to win the championship. That brought Scolari to this year’s World Cup with high expectations of a title finish.

Soccer is a religion in Brazil which has produced a slew of football legends like Pele, Vava, Didi, Jairzinho, Romario and Garrincha. When Brazil lost to Uruguay, 2-1, at the 1950 World Cup final in Rio de Janeiro, hometown fans never forgave losing keeper Moacyr Barbosa. There were threats that Barbosa’s house would be burned down and he had to evacuate to escape irate mobs out for a lynching. Even in his 70s, Barbosa continued to be ostracized. He lived on a pension of $150 a month and stayed away from public view to protect himself and his wife. Barbosa died at the age of 79 in 2000. Before his death, Barbosa said, “there hasn’t been one day in my life I haven’t had to explain myself … I alone wasn’t responsible for the defeat but I’m going to die and people will still be looking for a reason.”

Brazil’s lopsided 7-1 loss to Germany in the semifinals in Belo Horizonte last week was an embarrassment. If Brazilian fans are looking for a reason or a scapegoat, Scolari will fit the bill. Neymar, who is considered the next Pele, couldn’t play because of a broken vertebra so fans knew it wouldn’t be easy sailing. But to yield seven goals in the semifinals was inexcusable, with or without Neymar. Hometown fans deserved a better result. If Brazil’s defense was so porous that Germany found it a breeze to penetrate, then Scolari must be blamed, nobody else. But will he suffer the same fate and agony as Barbosa? Perhaps, fans today are less irascible. Maybe, Scolari will be forgiven as after all, he took Brazil to the World Cup championship in 2002.

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It wasn’t just Brazil’s 7-1 loss to Germany that was heartbreaking. It was also Brazil’s 3-0 setback to the Netherlands in the battle for third place in Sao Paolo last Saturday. Brazil could’ve at least bowed out with a bang for the home fans. Instead, it left the venue unceremoniously, leaving a legacy of football supremacy in tatters.

Brazilian fans aren’t used to watching the national team whipped at home. Brazil hasn’t lost a competitive match on home soil since 1975 when Peru won, 3-1. The last loss at home was a friendly to Paraguay in 2002 or 12 years ago. It was the first time Brazil gave up more than five goals in the World Cup since 1938.

Brazil’s 7-1 setback was the worst shellacking in World Cup semifinal history. Three teams had previously surrendered six goals in the World Cup semifinals – US to Argentina in 1930, Yugoslavia to Uruguay in 1930 and Austria to West Germany in 1954. Before the loss to Germany, Brazil’s worst defeat was 3-0 to France at the 1998 World Cup final.

If it’s any consolation, the 7-1 count wasn’t the most lopsided in World Cup history. Hungary crushed El Salvador, 10-1, in 1982 and Yugoslavia blanked Zaire, 9-0, in 1974 and Hungary blasted South Korea, 9-0, in 1954. But a traditional football power like Brazil isn’t supposed to lose by a margin of as many as six goals.

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Brazil paid a hefty price to host the World Cup. The total cost was reportedly close to $11 Billion with $3.4 Billion apportioned to stadiums. The budget was over the combined spending of the last two World Cups in Germany in 2006 and South Africa in 2010. In the rush to construct new facilities and renovate old ones, several workers died.

Organizers would’ve justified the enormous price tag if only Brazil made the country proud. Brazil lost 1-0 in the World Cup quarterfinals in 2006 and 2-1 to the Netherlands in the 2010 quarterfinals. So advancing to the semifinals this year was an improvement but giving up 10 goals in the last two matches was like a knockout punch. Brazil is the planet’s bastion of soccer with five World Cup titles in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002, two second place finishes in 1950 and 1998 and two third place finishes in 1938 and 1978. Overall, Brazil has posted a record of 71 wins, 16 draws and 17 losses in 20 World Cup appearances. It has participated in every World Cup since the inauguration in 1930.

Writer Walter Villa quoted what is often said in Brazil, “the English invented soccer but we perfected it.” Before this year’s competition, Scolari said, “we are Brazil and we are the hosts … the very least we can do is win the World Cup.” Losing wasn’t supposed to be an option. “The Brazilians have been waiting for the opportunity to again serve as host for 64 years,” wrote Villa. “The last time they had the world stage was in 1950 when Brazil lost 2-1 to Uruguay in the final.