Brazil out of the World Cup. Why didn’t Neymar take the first penalty?

No way: Brazil just can’t chase away the European ghost. After the fifth world title in 2002 – won against Germany in Japan – in the knockout stages of the World Cup the Seleçao has always fallen, when it was faced with a national team from the old continent. In 2006 the green-gold surrendered to Zidane’s France; in 2010 in Holland, still in the quarterfinals; in 2014 the fool of 1-7 at home, in the semifinal against the Germans; in 2018 he was knocked out against Belgium in the quarter-finals, just like today against Croatia.

Concentration

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“Conceding goals is part of football, especially against quality opponents. We’re just not used to conceding goals on the counterattack… maybe we lacked a pinch of concentration. But the group is excellent. In moments like this, it’s hard to have words “, said the former Milan player Thiago Silva, 38, captain of Brazil at the end of the match. Junior, a former idol of Turin and Pescara and now a commentator on Tv Globo agrees: “The details count in these cases, and now they escape us”.

Normal

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For Casemiro – one of the few Brazilians not to make mistakes in the spot kicks that sent the green-gold national team home – it is no coincidence that it was a European team that eliminated the Seleção: “It’s normal, they are the majority at the World Cup. Now we have to raise your head, life goes on”.

Neymar

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Then focus on the question of the questions: “Why didn’t Neymar, Brazil’s best player, take the team’s first penalty?”. The question is asked by Lédio Carmona, commentator of SporTV. And for Cauhê Mota, of the prestigious globoesporte.com site, Tite made a mistake in not replacing Danilo, because the Juventus player was not having a good day.

Silence

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On the streets of Rio everything seemed ready for the party, which instead has been postponed (at least) to 2026. The hexa, the sixth world title, will not arrive in 2022. Silence has fallen. Markets, pharmacies, shops and other businesses had closed, to reopen after the race. Now what will happen? Coach Tite, in charge since 2016, will leave the national team. He had already said it months ago, regardless of the Qatar result. In 2018 he remained at the helm of the Seleçao, the only Brazilian coach to have lost a World Cup and to remain in command in the cycle of the following four years.