Marquinhos tries to duck to the ground as Croatia’s players start celebrating. PDO
PSG top scorer Marquinhos stepped to 11 meters in the Education City stadium, feeling the expectations of the 217 million people of Brazil with every step.
The 28-year-old central defender should never have been in that position. For example, captain Thiago Silva and the all-time best scorer Neymar would have been available from the Brazilian team.
Neither of them were among the first four drivers.
Marquinhos was. He understood that failure in the penalty shootout would mean Brazil’s elimination and the transfer of the World Cup dream four years ahead again.
We all already know what happened. Marquinhos brilliantly deflected the best player of the World Cup quarter-final, Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic, but he swung his shot to the middle of the post.
As the ball bounced back towards the center circle, Croatia’s wild celebrations began.
The air stopped at Education City Stadium. The Brazilian fans looked at each other in disbelief. Marquinhos fell to his knees and tried to cover his face in the grass.
You can’t blame him for this loss. Anyone can miss a penalty kick – at least if it’s not a Croatian player.
In Brazil, the autopsy of the national team begins immediately. Everything looked so good, although it is clear that already finished the initial group stage The Cameroon defeat hurt more than many outside the Federal Republic realized.
The truth is that Brazil’s attacking play did not work without Neymar. On Friday, the superstar was on the pitch and completed a brilliant 1-0 goal at the end of the opening period of overtime.
At the same time, Neymar rose alongside Pelé as the best power cannon of A Seleção of all time.
It certainly won’t comfort the star at all when he starts his return journey from the Persian Gulf this weekend.
The Brazilian team’s fortnight in Qatar ended in huge disappointment. It did not fall into ineffectiveness, because the team was stuck in the victory over Croatia until the 117th minute of the game.
It means that The World Cup semi-final spot was only about three minutes away. At that point, the opponent really shouldn’t be able to get a superior attack.
The verb form implies that this really happened. Brazil’s concentration frayed decisively in an unforgivable way.
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Dani Alves (right) tackled Neymar off the pitch of the Education City stadium. PDO
Substitute Mislav Oršić, who was only on the field for a few minutes, receives a delicious pass from skipper Luka Modric. The Dinamo Zagreb striker reeled off the blanks, and probably surprised himself how many different passing options opened up for him.
Brazil forgot to defend.
The mistake is hard to understand. It is completely incomprehensible from a team that was chasing the World Cup gold.
Oršić picked out teammate Bruno Petković, who pulled the ball into the net with a small bounce.
Brazil lost the quarter-final at two different points. The first was Petković’s equalizer in the 117th minute. The second was the trickery of the rough competition, where Modric guessed the coin correctly. After that, he chose the first draw for the Croatians.
It is impossible to win a spot race if the opponent puts the ball in the net with every attempt. Brazil’s goalkeeper Alisson was nowhere near making any saves.
Still, you can’t blame him for the loss.
The biggest culprit can be found at the end of the bench. The 61-year-old head coach Tite was allowed to lead the yellow shirts for two World Cup tournaments.
In Russia, four years ago, the road rose up in the quarter-finals by Belgium. Now Croatia acted as the hangman at the same point.
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Brazil head coach Tite left his position a couple of hours after the defeat against Croatia. PDO
Tite’s sins are recorded except for replacing Vinícius Júnior and Richarlison from the field already in a 0–0 situation and inability to calm the Canaries’ play in the lead.
The head coach should have hammered into the heads of his players during the break of a few minutes of extra time that the semi-final is only fifteen flawless minutes away.
Now it moved again four years later.
Tite earned the ire of Irish legend Roy Keane when he took part in the team’s goal dance in the quarter-final crushing win.
– I love watching Brazil and what they represent. But I don’t see how the head coach can take part in the dance when the match is still going on,” Keane continued to Sky Sports.
– It’s about respect. You can dance later in the dressing room or in a night club. It is not a problem.
Keane’s comments were widely misunderstood. He didn’t want to ban Brazil from dancing.
He just thinks so the matches should be played out before concentration is allowed to falter.
If that happens, the opponent can get a dominant attack just three minutes before the final whistle.
Brazil failed to qualify again when they faced the first European team in the playoffs. The story is exactly the same as in the 2018, 2014, 2010 and 2006 World Cup tournaments.
It’s the next head coach’s turn to try.