Malcolm X once said: “There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance next time”. Brazil’s exit in the quarter-finals of the 2018 World Cup may have left pain to the fans and to the players, who were hopeful about their chances to lift the country’s 6th title. As it is normal when you suffer a loss, sometimes you feel empty and heartbroken, but for Brazil, this World Cup can be seen as a progress and a turning point on the national team project.
After the disgrace of 2014 and the impact the 7-1 had on the whole national team, having a good campaign in Russia was a must for Brazil in every perspective. This is why Tite was brought into the managerial seat and revived the hope that was only a small ember in the hearts of the Brazilians. Tite is an interesting character; he is a very likeable man and together with his talent as a manager, he is the perfect candidate to lead Brazil forward in many years to come.
When you look at the team and how the youth setup is in Brazil, the team always had talent, and this will happen through the generations to come. We should always expect a lot from Brazil and in this World Cup was no different. Not every team has players of the calibre of Neymar, Philippe Coutinho, Marcelo, Roberto Firmino and many others. Maybe this is the main reason why Brazil were so upset about their World Cup campaign: they have the talent and a sense of underachievement is a frequent thought.
Brazil’s group in the World Cup wasn’t the hardest, with the Canarinho joined by Switzerland, Costa Rica and Serbia. The debut against Switzerland left a bad taste in the mouth, especially after Philippe Coutinho’s stunning opener, a trademark goal of his. As a powerful footballing nation, avoiding complacency is a difficult task to do and against Switzerland, the team were very poor in that matter.
In the following two group stage matches, Brazil left that issue behind and showed great progress. Against Costa Rica, despite only getting a late winner, the team showed excellent commitment and energy that was rewarded at the end, with Coutinho scoring in the first minute of added time and Neymar adding another one late on. In the last match, another great performance by the Brazilians in every sense, being clinical upfront and resilient in the back.
Mexico was another interesting game and arguably Brazil’s best performance throughout the tournament. When under-pressure, Brazil showed incredible strength. When given a chance, their runners attacked like killers, with the right energy and speed. People usually like to compare, so here we go: in 2014, Brazil were very weak emotionally and mentally, often getting exposed due to those weaknesses, with the 7-1 as the biggest example. In 2018, as a team, were very strong in every sense most of the time, was it emotional or mental.
Then came the fatal game against Belgium. Nobody thought it would be easy, the “Belgian Generation” — as it’s called in Brazil — is talented, organized and has winners in every area of the pitch. This was the first real challenge for the Canarinho since the 2014 semi-finals and it was a challenge everyone needed, against an extremely capable opponent and would be a statement to make, show to the world that Brazil are back and stronger as you’d expect.
In football, however, sometimes you’re not meant to win. Even though Brazilians felt this year would the year of the Hexa, maybe this defeat will come as a great lesson and help the national team improve. Differently from 2014, this time Brazil lost more because of the opponent’s strength, than to our own mistakes. Fernandinho’s own goal could’ve been avoided and De Bruyne’s strike as well, but in general, Belgium were by far more superior than Brazil for most of the game. Brazil in the second-half improved their pace and the entrances of Douglas Costa and Roberto Firmino increased Brazil’s attacking intent and added more pace and creativity to the side. Unfortunately, Belgium managed to get it over the line in the end and progressed to the semi-finals.
There isn’t much criticism to make about Tite and the Seleção. Tite’s stubbornness to keep Gabriel Jesus in the side with Firmino playing well when given a chance, his overprotection to Neymar and also the lack of options on the bench were the main mistakes. Tite preferred to maintain an injured Fred in the side instead of calling a midfielder like Arthur, a player that could offer a change on the tactical approach.
But seeing the World Cup as a whole, one thing is sure: Brazil progressed and improved. They finally showed a consistent style of football that was great to watch at times, differently from the last World Cup, where Brazil had too many ups and downs in a short space of time.
Keeping Tite is vital to the progress, on and off the pitch. The next Brazilian generation looks really promising with the likes of Arthur, Malcom, Richarlison, Lucas Paquetá, Rodrygo and Vinicius Júnior. Keeping Tite would not only allow a process of continuation in the national team, but would also allow these young players to come and play a bigger part in the national team.
I’m pretty sure that when Brazilians fans and players look back to this World Cup they’ll see it as a part of the process. Brazil could’ve achieved more, for sure. But the improvement in this World Cup is visible in every perspective and the future looks bright for the Canarinho.
The Final Whistle 