A Fresh Start, And Some Consolation, For Brazil

In his second spell as coach of Brazil, Luiz Felipe Scolari has amassed a record of 19 wins, six draws and three defeats, with 70 goals scored and just 26 conceded. Since winning the FIFA Confederations Cup last year, his team have suffered just one defeat in 10 games. Unfortunately, that turned out to be as costly as it was painful: the harrowing 7-1 loss against Germany last Tuesday. The result ended a 64 year dream of winning the World Cup on home soil.

Having had just four days to recover from the defeat, Brazil now take on the Netherlands in Brasilia in the Play-Off for Third Place. While coming third is important, the team will have another source of motivation when they take the field. It is a chance for Scolari and his players to validate the work they have invested in a campaign in which the team achieved a winning percentage of 75%, yet still finished two steps away from their goal.

"Now we have to focus on the goal of coming third," said Scolari at a press conference. "We know that even a win won’t take away the disappointment, but we have to have objectives. We couldn’t achieve our aim of reaching the final, so now we have to play for a smaller dream.”

Historical precedents
This will be Brazil’s fourth appearance in the Third Place Play-Off. Interestingly, there are similarities between the current campaign and those of 1938, 1974 and 1978, the other years when Brazil played in the podium decider - with the crucial difference that the team was not the host nation on those occasions.

The 1938 FIFA World Cup was when Brazil first announced itself to the world as a major footballing power. After overcoming Poland and Czechoslovakia in the knockout stages, the team was eventually defeated 2-1 by eventual champions Italy in the semi-final. Interestingly, Brazil’s best player, Leonidas da Silva, was ruled out of that match due to injury problems, just like Neymar this year. Unlike the young striker, however, the Black Diamond recovered in time to play in his team’s last match, and scored two goals in a 4-2 win over Sweden. He eventually finished the tournament as top goalscorer with seven goals.

By the time the 1974 World Cup in Germany came around, the structure of the tournament had changed. The semi-final stage consisted of two groups of four teams, with Brazil facing Argentina, East Germany and the Netherlands. In the last match of the group, the reigning world champions were beaten by the fast-emerging “Clockwork Orange,” as the Dutch team was known. Although the 2-0 scoreline was far less impressive than what the Germans were able to achieve 40 years later, the result left the Brazilians equally stunned, coming just days after coach Mario Zagallo had guaranteed his team would win. In their final game in the tournament, Brazil lost again, this time 1-0 to Poland.

This same tournament structure was used at the 1978 World Cup in Argentina. In the second phase Brazil were placed in a group with the host nation, Poland and Peru. Despite remaining unbeaten, Brazil were eliminated and had to watch as Argentina advanced to the final. The similarity between that year and the current campaign was the consistency of the team’s results, with coach Claudio Coutinho announcing he was pleased with his work even if the title had eluded his team. In the battle for third place, Brazil managed to overcome their disappointment by beating Italy 2-1, with a memorable goal from full-back Nelinho.

Starting Over
Three Third Place Play-Offs then, and two symbolic bronze medals for Brazil. Now it is the turn of Scolari's team to try to say farewell with dignity, in front of fans who never turned their backs on their team, even during its darkest moments.

“We didn’t expect such a catastrophic defeat, in terms of the number of goals we conceded. But don’t forget that this is the first time the team has reached the World Cup semi-final since 2002," recalls the coach. "It was a bad defeat, six minutes of total meltdown. If I knew how it happened I’d tell you, but I don’t.”

Scolari knows that many of the current group have a long future ahead with A Seleção. Now it is time to get back on track against the Netherlands. "Life goes on. It isn’t just about the defeats," concluded Scolari. "These players will continue to give everything for Brazil. At least 70 per cent of them will be back in 2018, with a different mind-set.”

Pride And Pain For Robben And Sneijder

"That's football. It's painful."

These words, uttered by Wesley Sneijder in the wake of the Netherlands' defeat to Argentina, summed up Oranje emotions. For the nation that invented 'Total Football', the beautiful game was no longer so attractive.

"It is extremely difficult to take," Sneijder added in an interview with FIFA. "We were so close. We fought for it so hard. And I think we deserved a bit more."

As it was, having triumphed on penalties in the quarter-finals, it was by this same cruel and dramatic method that Dutch dreams died. Sneijder, having dispatched his spot kick with aplomb against Costa Rica, was one of the players thwarted by Sergio Romero in Brasilia as Argentina advanced to the final. And while brave enough to face the microphones and cameras afterwards, there was no disguising the midfielder's desolation.

"It does hurt [to lose this way], especially if you are one of the players to miss," he said of the shoot-out. " I think there was only one team that wanted penalties and that was them [Argentina]. And yes, they won, so well done to them. It's all about taking responsibility in those situations, and sometimes [in shoot-outs] things can go wrong. But of course I am sad."

Throughout the tournament, no-one in the Netherlands side - arguably no-one in any side - has accepted responsibility as readily as Arjen Robben. And while this irrepressible winger again successfully converted in the shoot-out, his disappointment was no less pronounced than Sneijder's.

"It's still difficult," he told FIFA. "You're a football player and when you're defeated it really hurts, especially when you've been so close to reaching the final. We were at 0-0, we hardly gave them any chances, and then it came down to penalties again.

"You could see that we were much fitter than Argentina [towards the end of the match], but they are such a good team. They were better [in the shoot-out] and that's really painful. But it's all part of the game and you can't blame anyone, even the boys who took the penalties. We did it all together. We won together and now we must lose together. But I am so proud of this squad, truly."

This sense of pride offered a powerful antidote to the overwhelming sadness that engulfed the Netherlands camp. Written off by many pundits, and widely tipped to fall at the first hurdle, Louis van Gaal's young side have confounded their doubters with a series of mature and impressive performances at this World Cup. And though the unfolding fairy tale did not in the end have a happy ending, the future - which begins with a Play-off for Third Place against Brazil on Saturday - offers Robben plenty of cause for encouragement.

"Now it is [painful] for us all," he said. "Disappointment dominates me too. But I think we should turn that around quickly. We all gave everything we had at this tournament - everything. We can be unbelievably proud of what we all achieved together, and I mean that."

Neymar Cheers On Messi As Argentina, Germany Prepare

Crocked Brazilian star Neymar declared on Thursday he wants Lionel Messi to lead fierce rivals Argentina to victory over Germany as the countdown to the FIFA World Cup Final™ began.

Neymar, who missed Brazil's 7-1 humiliation against Germany through injury, told a press conference he wanted Messi and Argentina to win the title.

"Messi's history in the sport is so important, he has won a lot of trophies and I will be cheering for him," said Neymar, a team-mate of Messi's at Barcelona. "He is a friend, he is my team-mate and I wish him luck."

Messi's history in the sport is so important, he has won a lot of trophies and I will be cheering for him.
Neymar on Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi

Neymar's support of Messi, and by extension Argentina, is unlikely to be shared by many of his compatriots. The South American nations are sworn footballing enemies, and Argentina's advance to the final rubbed salt into Brazilian wounds still fresh from Tuesday's record defeat to Germany.

"The nightmare continues," O Dia newspaper commented glumly after Argentina booked their place in the final by beating the Netherlands on Wednesday. As many as 100,000 Argentine fans are expected to descend on Rio for the final, the climax of a month-long footballing fiesta.

Germany plan Messi tactics
Germany meanwhile said they had quickly wiped away the euphoria felt from their thrashing of Brazil. Germany's veteran striker Miroslav Klose, who became the World Cup's all-time leading scorer with the second goal against Brazil, said his team had quickly forgotten the momentous win.

"We enjoyed the game against Brazil, but we ticked it off after 24 hours," Klose said. "In the next game, we have to again play to the best of our abilities."

Germany assistant coach Hansi Flick said his team had studied the way the Netherlands managed to successfully contain Messi. "We saw how the Dutch managed to keep Messi out, but we too have a special plan for him - although I won't give that away," said Flick.

Argentina's players began plotting Germany's downfall as they returned to Belo Horizonte. Striker Sergio Aguero said his team-mates were comfortable in the marginal underdog role, insisting all the pressure would be on Germany.

"Germany were always the favourites, along with Brazil, to win the World Cup," he said. "They continue to be so now. We need to play our own game and it suits us that all the pressure is on them." 

Aguero: Underdog Tag Helps Argentina

Argentina striker Sergio Aguero believes his side will relish the tag of underdogs when they face Germany in the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final™ in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.

The two sides' contrasting routes to the final has made Joachim Low's men heavy favourites to win the World Cup for a fourth time as they smashed hosts Brazil 7-1 in their semi-final, whilst Argentina only squeezed past the Netherlands on a penalty shoot-out after a 0-0 draw.