Defeat... but not only that
So, Brazil was defeated by France... again. Well, the defeat was well-deserved. France surely played well (probably their best match in the competition so far) and Zidane was awesome. But a good part of the defeat was because of Brazil itself.
The apathy of the players was astonishing. Weak marking, no movimentation to pass the ball (note that when a Brazilian player had the ball, most times NO ONE would get close to him and allow a pass)... Those problems didn't happen only during the match against France. Probably, the only match when it didn't show up much was against Japan... even so, maybe because of the goal the Japanese did. Against Ghana it was more evident than ever. But at that time, Allowing Ghana to have the ball and working on counter-attacks unconsciously neutralized the oppponent main feature: fast counter-attacks. But France simply doesn't work the same way.
Even after the goal, the Brazilian team was like dead. Apathetic. Even the coach and the bench. Like if nothing's changed. Only Robinho seemed to be a little in the mood. That's what bothered me the most.
Why? Well, just look at other matches. Even when losing, even when there was little or no hope left, other teams would do their best until the very end, sometimes even turning the tables. Examples: Brazil vs. Japan. Japan had almost no hope of qualifying, but even so did probably one of their best matches in the World Cup, even scoring the first goal. Italy vs. Ukraine. Even losing by 3, Ukraine was trying hard until the end. England vs. Portugal. A good game until the PK's. Then Portugal goalkeeper turned into a hero, but England's defeat was just by an inch... fought to the very end. Germany vs. Argentina. Argentina's coach did a very good strategy, breaking Germany completely to the point they didn't have space to attack. And Argentina scored. Then Germany showed guts and managed to tie and keep the result until the PK's, where Argentina was defeated.
(One point of being back to Brazil: where else there could be an experimental class during the Germany vs. Argentina match and listen to the game on the radio that someone brought - or took at the lab - while doing the experiment? Even the teacher was listening...)
The problem wasn't about Brazil losing to France, but how it was... The first (and probably the only) shoot that could actually reach the goal was done only at around 40'... of the 2nd half!
I just hope that it has teached a lesson. Players' ability saved Brazil until the point that it really wasn't enough. Excellent players, but not behaving like a team... simply doesn't work. Individually, Brazilian players were better than the French, but almost any team (at least all that had a match against Brazil) was better as a team...
The defeat also has other good points. Braking the overconfidence and the exaggerated World Cup atmosphere (cheering isn't a bad thing in itself... but people sometimes simply overdo it... But I guess that only Brazilians and people who were here diring a World Cup will really understand the sentence...) and returning to our normal lives.
The apathy of the players was astonishing. Weak marking, no movimentation to pass the ball (note that when a Brazilian player had the ball, most times NO ONE would get close to him and allow a pass)... Those problems didn't happen only during the match against France. Probably, the only match when it didn't show up much was against Japan... even so, maybe because of the goal the Japanese did. Against Ghana it was more evident than ever. But at that time, Allowing Ghana to have the ball and working on counter-attacks unconsciously neutralized the oppponent main feature: fast counter-attacks. But France simply doesn't work the same way.
Even after the goal, the Brazilian team was like dead. Apathetic. Even the coach and the bench. Like if nothing's changed. Only Robinho seemed to be a little in the mood. That's what bothered me the most.
Why? Well, just look at other matches. Even when losing, even when there was little or no hope left, other teams would do their best until the very end, sometimes even turning the tables. Examples: Brazil vs. Japan. Japan had almost no hope of qualifying, but even so did probably one of their best matches in the World Cup, even scoring the first goal. Italy vs. Ukraine. Even losing by 3, Ukraine was trying hard until the end. England vs. Portugal. A good game until the PK's. Then Portugal goalkeeper turned into a hero, but England's defeat was just by an inch... fought to the very end. Germany vs. Argentina. Argentina's coach did a very good strategy, breaking Germany completely to the point they didn't have space to attack. And Argentina scored. Then Germany showed guts and managed to tie and keep the result until the PK's, where Argentina was defeated.
(One point of being back to Brazil: where else there could be an experimental class during the Germany vs. Argentina match and listen to the game on the radio that someone brought - or took at the lab - while doing the experiment? Even the teacher was listening...)
The problem wasn't about Brazil losing to France, but how it was... The first (and probably the only) shoot that could actually reach the goal was done only at around 40'... of the 2nd half!
I just hope that it has teached a lesson. Players' ability saved Brazil until the point that it really wasn't enough. Excellent players, but not behaving like a team... simply doesn't work. Individually, Brazilian players were better than the French, but almost any team (at least all that had a match against Brazil) was better as a team...
The defeat also has other good points. Braking the overconfidence and the exaggerated World Cup atmosphere (cheering isn't a bad thing in itself... but people sometimes simply overdo it... But I guess that only Brazilians and people who were here diring a World Cup will really understand the sentence...) and returning to our normal lives.
3 comments:
É, que jogo feio. O Brasil não merecia ganhar mesmo! Mas o mais divertido no jogo dos Germanos versus Los Hermanos foi o povo comemorando a derrota Argentina, como se Londrina fosse a mais alemã das cidades...
Bom, então talvez a derrota pra França não passe de praga dos argentinos...
Jogo patético da seleção. E realmente como vc disse: totalmente apática. Acho que era a seleção mais sem vontade de toda a copa... pois é. "Colhemos o que plantamos"...
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