Opinion The Mineiraço
Brazil are a nation in crisis after a defeat matching their worst ever, 94 years ago.
Sixty-four years ago, Brazil suffered “O Maracanazo”, when Uruguay walked away with the Jules Rimet trophy at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracanã stadium. All Brazil had to do was draw the match. They couldn’t. And they couldn’t stop talking about it. Till Tuesday. Fifty years hence — unless a bigger “catastrophe” befalls the Seleção — Brazilians will still tell their grandchildren of “O Mineiraço”, the semi-final devastation at Belo Horizonte’s Mineirão stadium inflicted by Germany. Brazil went into Tuesday’s (local time) match conscious of the likelihood of defeat, having lost superstar Neymar to injury and captain Thiago Silva to suspension. But the first 10 minutes that Brazil dominated showed coach Luis Felipe Scolari had the right gameplan.
However, the 11th minute onwards, the match became a compendium of “first-time” statistics, which framed the humiliation for a country that had written its footballing prowess into its national identity. The most successful team in the WC became the first to concede five goals by half-time in a WC semi-final. Brazil had never conceded more than five goals in a WC match. Tuesday’s defeat, their biggest ever in the WC, surpassed their 0-3 loss to France in 1998. It’s Brazil’s first WC semi-final defeat since 1938, and the first competitive defeat on home soil in 39 years. The final scoreline of 1-7 matched Brazil’s biggest defeat ever — 0-6 to Uruguay in 1920. This catastrophe is a collective failure for a psyched-out team, whose defence went missing, allowing a clinically efficient German attack every chance. In the end, Brazil missed Silva in defence more than Neymar in attack.
Perhaps President Dilma Rousseff’s chances at re-election in October just got tougher, despite her popularity recovering somewhat after the WC infrastructure and organisation were marked excellent. South America has changed since the Argentine junta fell from power shortly after, and partly because of, the 1982 WC loss. Some hope this loss entails different gains for Brazilians. In any case, the ghost of Maracanã has been laid to rest.
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