Still crushed from their 7-1 semi final annihilation at the hands of Germany, Brazil were unable to perk themselves up for the World Cup third-place play offs and the host side were left stunned yet again on conceding a disgraceful three goals to victorious Netherlands yesterday.
With ten goals conceded to two European sides over two fixtures held on home territory, Luiz Felipe Scolari’s Brazil national team hang their heads in shame and last night a few of them spoke of the nightmare they’ve experienced this World Cup.
Defender David Luiz, who captained the side in the semi final against Germany, told FIFA: “What went wrong was that semi-final, which hit us really hard. We weren’t expecting it.
“We went into the game having had a very good competition, with the team growing in stature and morale high after beating Chile like that (on penalties) and a great performance against Colombia.
“Then suddenly came that almighty blow which sent everyone reeling. It was the end of a dream for us and bouncing back from that is very tough.
“Today (against the Netherlands) we started the game wanting to win it only to concede a goal right away, which brought all those negative sensations flooding back.
“We still tried to get back into it and were on top for spells, but we couldn’t get a goal,” he added.
Midfielder Paulinho spoke of his devastation over such colossal defeats on home turf: “It’s too soon to find an explanation, it’s still so fresh, but football’s like this.
“Of course we wanted to be crowned world champions on home soil, but these things happen in football. And of course it’s sad.
“That defeat against Germany will be remembered for years, but life has to go on.”
Right-back Daniel Alves explained how the German semi-final domination marked the point of no return for Brazil: “We couldn’t get back up after that blow (against Germany). It was really hard.
“Finishing off the World Cup like that isn’t what we wanted, but in life you have to put these things down to experience and use it in the future. In general terms there were some very good things and some very bad ones, but the lessons we learn will stick with us so that, next time, we’ll be that bit more mature and experienced.”
The winning nation of the World Cup 2014 will be crowned tonight when Germany take on Argentina in the final showdown of the tournament, which is being held in Rio de Janeiro.