Brazil is counting down towards the semi-final with Germany in a mood of anxiety, dismay and – just occasionally – hope despite the loss of the nation’s much-loved match-winner, Neymar.
The misfortune of the tournament-ending injury to the Barcelona forward continues to overshadow the triumph of Brazil’s quarter-final victory over Colombia and the growing prospect of a final against arch-rivals Argentina.
Newspaper front pages have been dominated by images of Neymar being stretchered on to a helicopter. TV channels have run repeat after repeat of his emotional, red-eyed video address to the nation. Even president Dilma Rousseff has penned a florid open letter to the playmaker describing him as a great warrior whose injury “broke my heart and the heart of every Brazilian”.
Her claim may be no exaggeration given the sorrow expressed by fans, commentators and team-mates after confirmation that the national side will have to manage without their biggest star against the toughest opponents to date.
The human aspect and high football stakes have brought out the best and worst of the World Cup hosts: as well as the heartfelt sympathy and love for a fallen hero, there has been hateful, racist abuse towards Juan Zúñiga, the Colombian player who was responsible for the injury. Brazilians have issued death threats to Zúñiga on social networks and described the black player as a “criminal monkey”.
Very few commentators have been brave enough to challenge the prevailing sense of injustice. Among them was André Forastieri, who opined that Brazil have little cause to complain given the win-at-any-cost mentality of the coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, whose players have gone down more often and committed more fouls than almost any other in this World Cup.
“There is a certain sadistic pleasure in the fact that Brazil will face the remainder of the Cup without Neymar,” he wrote on his blog. “He was anointed the face of our football, the poster child for Brazilianness, a symbol of our skill, swagger and emotion. Well, if our team depended on a single player, we were always walking towards defeat.”.
But this is not the only problem facing Brazil. With the captain Thiago Silva also suspended, Brazil will have to take on Germany without two of the tournament’s most influential players.
Looking forward, the nation is now speculating on how Felipão (as Scolari is better known here) will adjust the squad. Pundits – the best of whom are treated in this football-obsessed society with the reverence other nations bestow on philosophers – have lined up to share their views.
Juca Kfouri, who is probably the most respected football columnist in the country, says he will not be surprised if Brazil has a more attacking line-up against Germany, despite Scolari’s reputation for caution. He expects Oscar to take the central role of Neymar, and hopes the more offensively minded and creative talents of Bernard and Willian will be introduced alongside him.
Xico Sa, a social commentator and football writer, believes the squad – which has been criticised for emotional fragility – will now be stronger and more determined to win on behalf of their fallen team-mate. The loss of Silva, he says, should not be overstated because the defender David Luiz had already become de facto captain after Silva was too nervous to take a penalty in the shootout against Chile.
Tostão, a key member of the Brazil team that won the World Cup in 1970, also remained optimistic. “After the initial earthquake, I still believe there is a good chance for Brazil to win the World Cup even without Neymar and to beat Germany without our other key player Thiago Silva.”
But the challenge of doing that was graphically represented by Folha de São Paulo newspaper, which devoted an entire page to an image of a spinal column with each vertebra named after a player in the national team. With Neymar fractured and Silva out, the implication is that this is a team that requires emergency surgery if they are to avoid being crippled against Germany.
As usual, the Meia Hora tabloid has the most humorously absurd take on the calamity facing the national team. Noting that the midfielder Willian has also been complaining of back pains, it says the team now need a superhero to emerge. Step forward, the most ordinary player in the squad – the striker Fred, who is depicted on the front page in a Superman outfit roaring his team on to victory in their hour of need