Joga Bonito - The brand of football that Brazil need

Brazil now have a lot to ponder over

Shocked. Disgusted. Humiliated. I wonder what it must feel to be a fan of the Brazilian national football team right now. Let’s take nothing away from their utterly magnificent opponents. Die Mannschaft played great counter-attacking football at high speed, with a ruthlessness that would have made their famed Panzer Tank divisions proud. (I am of course ignoring a couple of bad misses from Andre Schurrle – whose second was an absolute stonker by the way – and Mesut Ozil for the sake of the narrative).

Where have all the stars gone?

Now, as much as this was a wonderful victory for the Germans, it’s the rank defeat of the home team that will rankle and resonate across the world. For Brazil never plays for Brazil alone. The Brazilian teams of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s and the non-stop supply of footballing demigods have ensured that they will be fanatically followed across this planet.

Pele, Garrincha, Jairzinho, Tostao, Socrates, Falcao, Zico, Romario, Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho… how these magical names roll of the tongue with such ease, the mere memory of these players enough to make the hair on the back of our hands stand up. From the beaches of Kozhikode to the plains of the Serengeti, from the ice of Scandinavia to the sands of Arabia - Brazil is football. Football is Brazil.

This Brazil side however bore no resemblance to the glory days of la Seleção, there was no ‘joga bonito’  - the famous catchphrase that so perfectly captured the essence of the nation and their beloved team -, there was no magic. Admittedly Brazil had lost their mojo a long while back, their few labored successes of recent years built on moments of individual magic spurting from the boots and brains of Rivaldo, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho.

What was worse was that the spine of the team was disintegrating gradually. While romanticism and nostalgia paint a picture of footballing Picassos cavorting across the green canvas, the reality was that Brazil had always known how to win. They had been always been tough and when needed, defended deep and defended well.

This Brazil side, well, this Brazil side was a lame parody of the teams of yesteryear. The player who led their line, Fred, would have struggled to make it into the Greek squad, the defence was a joke, and the midfield was built on a platform of simple-minded thuggery.

Neymar, considering the immeasurable pressure he was under, performed quite well till that nasty tackle took him out, and Thiago Silva was a rock, until that moment of pure bone-headedness took over. Oscar, Bernard and Willian did well in isolated patches, but the team struggled to find any rhythm or sense. "Pass the ball to Neymar and let’s see what he can do" is unfortunately not legitimate football strategy.

Clear lack of identity and playing style

The previous round they had kicked the uber-talented James Rodriguez and his high-flying Colombian compadres out, but that was never going to work against Die Mannschaft, was it?  So, they attacked, pouring forward in numbers and actually had the Germans rocking for a moment. This however, was an attack without any guile or credible vision, and with an acute lack of any sort of steel at the back – it played right into the hands of the Germans, who obligingly blitzkrieged them to shreds.

This match finally brought Brazil crashing back to earth from the lofty platform they have always enjoyed as everyone’s favourite (or atleast second) team. This defeat has exposed the chasm in modern Brazilian football like no other. No amount of nostalgia, wishful thinking, nike advertisements or ‘looking the other way’ is going to help now.

What a match. What a result. What a score line. Germany 7, Brazil 1.  In a World Cup semifinal. In Brazil.

It still hasn’t sunk in. It will, it should, it must. We need Brazil to remember this like they do the 1950 defeat to Uruguay at the Maracana, we need them to bounce back like they did after that ‘calamity’. We need a strong Brazil.

We need ‘Joga Bonito’

P.S. Forca Neymar – you didn’t deserve that brutality, no one does. Every single football fan’s prayers are with you.