When Brazil was selected to host the 2014 World Cup, it was supposed to be a celebration of “jogo bonito” — the beautiful game. After 64 years, football was finally coming home.
But the tournament met significant resistance on the streets of the host nation, as citizens protested the price of an extravagant tournament while the country languished and public utilities rotted.
That malaise carried itself onto the pitch.
Following a promising start in its opener against Croatia, the Seleção failed to produce any real glittering form. Even a 4-1 victory over Cameroon lacked the kind of flair and verve that Brazilians have come to expect from their national team, but under coach Luiz Felipe Scolari they limped to a semifinal against Germany.
And that’s where it all truly fell apart. It started ominously that evening at the Estadio Mineirão in Belo Horizonte, with Thomas Müller opening the scoring after 11 minutes. Twelve minutes later it was 2-0. Then 3-0, then 4-0.
A punch-drunk Brazil were an incredible 5-0 down after 30 minutes and unable even really to comprehend what was happening as the sixth and seventh went in, courtesy of André Schürrle, as the game wound up.
A solitary, final act of defiance arrived in the form of an injury-time goal from Oscar but by then the damage — to the team, and the nation’s psyche — was complete.
Unsurprisingly, four days later, the devastated players completely capitulated in the third-place playoff match against the Netherlands, and their humiliation, on home turf, was finally complete.