Rio de Janeiro: Penalties are absolute agony at any time and I’ve been in teams for club and country where they were needed. The pressure is so extreme, the expectations massive, your legs are hollow. What a nightmare.
Can you even begin to imagine then the pressure Brazil must have been under? Not just the entire home nation expecting you to win, but fears about what could happen to the tournament and around the country if they lost.
It was the most intense, frantic game of the tournament so far. We were in the studio in Rio, backing on to the beach, and there was a two-hour frenzy behind us to a soundtrack of fireworks.
Thank goodness for the tournament that Brazil won. It keeps the party alive. But the way they only just managed to sneak past Chile into the quarter-finals highlighted again the defensive frailties we’ve been talking about for weeks.
But Neymar was electric in the opening 45 minutes. Hulk had an eventful day, involved in everything. It was a shame his goal was ruled out because it came from a great ball, take and finish. But it was handball.
Neymar has coped unbelievably with the pressure of a nation’s hopes on his shoulders. Even his spot-kick betrayed no nerves. For all Brazil’s flair though, their weaknesses have worried more from their opening game.
Three of that back four are not natural defenders: Dani Alves and Marcelo are attacking full-backs with the emphasis strictly on the attack and David Luiz also has instincts to get out. It’s dangerous that their first priority does not appear to be defending.
I had similar instincts myself as a young player at West Ham but Frank Burrows, a defensive coach, drilled me hard on the training field, instilling in me the absolute importance of my specific trade. It was all about the heading, one versus ones, aggression, body position, movement of your feet.
Brazil’s defenders haven’t done it. The Cameroon goal in the group game was a prime example. They were beaten too easily one against one, Thiago Silva allowed the ball past him too easily at the front post, Luiz didn’t know where the striker was. He didn’t even have a look or open his shoulders so he could see both ball and man more easily. Defenders are taught this. And Marcelo was almost on the edge of the box, not even thinking to defend the far post to cover Luiz.
Neymar carried Brazil through that group. But he alone cannot win the World Cup with that leaky defence.
