|
|
 |
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Resounding pain Loss goes beyond Copa America
CALI, Colombia (AP) -- The Titanic, the Hindenberg, the Great Depression. For Brazil, the disastrous loss to Honduras ranks right up there. The 2-0 defeat on Monday knocked the Brazilians out of the Copa America and ended their quest for a third straight title in the continent's oldest and most prestigious tournament. And that was probably the least of their concerns. The humiliating loss to 48th-ranked Honduras, a last-minute replacement missing its top players, was a body blow to Brazil's self-respect. Losing is part of the game, but not to Honduras. In their three previous encounters, Brazil had two wins and a tie against the tiny Central American country, with a combined score of 14-3. "Write it down in your notebook, in the book of records," Brazil's coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said after the match. "I will be the coach who lost to Honduras." Worse was the way they lost. Even with five defenders on the pitch, Brazil couldn't handle the modest Honduran attack. The defense was slack, the midfield bureaucratic, the offense inoperative. "If it's humiliating, shameful or ugly, put whatever adjectives you want. But we're all hurting," Scolari said. With a crucial World Cup qualifier against Paraguay just three weeks away, Brazilians more than ever wonder if their "selection" will miss soccer's premier event for the first time in history. After the loss, reporters asked Scolari if he thought he still had a job. The question wasn't just tacky -- it was coldly realistic. Last year, coach Wanderley Luxemburgo was fired after Brazil lost to Cameroon in the Sydney Olympics. No matter that he had won two national titles, or that Cameroon went on to take the gold medal -- defeat to the Africans was unacceptable. His successor, Emerson Leao, fared worse. After Brazil finished fourth in the Confederations Cup last month, he was sacked right in the airport. Yet Scolari, with a record of two wins and three losses, could survive. Brazilians are slowly coming to grips with the idea that it's not his fault that their country isn't No. 1 any more. It's a tough admission for the four-time World Cup champions. Even before Pele, Brazil was "the land of soccer." The samba-soccer, the sheer joy of a dribble, the speed and grace and carnival celebration of a goal defined who they were. It reflected the best Brazilians saw in themselves, and gave them a treasured superiority over richer, more developed nations. It also helped relieve the pain of poverty and oppression, and Brazil's leaders banged the soccer drum. When Brazil won its third World Cup title in 1970, Pele, Rivelino and Co. were summoned to Brasilia, the nation's capital, to pose with dictator President Emilio Garrastazu Medici. The national team became known as "the fatherland in cleats." But the image began to crumble last year. In World Cup qualifying, the Brazilians lost to Paraguay, Chile -- even tiny Ecuador. Now tied with Uruguay for fourth place in the South American group, Brazil is flirting with elimination. Scolari was summoned to fix things, but Brazil opened the Copa America by losing 1-0 to Mexico. It was the team's fourth straight loss, a string unmatched since 1921. Scolari didn't try to hide Brazil's problems. "We should admit that we're not the premier power in the world of soccer," he warned after the loss to Mexico. "In the future we can be great again, but let's be sensible and admit that right now we have difficulties." Self-respect had sunk so low that Scolari changed Brazil's traditional yellow jersey for blue, so the players wouldn't feel the pressure to live up to past glories. "At this moment we don't instill respect," he said. "On the contrary, we respect our opponents." Things seemed to be turning around when Brazil beat Peru and Paraguay to reach the quarterfinals. But then came Honduras, and Brazil was back on square one. "We were awful," admitted striker Guilherme. "For sure, this will be a defeat that will hurt for a long time."
| |||||||||||||||||||||
