Dashed Brazilians hopes

Brazil might yet have more mourning to do especially if their bitter rivals Argentina lift the Fifa World Cup trophy on July 13. The hosts ruthlessly condemned to the ‘shame of all shames’ by Germany in the semi-final earlier in the week watched helplessly as Alejandro Sabella’s Argentina tipped The Netherlands in a gripping penalty shoot-out to book a dream final berth against the Germans. Football analyst David Keegan termed Argentina’s ascent to the final ‘a body blow to the spirits of the Brazilians’ only a day after their historic humiliation.

For Brazil, the 1-7 semi-final surrender is expected to have a major fallout. The future of their coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, hangs in the balance after he himself termed the defeat to the Germans “the worst day of my life”. During the build-up for the mega football event, thousands of Brazilians took to the streets across the country protesting the enormous expenditure on infrastructure development. The poor were displaced from various localities where the stadiums were built, the government had promised a win in the World Cup as a consolation, but their hopes came to a grinding halt. Many felt that winning the coveted trophy for a record sixth time will help ease the woes of the ones who suffered greatly during the infrastructure development, but now they fear a backlash.

Despite the gloom for the host nation, the World Cup has produced some sensational moments. While Brazil brace for a rather meaningless third place play-off against The Netherlands on July 12, the world awaits the World Cup final. Argentina and Germany (West Germany at the time) competed in back-to-back finals in 1986 and 1990. Diego Maradona-led Argentina won a thriller in Mexico in 1986, while an ugly, controversy- filled 1990 final went Germany’s way. In Mexico, Maradona exhibited unbridled joy with the trophy in his hands, and in Rome four years later he was inconsolable and cried openly. His protege and the best Argentine player of the present era, Messi, now has this opportunity to emulate his hero’s Mexico miracle.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 11^th, 2014.

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