For all Brazilian soccer players, this past summer was one to forget.
Following a successful stretch in the group stage of World Cup, Brazil advanced to the World Cup semifinal to be trounced, 7-1, in front of the host country’s sobbing fans.
Then, in the third-place contest, the Netherlands easily blanked Brazil 3-0.
While those who follow Brazil internationally will certainly remember the 2014 World Cup downfall, the players, most notably Paris St. Germain defender Thiago Silva, won’t bury such memories in the back of his mind.
After all, a major area of criticism for the Little Canaries’ collapse revolved around the back line, since Neymar was absent with a back injury.
“It’s a scar,” Thiago Silva said to media in Istanbul, via Goal.com. “It’s hard to forget. Many people say that they do not think about it, but I do not know if that’s true. I think about it. It’s inevitable. But the important thing is to have tranquillity.
“Football is exciting because one minute you lose and the next you win. But the way we lost [during the World Cup] was not right.”
Manager Luiz Felipe Scolari immediately resigned subsequent to the dismal World Cup exit, and the Brazil Football Confederation followed up his departure by adding former Fiorentina midfielder Dunga, who was fired from the Inter managerial role in 2013.
The 51-year-old put forth a new set of rules and regulations for his squad, hoping to ingrain a consistent discipline in his squad that, he believes, they lacked on the World stage.