Brazil’s manager Luiz Felipe Scolari has called on a psychologist to bolster the national football team after a near emotional meltdown during Saturday’s nailbiting World Cup game against Chile.
The expert counselling before the quarter-final against Colombia on Friday follows a barrage of criticism by the domestic media after key players sobbed before the penalty shootout in the Chile match.
Neymar, David Luiz and Júlio César were in tears at the end of extra time, while the captain, Thiago Silva, was so overcome with tension that he asked not to be selected among the penalty takers and sat alone by the touchline as his team-mates walked up to the spot.
Although the team held their nerve to win the shootout, Brazilian pundits and former players have lined up to label the display of crying a sign of fragility.
In the past few days, countless mental-health experts have opined on the subject. The president of the São Paulo Association of Sport Psychology, John Ricardo Cozac, said the behaviour of the team and their manager “demonstrated a dangerous lack of emotional control”.
The columnist Antero Greco wrote of his fears in the O Estado de S Paulo newspaper: “I see a team that is visibly nervous, I see a team that is tense, I see a team that is a bit desperate.”
The former Seleção captain Careca has said the players looked overcome, even during the national anthem before the start of play. “There is too much emotion. The anthem is a time to listen or sing. But then, you have to forget the problems of the home, of your child and your woman. This happens too often. The staff are unable to handle these emotions.”
But there is a great deal of sympathy for the young team which is under immense pressure to win the World Cup on home turf and exorcise memories of the defeat by Uruguay in the 1950 final at the Maracanã.
Brazil’s coach Luiz Felipe Scolari (C) and Brazil’s forward Neymar (R) celebrate after Brazil won their match against Chile in a penalty shoot out after extra-time ©AFP
Scolari, who coached Brazil’s 2002 World Cup winning team, has voiced concerns that his players are under too much pressure to win. In a private briefing with domestic journalists, he complained that the local media were unsupportive, Fifa was unhelpful and the team felt isolated.
To ease the situation, he called on the psychologist Regina Brandão, who provided him with a profile of the players ahead of the tournament. She has yet to comment on the team’s state of mind, but criticised the media for ill-informed speculation about the lack of mental preparedness.
Only six members of the 23-man squad have played in a World Cup – Júlio César, Fred, Daniel Alves, Maicon, Thiago Silva and Ramires. But the players have said they are getting tougher with each game.
Repeatedly asked about the mental state of the team earlier this week, the midfielder Fernandinho said they were simply responding to the higher stakes.
“The emotions are becoming stronger. Crying reflects this. But I believe we will be better prepared for these situations after a game like [the one we had against Chile]. Things will become normal,” he told a press conference.
The Brazilian team are, of course, not alone in feeling nerves and showing emotions. The England midfielder Paul Gascoigne’s tears in 1990 transformed the perception of football being a hooligan sport played in a nation of stiff upper lips. The Argentina striker Lionel Messi admitted before this tournament that he sometimes vomited during games because of stress.
The agonising over the mental state of the national team probably also reflects the trauma endured by millions of Brazilian fans during the tense encounter with Chile.
Rather than worrying about the crying, columnist Juca Kfouri says the tears are natural and the nation should give thanks to a job well done.
“So what if Thiago Silva and Neymar cried during the national anthem? So what if Júlio César wept after flying like a bird and saving two penalties? My God, who does not cry after witnessing such a miracle?”
