• It's already over for Brazil, still eliminated long before the final.

    The Seleçao was taken out this Friday by Croatia, on penalties.

  • "We had the game in hand and it escaped us," reacted Casemiro.

    Some of his partners couldn't hide their tears.

  • This new premature exit marks the failure of Neymar's generation.

Scenes that are repeated, World after World.

Brazilians on the ground, stunned, and who cannot hide their tears… The Seleçao fell again much earlier than expected, this Friday.

Stretched towards her great dream of a sixth title but still caught up in the reality of the field, she fell in the quarter-finals of this World Cup.

The executioner is this time Croatian (1-1 ap, 4-2 pens) and it probably sounds the death knell for the Neymar generation, unable to match its illustrious predecessors.



However, Tite's group thought they had put all the chances on their side by arriving in Qatar.

A solid defense, a formidable attack orchestrated by "Ney" and an experienced technician, winner of the 2019 Copa América, there was everything to succeed!

His rather controlled start to the tournament had fueled all hopes, despite the injury of his playing master.

And then wreckage: it is not yet this year that Brazil will win its "hexacampeonato", this sixth World Cup which has been denied to the Auriverde team since its last coronation in 2002. Or twenty-four years of scarcity at least , like the long crossing of the desert between the Brazil of Pelé, crowned for the third and last time in 1970, and that of Romario titled in 1994.

Falling before the semi-finals, Neymar's team did no better than in 2006, 2010 and 2018. And their best run, since the 2002 title, the 2014 World Cup semi-final on home soil, remains marked by the humiliation suffered against Germany (7-1), future winner.

"That's how football, it happens"

" We are sad.

Everyone did their best.

This is annoying.

Especially like that”, reacted just after the Casemiro part at the microphone of SportTV.

“We had the game in hand and it escaped us.

It's difficult.

We believed in our work, we did a great job, the atmosphere was good.

But that's how football, it happens.

»

At

Globo

, Thiago Silva wanted to be combative.

“It's difficult, but as much as there is sadness, life has to go on, we have to raise our heads.

We do not have a choice.

We are proud of what we have achieved but unfortunately it is part of football.

I'm a guy who gets up every time he falls, that's not going to change today.

Unfortunately, I will not win this trophy as a player.

»

This obviously raises the question of the immense expectations placed on the shoulders of the unfortunate Brazilian players every four years and summed up at the end of November by the words of the legend Pelé: “Bring this trophy home!

".

"We carry this weight like all Brazilians," admitted winger Raphinha before the tournament.

“Since 2006, everyone wants Brazil to win the sixth star.

»

Ney in tears

But the years go by and Brazil now have an appointment in 2026, in a tournament organized in Canada, the United States and Mexico, to start their tireless quest again.

It will be, a priori, without Thiago Silva (38), without Dani Alves (39) and especially without Neymar: the PSG superstar had warned last year that the World Cup in Qatar would probably be his “last”.

"I don't know if I will still have the condition, the mentality, to support even more football," said the striker on the DAZN streaming platform.

“Ney” can still change his mind, especially since he is only 30 years old and has a long contract at PSG.

But Friday's failure may be the impotence of the Neymar generation, humiliated in 2014, disappointing in 2018 and finally in 2022. Charged with arrogance before the tournament for having published a coat of arms of Brazil surmounted by a hypothetical sixth star, the former Santos player was once again overtaken by the pressure.

And those tears after Marquinhos failed on the decisive shot on goal showed the extent of the disaster.

The PSG star risks ending his career with only the defunct Confederations Cup (2013) and the Olympic gold medal (2016) on his international record, since he was injured in 2019 when Tite's Brazil won the Copa America.

Vertebra, foot, ankle… Neymar's relationship (124 caps, 77 goals) with the Seleçao has been very upset by injuries and leaves a taste of unfinished business, even if the striker joined King Pelé as top scorer in the history of the selection, with his 77th goal, scored during extra time (115th + 1).

Another generation is coming

The balance sheet also oscillates towards the negative for the coach Tite (61 years old), who had announced his departure before the tournament.

"I know that football is made of cycles and I had a unique opportunity to find myself in this position", summed up a few months ago.

Adenor Leonardo Bachi, nicknamed Tite, took the reins of the Seleçao in 2016, after the dismissal of Dunga.

He was able to straighten the Seleçao, which he qualified smoothly for two successive Worlds, and guided them to the South American coronation in 2019. But the technician is regularly criticized for his game sometimes considered too defensive, the selection having accustomed his "torcedores" (supporters) to play dazzling football with legends like Pelé, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho.

With its inexhaustible pool of talent, such as young Richarlison, Vinicius, Rodrygo, Antony or Gabriel Martinelli, the Seleçao will be able to reinvent itself, whatever its future coach.

But the pressure to win again will still be there in 2026, even greater, even more suffocating.

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Hide your joy!

»… Deschamps in freestyle with a journalist

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