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| James Rodriguez (C) of Colombia is applauded by David Luiz (R) and Marcelo (L) of Brazil after the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Quarter Final match between Brazil and Colombia at Estadio Castelao on July 4, 2014 in Fortaleza, Brazil. (Photo by Alex Livesey - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images) |
Where to start? It was another epic thriller and the thought does occur that Brazil are in danger of wearing us all out if they continue scraping at everyone’s nerves this way. It is both enthralling and exhausting and now they must clear their heads and prepare to do it all over again. They are, to borrow the line from Luiz Felipe Scolari, two steps from heaven and they absolutely refuse to do it the straightforward way.
They had to survive some dreadfully fraught moments between James Rodríguez’s 80th-minute penalty and the final explosion of joy that told them they had reached the last four. Brazil had played in the first half in the way the world wants Brazil to play. They had to find other qualities in that tense, choppy finale and their methods – victory at any means, to put it bluntly – will not appeal to everyone, after a match that brought a tournament high of 54 fouls.
Yet there was a lot more good than bad in a thrilling contest and, ultimately, it will not be the noise of the referee’s whistle for which this occasion is remembered. It will be David Luíz’s victory run after the immense free-kick that proved to be the decisive goal. Or the relentless noise of the crowd. Or those emotional scenes after the final whistle when Rodríguez broke down in tears and David Luíz abandoned his own celebrations to comfort him, signalling for the crowd to acclaim the Colombian.
What a moment as well for Thiago Silva, scoring the opening goal after all the scrutiny surrounding his captaincy, and the debate in the Brazilian media about whether they wanted a captain who ignored penalty shootouts and cried so frequently. It ended as a bittersweet occasion for Silva, who will be suspended from Tuesday’s semi-final against Germany after a silly booking in the second half. Yet he had played brilliantly. Nobody can question Brazil’s competitive courage now. They looked like a side that had heard the criticisms of Careca and Cafu and various other former Seleção players and wanted to turn the volume down on them.
Occasionally it went too far. It was bizarre in the extreme that Fernandinho managed to evade a booking all night, and even more so that the Spanish referee, Carlos Carballo, did not produce a yellow card until the 64th minute. All the same, the Colombia manager, José Pekerman, made the point afterwards that it was the same for both sides. His team had flown into a few tackles of their own and after one of them, in which the defender Juan Zúñiga leapt knee-first into Neymar’s back with three minutes of normal time remaining, the Brazil forward was taken off on a stretcher. He has a broken vertebra and will play no further part in the tournament; Zuniga went unpunished.
So Brazil will go to Belo Horizonte on Tuesday with their captain suspended and their best player injured. What they do have is momentum and incredible will. David Luíz could be seen whipping up the crowd, hair bouncing, eyes boggling. The truth is the Estádio Castelão did not need encouraging. When everything was going well it was a shrieking, whistling pit of yellow bias. When Colombia had the ball, it was an anguished, plaintive howl. Put together, it made an exhilarating combination of colour and noise.
And there, again, was David Luíz, the footballer Gary Neville once described as being operated by a kid’s remote control, setting off on a 60-yard run, slaloming and kicking his way past opponents, and very nearly beating every single player who had the temerity to get in his way. José Mourinho would have substituted him. The Castelão roared its approval. It was bedlam.
Silva’s goal arrived after only seven minutes and demonstrated to Colombia that, however refined they might be, any team that defends this generously at a World Cup cannot expect to get away with it. Neymar swung over a corner from the left and the first group of players leaping for the ball were all a few inches too short. Silva had anticipated what might happen and was making his way to the far post. Carlos Sánchez, the nearest opponent, did not react and Silva jutted out his knee to score. And no, this time there was not even a quiver of the bottom lip.
The din when Brazil score is a rare noise: more an ambient scream than a guttural roar. The noise was still ringing in our ears when Juan Cuadrado’s deflected shot for Colombia flew narrowly wide a few minutes later.
Then Hulk had two decent chances in quick succession and, already, it was absolutely clear the occasion was going to be every bit as breathless, captivating and borderline hysterical as we could have dared to imagine.
Scolari would later complain that, at 2-0, his team went looking for more goals rather than slowing down the game. “An avalanche on our team,” was his take on that period after Rodríguez’s sixth goal of the tournament, after the Brazil goalkeeper, Júlio César, had brought down the substitute Carlos Bacca. He was relieved, too, that an offside flag ruled out a goal for the Colombian captain, Mario Yepes, in those moments just after the hour when Brazil started showing the first signs of vulnerability.
But then came David Luíz again. Rodríguez had fouled Hulk and David Luíz struck the free-kick like someone kicking an inflatable on a windy beach. The ball lurched and swerved through the air and then suddenly dipped beneath the crossbar and the most expensive defender on the planet was off, sprinting to the corner flag, veins bulging, after the most important goal of his life.
