“It’s difficult.” That was the reaction of the Brazilian team players as they left the Cidade da Educação stadium, after the 4-2 defeat on penalties to Croatia, which ended in Brazil’s elimination from the World Cup in Qatar.
“We had a good game, but there was a great team on the other side. It is a difficult defeat, for sure. The gods of football were not on our side”, said defensive midfielder Fred, who entered in the second half.
He was on the ball when the Brazilian attack lost the ball, resulting in Croatia’s equalizing goal in extra time.
“I tried to catch Pedro’s pass, but they had the quality to come out on the decisive counterattack. The ideal thing is that we were more closed, but that’s part of football. We have to lift our heads and move on.”
Midfielder Paquetá, who was replaced precisely by Fred in overtime, said it’s time to take it easy to move on.
“We try everything we can, but sometimes the result is not what we expect. Now it’s about feeling the pain of defeat, but lifting our heads and moving forward. We’re going to try again to bring this about for the Brazilian people, for us and for our family,” said the player, with tears in his eyes.
Left-back Alex Sandro, who also entered extra time, said that the work done by the selection in the World Cup was good and should be crowned with the title.
“When defeat comes, an elimination, even more in the World Cup, the sadness is immense. But we are proud of all the work we did. However, what we wanted was missing, which was to reach the final and win the title.”
The football gods were not on our side
Striker Vinícius Junior, who left the game in the second half at Tite’s option, said that the frustration is great, but it is a learning experience.
“It’s a feeling of sadness after four years of working hard to compete in a World Cup. I hope this time can pass quickly so that we can turn around and, in four years, return to a World Cup.”
“Many players know that this is the last Cup, others learned from the defeat. We have to follow the line we follow until today. Defeat is painful, but it’s keeping a calm head and learning from our mistakes”, concluded the Real striker Madrid.
The Brazilian team leaves the hotel in Qatar this Saturday morning (10), at 11:30 am. The chartered flight takes off at 12:50 pm with a scheduled stop in London.
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