This refers to the editorial, “Blow to national pride” (July10). With hosts Brazil given an abject drubbing by Germany in the semi-final of the grandest football carnival on earth, millions of Brazilians and soccer fans across the globe are left with broken hearts and shattered hopes.
The 1-7 abject humiliation has even worsened the Brazilian record when the side was defeated on home turf by Uruguay in 1950.
The pain and burden of their historical defeat will rankle for long. Though Brazilian star player Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior missed the semi-final, football is not a one-man show and the absence of one key player cannot become an excuse for the miserable performance. The Germans outplayed Brazil in every department of the game and deserved the win offered on a platter by the hosts. Brazilian supporters who kept sitting through nights to watch the soccer show were astonished and shocked at the way their team played.