I don’t speak Portuguese, nor do I really need to if I want to understand the spirit behind the player ratings from this local newspaper in Brazil after the host nation’s 7-1 loss to Germany in the team’s World Cup semifinal.
So many times we read a group of ‘player ratings’ from a match and laugh at the arbitrary marks. “He played very poorly” can still net a player a 4.5
Not today. Not in Brazil:The local paper not overly enamoured with the performances of Brazil’s players. #nilpoints pic.twitter.com/MvXXQaNU1R
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) July 9, 2014
The fallout is wide-reaching, and the funny thing will be whether anyone hears what Brazil manager Luis Felipe Scolari is saying. It’s a major loss, “the worse day of my life”, but there were plenty of factors that show Brazil won’t have to destroy its soccer structure.