AL-RAYYAN, Qatar — When Marquinhos strode up and kissed the ball ahead of Brazil‘s fourth penalty kick, Neymar was down on his knees in midfield. He looked as if he was sobbing, as if the moment was too big to take in. Marquinhos would either score, which meant Neymar would be up next, carrying with him the weight of 190 million Brazilians. Or he would miss and Neymar’s World Cup would be over.
Croatia keeper Dominik Livakovic went one way, Marquinhos’ shot the other way… and kissed the post, rolling back away from the goal line.
Brazil were out of the World Cup, beaten on penalties by a Croatia side that have now won four straight penalty shoot-outs. Neymar, who remained on the pitch crying in the arms of teammates, knew that while this may not be his final World Cup, at 30 years of age it was likely his last World Cup as a protagonist.
Brazil coach Tite, as is his customary in these situations, regardless of whether his team won or lost, disappeared down the tunnel. And maybe he was thinking about sliding doors, about decisions not taken, about roads not travelled that would never have left the Selecao facing spotkicks against Croatia. This was likely his last shot at the World Cup — “the cycle is over” he said afterwards — and he knew that in a world of second-guessers, the buck would stop with him.
To be fair, there is plenty to second-guess about Brazil in this game and plenty to question when it comes to the near-boundless faith Tite showed in his men and his system. To paraphrase Khalil Gibran’s archer, all a coach can do is aim the arrow and let it fly. If the arrow is crooked, if there is wind or rain or if the enemy’s armor is stout, it won’t find it’s mark. But so too will it fail if the archer’s hand trembles or if his aim is faulty.
On this day, even an experienced veteran like Tite, one of the best in the world in his job, saw his hand tremble.
“Sometimes we shoot straight and the ball doesn’t fly straight,” he said after the game. Except, truth be told, it didn’t feel as if he shot straight this time either.
