Brazilian Capitulation

With the harrowing and stunning images of Brazil's 7-1 implosion surely seared into our minds now, never to be forgotten, the collective moratorium on what we saw has perhaps only begun. All at once, our very perception of the country and national team that often epitomizes what we would desire from our own teams saw its foundations eroded by a measurable degree.

As many of us suspected from the outset, this Brazil side is one that has its flaws that are uncharacteristic by Brazilian standards. Even before yesterday's German assault, Brazil had shown vulnerability at the back, which served as the catalyst for Felipe Scolari's decision to swap the very attack-minded Dani Alves, who only moonlights as a right back to the naked eye, for Maicon. In losing the ever-steady Thiago Silva through a yellow card suspension, any previous frailties only threatened to be magnified.

Farther up the pitch, Brazil's lack of a cutting-edge striker has been very evident, for Fred has been no Ronaldo or even a once fit and athletic Adriano. This assessment is hardly meant to be a damning indictment of Fred, but rather an identification of Brazil's need to find that truly dangerous striker who serves as the very fulcrum of the attack. The lack of such a figure tends to render Brazil's wealth of creative influences toothless and further underlines just why a nation sighed with trepidation when Neymar was stricken with his back injury.

And yet, even with such flaws and realities in mind, and even as Scolari, fully aware of his team's shortcomings, employed a more physcial, pragmatic approach in the buildup to the game versus Germany, maybe Brazil as a team and as a country believed that the intersection of feverish support, passion, and assumed destiny would see them through. Accordingly, concepts of discipline were thrown out the window. The verve and aggression Brazil displayed in the opening minutes were soon to fall victim to a German side now reaching its full and most incisive potential. For every Brazilian tactical breakdown, of which there were many, Germany had the most lethal of punishments in store.

So, like Spain, Brazil finds themselves at a crossroads. Scolari is surely gone, and one has to wonder if other heads may roll in the wake of an unfortunately legendary display of ineptness in a World Cup. After such a shocking turn of events, Brazil may go into next year's Copa America with some of the most muted and diminished expectations we have ever seen from a side of their stature.