Today i's the 64th anniversary of Brazil’s greatest footballing tragedy – the Maracanazo – but last week’s thrashing at the hands of Germany has created another monster for Brazilians to contend with – a Mineirazo.

Losing a semi-final to a superior opponent on paper could be tolerated if an honourable performance had been put in. But there is no hiding from being on the wrong end of a 7-1 score line – truly and utterly humiliated.

Moreover, Brazil are historically absolutely dominant at home. In 100 years, they had only ever suffered three competitive defeats on home soil, and were riding a 56-match unbeaten run at home (excluding friendlies) - their last loss a 3-1 defeat to Peru in 1975 at the same Mineirao stadium where they were embarrassed last Tuesday.

And of course, the most notable defeat being the final match of the 1950 World Cup or the Maracanazo as it has come to be known. As has been more than well documented by now, Brazil lost the World Cup on home soil in tragic fashion 64 years ago. Needing only a draw they squandered a 1-0 lead and lost 2-1 to Uruguay.

In the words of famed Brazilian journalist Nelson Rodrigues, 16 July, 1950 was ‘Brazil’s Hiroshima’. Such strong words only emphasise what a tragedy and blow to Brazilian national identity it was at the time and the ripples still linger with the eyes of the world back on the South American giant.

 

 

Josué, now 84 remembers that day well.

‘Complete silence…tears and silence. Premature euphoria gave way to a ‘deafening silence.’ I left the stadium and walked aimlessly for a couple of hours, just stunned. No one spoke on the streets.’

At the time, Josué was in the army and was present at the Maracana. He recalls the pre-match excitement and excessive confidence with an over-packed stadium. ‘There was literally no more space, everyone was standing. People were standing sideways, some even on slim bits of concrete – very dangerous. I barely had a view of the pitch, I had to stretch out my neck to catch a glimpse of the action, but everyone wanted to be there for the big moment. It didn’t occur to anyone we could lose the match, we had beaten Sweden and Spain comfortably. ‘(7-1 and 6-1 respectively)

‘Barbosa; Augusto and Juvenal; Bauer, Danilo and Bigode; Friaça, Zizinho, Ademir, Jair and Chico. It was a phenomenal team.’ The starting XI still rolls off his tongue. But he shakes his head when remembering the overconfidence.

‘The papers had printed and released a picture of the team on the front page with the caption ‘These are the World Champions’. The paper boys had to go around collecting the papers in a haste afterwards.’

That week players were taken from their tranquil base outside of Rio and brought into the fulcrum of the city for political purposes, disrupting their rest and pre-match concentration regimes.

‘The mayor of Rio made a speech before kick-off, ‘ Josué recalls ‘I’ve built you the stadium, now you win me the World Cup.’

This added an immense amount of pressure on the players.

‘Looking back, it was all unnecessary.‘

He however does not believe the events of that day had an impact on the more recent tragedy.

‘This time around, Germany were the better team, both on paper and on the day. The ghosts of 1950 didn’t have an effect. There was no overconfidence and we respected Germany. If anything probably even too much because we were without Thiago Silva and Neymar.’

In last Tuesday’s lopsided affair, the reasons were much more ‘pitch-related’. Scolari’s subpar second spell in charge was largely masked by what was a fantastic performance against Spain in last year’s Confederations Cup. The reality was much more bleak. No tactical variations, no quick passing and movement through the midfield, an over-dependence on dead balls and long balls. The lack of fluidity in the team made pressing high up the pitch a necessity. Not that this was a bad thing, but an over-reliance on stealing the ball rather than initiating play was worrying. Archaic football versus the modern football exhibited by the National Mannschaft could only result in one outcome.

Of course the score line was surreal and it was a completely atypical game that would happen one in a million times, where literally everything went right for one team and all wrong for the other. But the errors shown by Brazil cannot simply be swept under the carpet.

Brazil’s collapse after the second goal was emblematic of a team that lacked ideas and discipline. The psychological blow however was eerily similar to the one suffered after Schiaffino’s equaliser in the final match in 1950.

Tomorrow, both the Maracanazo and the Mineirazo will be on the minds of many in Brazil, but this should serve as a platform for reconstructing Brazilian football from the ground up.

There are vast structural problems evident in domestic Brazilian football and in the concepts and ideas, which need refreshing. As ex-player-turned pundit Júnior said on a Brazilian TV programme Monday, Brazil needs to get off the pedestal and recognise that its victorious past does not enter the field of play. There is a desperate need to realise that Brazil is behind the ball – tactically and concept-wise and recycle new ideas by looking outside at other models.

Brazilian football does not lack in talent and human resources, operating well below its potential. To stop resting on its historic laurels would be a great start to a new era.

The Maracanazo brought with it change and growth and an evolution in Brazilian football. The hope is that now the Mineirazo – however difficult it may be to swallow - can serve as a spring towards a renovation period, which can lead to mass improvements in Brazilian football and a return to winning ways.