In what was their last major competition before the 2014 World Cup, Brazil where knocked out of the 2011 Copa America at the quarter-final stage on penalty kicks by Paraguay.
Brazil were the better team in the match but could not score a decisive goal in regular time.
Even Paraguay’s goalkeeper Justo Villar admitted as much about the game, saying “It is difficult to analyse, Brazil were much better and we had to defend ourselves.”
The same could not be said of Brazil’s performance in the penalty shootout stage, as they missed all 4 spot-kicks, including a disastrous first shot by Elano that sailed so high over the bar that it may have escaped the stadium and ended up on the streets of La Plata, if not finding a trajectory which saw the ball exit the earth’s atmosphere.
People expect much better than that from Brazil on penalties. But if you look closely at the third shot by Andre Santos you will see the penalty spot almost explode as the player’s planted foot makes contact with the turf. The divot produced is huge and it serves as a nice launching pad for the skyward ball. Not to make excuses for Brazil and their early exit from the tournament, but that is not ideal for penalty taking.
I guess one lesson for Brazil is to not let a game reach penalties because as we saw, in penalties, anything can happen – including the explosion of the penalty spot.
Brazil will have to play with more resolve in three years time in order to do what they want to do more than anything – and that is to win a record sixth World Cup at home.
