WORLD CUP 2014: BRAZIL EMBRACED AGGRESSION AND REAPED THE REWARD, BUT NOT WITHOUT PAYING THE PRICE

I favored Colombia to beat Brazil, yet they have been eliminated in quarterfinals of World Cup 2014 by the hosts, who came out on to the pitch to make war. The match in Fortaleza was marked by humongous doses of energy, adrenaline and aggression boiling out from the Brazilians, subjected to so much criticism for their poor displays in the prior matches. Their intent was clear: destroy physically Colombia's poster boy, playmaker and executor in one person, James Rodriguez. It appeared that Rodriguez would not finish the match without broken leg or arm, such was the physical abuse he had to suffer from Fernandinho and Co. At one occasion Colombians had to swarm in around Rodriguez, to protect the youngster from Brazilian players, who isolated him during one of plays in the middle of the pitch and manhandled him, almost grotesquely. Thanks to this accumulation of Brazilian aggression and Spanish referee Carlos Carballo's leniency, by allowing the hosts to commit foul after foul, without penalizing them with yellow cards (incidentally, the referee has shown first yellow card only in 64th minute), the Brazilians, at the end, had to pay the price themselves. Thanks to the aggressive posture, Brazilians took the lead early, when after a corner kick Thiago Silva bundled the ball into Colombian goal. After, Brazilians continued with their brutal play, attempting to eliminate Rodriguez. Bewildered by the referee's appeasement of Brazilian aggression, Colombians lost their patience eventually and decided to retort. As a result, Neymar, who himself should have been shown at least a yellow card for almost breaking a leg of a Colombian player, was attacked by Armero who pushed his knee against Neymar's back, causing the young Brazilian to suffer a fractured vertebrae, and to end on a sad not his involvement in World Cup 2014. That Neymar's colleague, Fernandinho, was not expelled from the pitch, or moreover, wasn't even shown a yellow card, for his brutal and constant abuse of James Rodriguez, is mind boggling. The referee whistled 31 Brazilian and 22 Colombian fouls, the highest amount in this World Cup, yet in addition to four yellow cards, he should have shown at least several more yellow and possibly two red cards. Perhaps, if he did so, Brazil still would have fit Neymar to play in this world cup. When Colombia shook off Brazilian aggression and started to get more of the ball's possession and create, suddenly, against run of play, Brazilians were granted a foul 30 yards from Colombia's goal and David Luiz, with his great and emphatic free kick, struck by the inside of his right foot, increased the hosts' lead to 2:0. Colombians threw what they had at the Brazilians but except for the Rodriguez's goal, his six in the tournament, scored from penalty, they were unable to equalize, despite the fact that they scored another goal, ruled out by the referee's assistant who spotted an offside, which wasn't that obvious as too many players were involved in the melee and it was not clear who touched the ball first. Colombia out of this World Cup, but watch out for their youngsters in four years from now. Brazil will play the Germans, without Neymar and Thiago Silva. I do think, that they should be better as a team without Neymar, and we might see more use being made of Fred. Up to now, neither Neymar nor Hulk were interested in creating opportunities for Fred, their no. 9, as they were taking their chances themselves. Perhaps now Brazil will acquire some cohesion and team spirit in their play?

Janusz Andrzejewski is a New York City based attorney, writing on legal and other important community topics. You may contact him by telephone: (212) 634-4250 or through e-mail: janusz@januszandrzejewski.com