Thiago Silva has admitted it will be difficult to get over the pain of his chances of lifting the World Cup being ended by Brazil’s penalty shoot-out defeat to Croatia, while discussing his international future.
There were contrasting emotions for the two Chelsea players in action in Qatar yesterday, as Thiago Silva and Brazil were left heartbroken after being eliminated in the World Cup quarter-finals, having taken the lead in extra time, while a Croatia side featuring Mateo Kovacic were left celebrating a second-consecutive semi-final appearance following their dramatic equaliser and shoot-out victory.
The pain of Brazil’s exit is magnified for Thiago Silva, who captained his country in Qatar, given his age. The centre-back will be nearly 42 years old by the time of the next tournament so knows this was almost certainly his last chance to fulfil his dream of winning the World Cup with Brazil, even for a player who has shown his incredible longevity, although he did hint at a possible future return after he hangs up his boots.
‘It is difficult,’ said the 38-year-old. ‘I have been through some disappointments in my life and when we lose something important that we have as an objective, it hurts quite a lot. But we have to try to lift our heads and carry on. There is no other alternative.
‘Sadly, as a player I am not going to get to lift this trophy. Who knows if in future I will get the chance in another role.’
The Selecao skipper also admitted the manner of their defeat added extra pain, after an excellent Neymar goal had given them the breakthrough in extra time following a goalless 90 minutes in Qatar.
Brazil had largely weathered the storm as Croatia changed tactics and tried to find a goal with high balls into the box, but were caught short at the back on a counter-attack after committing bodies forward and losing possession with just three minutes left to hold on, before being knocked out on penalties.
It was a disappointing and uncharacteristic way to exit the tournament for a side which had looked so organised for much of this World Cup and their qualifying campaign.
‘In football, you are always subject to conceding a goal, regardless of the opponent on the other side, and Croatia is a quality team,’ explained Thiago Silva.
‘All of a sudden we lost our concentration, we are not used to being hit on the break like that. I think we messed up a bit, we became a little disorganised and that is where the goal came from.
‘In the second ball that we lost, we gave them the chance to counter-attack, which was what they wanted at that moment, in addition to the aerial ball. The goal didn’t even come from the air, it came on the ground.
‘It’s difficult, but despite the sadness life needs to move on. I’m very proud of the boys, of what we’ve done, but unfortunately it’s part of football.’