Brazil star Philippe Coutinho said he was ready for the backlash after the country got knocked out of FIFA World Cup 2018 against Belgium.
A Fernandinho own goal and Kevin De Bruyne’s fine strike helped Belgium to a 2-1 win in Kazan.
Substitute Renato Augusto’s second-half header gave Tite’s men some hope. However, they were unable to find an equaliser despite a frantic finish, the favourites bowing out in the last eight.
The FIFA World Cup 2018 may have been the last for several Brazil players, with nine of their 23-man squad in their 30s.
Coutinho believes Brazil gave their best shot, but it wasn’t their day,
“We wanted to go all the way to the final, but we’ve given our best shot. Everyone gave everything. “I’m sure will be beaten up by criticism from all sides. Life goes on, that’s football. You win, and you lose. We’re sad because we wanted to win badly, like all of Brazil. Unfortunately, we couldn’t.”
Centre back Miranda led the side against Belgium. The 33-year old defender was unwilling to confirm his international future. He’s still unsure whether it was his last appearance at the showpiece tournament.
“It’s hard to talk about it because all players here are part of a generation. I won’t say goodbye, but I also won’t confirm that I’ll be there for the next World Cup,” he said.
On the other hand, Paulinho feels this World Cup exit was harder to accept than 2014 humiliation,
“For me, they were both difficult. A very complicated 2014, but this one is harder. The way we left, we were fighting until the last second, in a match when we were all over them.”
Meanwhile, Brazil forward Gabriel Jesus was left to rue a tournament of lost opportunities,
“It’s frustrating. I worked a lot. It’s hard. You give up a lot of things to get to such a big tournament. Everyone knows it’s a dream. Right there after the debut, it became an obsession,” Jesus said.