Twistity Sports Exclusive: BRAZIL WAXED

 
Shock, disbelief, pity, laughter, disdain. All of these greeted Brazil’s soccer team after its epic 7-1 loss to Germany on Tuesday in the World Cup semifinals.

Need we mention it was 7-0 before Brazil put a ball in the net in the 90^th minute?

For most teams in the World Cup, the ‘lose and go home’ aspect at least offers escape. Not for Brazil. The team that represents the host country has nowhere to go and nowhere to hide and this one must again put itself out on the pitch on Saturday against the loser of today’s match between the Netherlands and Argentina. The championship game is Sunday.

No host team ever lost a World Cup game in this fashion. True, Brazil was missing two stars – Neymar (back) and central defender Thiago Silva (suspension for accumulation of yellow cards).

With those, a man advantage and an attack of food poisoning in the opposing locker room, Brazil’s favorite sons (known as the Selecao) still could not have coped with Germany.

“I think it was the worst day of my life,” said Luigi Scolari, Brazil’s coach.

Every sport has blowouts. For years in the 1980s, the Super Bowl was hardly ever competitive. The Denver Broncos got clobbered on such a regular basis that it spawned a joke: How many Broncos does it take to change a flat tire? Two, unless it’s a blowout. Then the whole team shows up.

A more engaging match was expected and desired. But there’s something in a disaster like this that also makes for compelling viewing. How bad can it get? How much worse can it get? Considering Brazil’s massive financial investment (upwards of $11 billion) in the World Cup, the team’s flameout is all the more painful.

Scolari, having called Tuesday the worst day of his life, also noted, “Life goes on.” And it does … for the living.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .