An obvious case would be that World Cup quarter final a year ago, when Brazil went down 2-1 to Holland. It is a result which has ensured that the reign of coach Dunga is generally seen as a failure, despite the two year unbeaten run that it brought to an end. And for the components of that team, it is a match that makes a villain of midfielder Felipe Melo, who was sent off in the second half for a vicious stamp. His many detractors see the incident as proof that he never should have been selected. Brazil were already 2-1 down when he was dismissed, his pass had set up Robinho’s goal and in his 22 matches this was the only time he was on the losing side for the national team – more than all the victories, though, it is the defeat against Holland that stands out in the popular consciousness when Brazilians think of Felipe Melo’s international career.
But perhaps there is one player who suffered even more from the events in Port Elizabeth last July 2nd. Because Felipe Melo’s loss of mental control was not entirely unexpected. His disciplinary record established him as a potential vulnerable point, and towards the end of the qualification campaign he had been sent off for a gruesome foul against Chile. Many had predicted that something like this would happen as the pressure built in the knock out stages of the World Cup.
But no one had predicted that Julio Cesar would make a mistake. In game after game Brazil’s goalkeeper had been the hero. There was an aura of infallibility about him – which collapsed eight minutes into the second half of that quarter final against the Dutch with just one error of judgement. Brazil were a goal up and in control. It was difficult to imagine how Holland would get back on level terms – until Wesley Sneijder sent in a speculative cross, Julio Cesar made an ill judged charge off his line, collided with Felipe Melo and allowed the ball to go straight in for the equalising goal. From that moment on it was a different game – and from that moment on Julio Cesar’s career would not be the same.
In recent years Brazil has been well blessed with goalkeepers, and has even become a big exporter of players in the position. Not since Valdir Peres in 1982 had a Brazil goalkeeper made a blunder in a World Cup. But now Julio Cesar’s mistake had caused the tide to turn against his team in a quarter final. It is little wonder that his aura of invincibility was shattered. Goalkeeper is a position where confidence is vital. It would be fair to assume that Julio Cesar’s confidence has taken a battering from that World Cup blunder. His performances for Inter Milan in the recent club season were strangely error prone, with each mistake making it harder for him to turn the clock back to the beginning of last July, when mistakes did not seem to be part of his repertoire.
But there was nothing fake about that aura that he gave off – and I write as one who used to doubt him. Julio Cesar came up the ranks with Flamengo in my adopted city of Rio de Janeiro. A decade ago the local press were already making a big fuss about him, but I could not see the justification. I watched him every week, and while I thought him a big and athletic shot stopper, I considered him to be weak on crosses and accident prone. His reputation was, I mused, more the product of the Rio press than anything that he was doing on the field.
But I don’t feel in any way vindicated by what happened last year in Port Elizabeth. In fact, I am happy to say that in the case of Julio Cesar I was proved gloriously and magnificently wrong.
All keepers make mistakes. And one error cannot wipe out a trajectory of success established over a period of years. Julio Cesar won me over in the 2004 Copa America. His mistake allowed Uruguay to take the lead in the semi final. But he came back strongly. He was the hero in the penalty shoot out, and then again in another shoot out in the final against Argentina, when he was also superb during normal time. He showed strength of character and ability, and as his confidence grew so the number of mistakes was reduced.
In the next few seasons his displays for Brazil and Inter Milan proved to himself and everyone else that he is a genuinely world class goalkeeper. In the last set of World Cup qualifiers Brazil conceded just 11 goals in 18 games , five fewer than the next best defence. True, the old firm of Lucio and Juan at centre back played a big part in this. But most of the credit must go to the last line of the defence.
Brazil beat Uruguay 4-0 away, the first time they had ever beaten the sky blues in the famous Centenario stadium. The result makes it seem as if the game was a massacre. But the corner count was 15-2 to Uruguay, and had the goalkeepers been switched round the result would surely have been very different. Altitude is usually a problem for Brazil sides, and in Quito they were totally dominated by Ecuador. They could easily have suffered a defeat of historic proportions, but Julio Cesar stood up big time and time again, and Brazil escaped with a draw. Unacclimatised keepers are often those who most suffer from the axtra speed of the ball at altitude. Julio Cesar made it look easy. It was a monumental performance.
After the games as the players were leaving the pitch Brazilian TV would normally seek out the goalkeeper for a post match interview. It was clear that he enjoyed his status as a hero. It fed his ego, boosted his confidence still further. It made him seem bigger in the eyes of opposing strikers, and the goal seem smaller.
But there have been times in the last season when the reverse has been true – hence the feeling that Saturday’s meeting with the Dutch in Goiania was much more than an end of season friendly for Julio Cesar – it was a chance to gain redemption against the very opponents who had shaken his sense of certainty.
He may well have been happy that in the first half he was the busier of the two keepers. Twice Afellay forced him to make smart saves, a block from close range followed by a swooping dive at the near post. After the first save Julio Cesar celebrated as if the game had all the importance of a World Cup final. Maybe for him it did. It could be that Saturday’s 0-0 draw was the day Brazil’s goalkeeper confronted the demons which have been plaguing his mind for almost a year.
