Brazil defender Marcelo claims that he managed to stay calm and focussed in the wake of his own goal in the opening game of the World Cup in Sao Paulo last night.
The Real Madrid left back, lauded as part of Brazil’s strongest back four in decades, got the 2014 hosts off to a calamitous start by putting through his own net, but told FIFA’s official website: “The first thing I thought was just to stay calm and not make it worse for the team.”
“If I’d let my head drop, I might have ended up making life even more difficult for us. That was the first thing I had to make sure I didn’t do.”
“The fans were right behind me after I scored the own-goal and they were chanting my name.”
Brazil recovered to record a 3-1 victory over Croatia but will need to improve to go deep in their home World Cup.
