Maicon was handed an opportunity by Luiz Felipe Scolari yesterday and the Roma man was always confident that he was always ready to play.
The indifferent form of Dani Alves meant Maicon started Brazil’s quarter-final match against Colombia and he didn’t disappoint.
The veteran defender provided Scolari’s team with much greater width and he felt the early goal from Thiago Silva was vital.
The 32-year-old spoke to Globo TV, with Football Italia quoting the full-back.
Maicon revealed the conversation he and Scolari had, he said: “We had a conversation the day before the game and he asked if I was ready, but didn’t say that I was going to play.
“I said to Scolari that I was born ready. I only found out for sure I was going to play at the meeting before we left for the stadium.
“We scored an early goal and it was important to help calm the players, especially me, as it was my first start.”
The former Manchester City man felt Brazil started to feel the pressure in the second half and insists that must not happen again.
“There were many more scoring opportunities, but we didn’t make the most of them,” Maicon added.
“In the second half we started to suffer under pressure. That must not happen.
“We fought hard and earned the victory, as the most important thing was getting through this round.”
