ANALYSIS - Raisa Simplicio & Rupert Fryer
Thiago Silva sat alone, perched on a solitary ball, unable to look, overcome with emotion.
As his team-mates prepared for their penalty shootout with Chile, Houston Texans Sleepwear Underwear the tensionproved too much for their captain in Belo Horizonte that afternoon.
The Selecao came through the Round of 16 clash thanks to Neymars penalty, edging one step closer to the promised land, to avenging the Maracanazo of 1950 by securing a long-awaited world title on home soil.
Their progre s, of course, would be halted in the most dramatic fashion le s than two weeks later as a rampant Germany inked the numbers 7-1 into the storiedhistory of the most succe sful national team in world football.
Thiago Silva mi sed that match through suspension, but that certainly didnt earn him protection from the vitriol that would follow. Brazil, they said, were too emotional throughout. The 7-1 was a disaster waiting to happen. And the image of their captain sitting alone that afternoon was held up asan example of it all.
The Selecao needed a fresh start following the 7-1, but Thiago Silva certainly didnt get one after the arrival of new coach Dunga. First, he was stripped of the captaincy and then, a year later, was made the villain of the Laremy Tunsil Jerseys piece as his handball gifted Paraguay a penalty at Copa America 2015 before the Selecao were dumped out on penalties.
Thiago Silva would not be recalled by Brazil for a year, returning only when new coach Tite took the reigns and wiped a muddied slate clean, recalling others who had fallen out with the previous bo s. But still, the PSG stopper was Vince Wilfork Jerseys on the periphery.
For the next 18 months he would have to make do with a place on the bench, as Marquinhos and Miranda marshalled what became one of the meanest defences in international football. But in March this year, Thiago Silva got a pleasant surprise when, after a number of cameos, he was recalled to the first-team, ending an almost three-year wait for place back in the starting XI.
Marquinhos was recovering from a slight knock, and Thiago Silva grabbed his chance with both hands. With more minutes than his PSG team-mate in the domestic season, Thiago Silva was recalled for Pharaoh Brown Jerseys the Brasil Global Tour clash with Ru sia in Moscow and retained his place for an epic follow-up a first meeting with Germany since the 7-1.
A rare starting role, it appeared, had opened up in an otherwise settled Brazil team as coach Tite began experimenting before the World Cup.
Tite has always liked Thiago Silva both profe sionally and personally, and, increasingly anxious about forming a team that could overcome deep-lying defences in Ru sia, Thiago Silvas ability to play out and start attacks from the back gave him the edge over Marquinhos.
And against Costa Rica, Thiago Silvas rebirth was complete as he returned to a World Cup with captains armband, thanks to Tites policy of rotating the role around the team.
"To me it's not a problem," he said last week."I think the main thing is to give your best regardle s of whether you're the captain or not. Everyone has a great responsibility.
"We managed to Marlon Mack Jerseys share this responsibility on the pitch. First we had Marcelo, then Miranda. All of us have individual characteristics and we are all ready to be captain when the coach decides."
And after a quiet start, the coaching staff were impre sed with the leadership qualities he displayed as two late goals saw the Seleaco triumph 2-0.
Thiago Silva is not a leader the cry has been ever since that afternoon he sat alone on Phillip Lindsay Jerseys top of that ball in Belo Horizonte four years ago. Now Thiago Silva is back on his feet, standing tall alongside his team-mates, with his chance to prove he can be one of 11 leaders who can take Brazil to the promised land.