Wenger: Brazil loss was horrendous

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Monday, July 14, 2014

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has described Brazil's record 7-1 World Cup semifinal defeat to Germany as "absolutely horrendous" from a tactical point of view.



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Wenger was in Belo Horizonte to watch the match, which saw Luiz Felipe Scolari's side fall five goals behind before half an hour had been played.



Brazil, without the suspended Thiago Silva, collapsed as Joachim Low's side made chances with ease, and Wenger said he felt the emotional pressure of being the host nation had also counted against the Brazilians.



In an interview with beIN Sport, reported by The Mirror, he said: "Overall, they did not have enough quality. They were overly reliant on Neymar, and I believe as well that there was too much emotion and they were not protected enough.



"I thought sometimes when I watched the television that watching Brazil was like watching a reality TV show. It was 24-hour television inside that camp, and every single movement of the players was focused on television and I believe it affected them."



Wenger said that although it was "just emotionally too much to perform at the top level" for Brazil that night, "from a tactical point of view, honestly, it was absolutely horrendous."



"Of course, it would be too easy for me to point the finger at the manager," he added. "I have been a coach long enough now to see these things happen to me and sometimes your team confidence can just go completely.



"Emotionally, when you lose by such a big score it is impossible to deal with -- but I felt more pain for what happened to Brazil because they just completely fell apart.



Even if you take 11 young kids of 18 years old and make them play against Germany, they will not concede four goals in six minutes. To me, that just shows that they were paralysed on the pitch."



But he concluded that "you've got to give credit" to Germany for their performance, adding: "I sat there and saw them handle all the pressure, creating wave after wave of attacks even though they were playing the most famous footballing nation in the world on their home turf."



Scolari, whose side face Netherlands in Saturday's third-place playoff match, has said he will not resign and has been backed by the incoming president of Brazil's Football Federation.



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