World Cup Diary | World Cup diary: Brazil's psychologist has work cut out after team's mental breakdown
Manager Big Phil must shoulder nearly all the blame for humiliation, but the team's complete psychological collapse - epitomised by David Luiz - was something to behold
“Brazilian players often have a different perception of the same situations as other players. It’s a real cultural question, the way they behave and the way they behave differently than others. They are much more intense than players from other countries, whether it’s for the good or the bad. Managing the emotions is critical for Scolari.”
- Brazil's team psychologist Regina Brandao in December
Plenty has and will be written on the hosts' night of shame, but we'd like to know especially what Brandao was thinking as the goals went in. 'Any professor positions available outside Brazil,' perhaps.
There was plenty of attention on her in the build-up, with Brazilian media worried - rightly it turns out - by the overwrought displays of emotion by their players.
"With Regina we speak about all sorts of things, even things that aren’t related to football, to make sure we’re at ease," Thiago Silva told a news conference ahead of the semi-final against Germany.
"If we’re not at ease off the pitch then things might not happen as we want on it."