Brazil v Colombia: Players' tears nothing to be ashamed of, insists Thiago Silva
Hosts' captain insists team can cope with emotion of representing the nation
Brazil captain Thiago Silva insisted the World Cup hosts were mentally tough enough to cope with the pressure on Thursday after criticism of the squad’s tears during the last 16 win over Chile.
“I think we are good psychologically. We are doing what we love to do,” the Paris Saint-Germain defender said on Thursday.
“There was a lot of pressure to win that match so we know we had to give all we had, but when you do things with a lot of will and desire there is no way to not be emotional.”
The squad held a session with the team’s sports psychologist earlier in the week to prepare for their clash with Colombia in the last eight on Friday in Fortaleza.
And Silva dismissed criticism of his leadership from outside the camp given the support shown to him by Brazil boss Luis Felipe Scolari.