MY ACCOUNT
Brazil should have no regrets despite their failure to progress beyond the World Cup quarter-finals, says goalkeeper Alisson.
The Selecao drew 1-1 with Croatia after extra time at Education City Stadium on Friday, with Bruno Petkovic having cancelled out Neymar’s record-equalling opener.
Brazil could not regain the momentum in the shoot-out, with Rodrygo missing their first penalty and Marquinhos hitting the post with his attempt as Croatia claimed a 4-2 triumph to seal their place in the last four for a second World Cup running.
Alisson was unable to keep out any of Croatia’s penalties but he believes Brazil – who will also be under the tutelage of a new coach after Tite reiterated his plan to leave his post – should not reflect too harshly on their performance in Qatar.
“I think what went wrong is that it’s football – anything can happen,” Alisson said.
“People talked about us as favourites because of what we did on the pitch, because of our performances, because of the quality of our players.
“I said before, we don’t have anything to regret, we would not change anything because we fought, prepared ourselves and were ready to try and win the World Cup.
“This is football, things don’t always happen the way we want. No regrets, we look forward to the challenge that’s in front of us.”
Alisson conceded “the frustration is huge” but added: “We are proud of the dedication of each player, of the things we did on the pitch. The performances were really good.
“In my opinion we didn’t deserve to lose this game, in the World Cup though there can be penalties and unfortunately we were defeated on that.”
Brazil certainly had the better of the match prior to the shoot-out, with Croatia’s only shot on target coming when Petkovic’s effort deflected in off Marquinhos.
The Selecao had 21 attempts, mustering an expected goals (xG) of 2.55 to Croatia’s 0.63.
Alisson’s opposite number Dominik Livakovic was in outstanding form, making 11 saves – he was only beaten by Neymar’s moment of brilliance, which drew Brazil’s talisman level with Pele’s record haul of 77 international goals.
Neymar, who might have played his final World Cup match, had to be consoled by his team-mates after the match, while striker Richarlison was in tears when he spoke to the media.
Alisson, though, suggested the setback will only make Brazil’s squad grow.
“We’re going to have players who have to step up now, show leadership,” he added. “We have so many players who can lead a team, so many who do that already, even the young players.
“We have young talents who will improve even more, learn from this World Cup and we have more experienced players as well who can still contribute.
“Now it’s difficult to think about the future, because we have so much pain at the moment, but hopefully the future will be bright for us. We have just to take this defeat, learn from that and keep on going.”
