July 8, 2014 is a date etched indelibly, painfully into the memories of Brazilian football fans all across the globe.
It
was the day their world came crashing down, the day their heroes were
humiliated on home soil when they were on the brink of a World Cup final
at their cherished Maracana.
Three years on,
the memories of that record 7-1 World Cup semifinal crushing by Germany
are still vivid for Brazil center-back Dante.
Those
90 minutes in Belo Horizonte arguably haunt the 33-year-old even more
than any other teammate. It was the only match he played at that World
Cup.
"That defeat was very, very painful," Dante -- who replaced suspended captain Thiago Silva that day -- recalls.
"Yes, it's been hard to get over it.
"Some
people tried to oppress us after that game. But that's the way it is,
and in the football world you always need to pick yourself back up and
keep working."
Dante and his teammates made history that night, but for all the wrong reasons. The records stack up against them.
The
humiliating loss was Brazil's first competitive home defeat in 39 years
and equaled their heaviest margin of defeat -- a 6-0 thumping by
Uruguay in 1920.
No team had ever
scored seven goals in a World Cup semifinal before, while the match was
also the biggest World Cup semifinal defeat on record.
Surprisingly
for a country renowned for its attacking flair, Brazil did not have a
shot on target until the 51st minute. It was a dark day for the hosts.
The
absence of captain Silva and star forward Neymar, injured in the
quarterfinal, had a bigger impact than anyone could have imagined.
What
should have been one of the greatest moments in the country's
footballing history became one of its worst, putting the loss alongside
the 1950 World Cup final defeat by Uruguay in Rio -- otherwise known as
the 'Maracanazo'.
'People forget about respect'
Brazil fans weep as they watch their team being humilated by Germany.
Germany
eventually went on to win a fourth World Cup title, beating Argentina
in the final to put them just one behind Brazil's overall record.
A
puffy-eyed, sobbing David Luiz became the pantomime villain that day
for is defensive frailty, but the rest of the squad suffered too. Brazil
coach Luiz Felipe Scolari described the match as the worst day of his
life.
In a
country which continued to celebrate the World Cup victory for months,
Dante -- still coming to terms with what had happened -- found it a very
lonely place.
"If I had been in
another country, it would have been easier," he says. "People quickly
forget about respect. They forget everything you've done.
"You
find yourself in a complicated situation. You find less people to help
you, to cheer you up. You are alone. You have two or three friends
helping you, nothing more.
"You
are facing people who, as soon as they have the opportunity, try to hurt
you by reminding you of this event. It was very striking and hard, but I
learned a lot from that."
Looking forward
David Luiz leaves the field in tears. The defender was heavily criticized for his role in the defeat.
Two
years later, Brazil did at least partly exorcise their demons at the
Rio Olympics as an Under-23 side, led by Barcelona star Neymar, beat
Germany on penalties to win the gold medal for the first time in the
country's history.
The ability to
not let the mind linger on that brutal defeat, however painful, is what
allowed Dante, his teammates and the Brazilian public to move on.
Dante, now playing for French side OGC Nice in Ligue 1, talks about the defeat matter-of-factly. He says he is over it.
Brazil's Olympic legacy? An abandoned Maracana 02:02
"For me, in football, what's done is done," he says with a shrug. "My victories belong to the past as well.
"After
suffering from so many people trying to blame me, to put me in trouble,
I managed to overcome that all thanks to hard work. You always need to
question yourself, do some self-analysis, improve.
"I learned a lot from that. I have no regrets. Today I'm happy. Once again, in life, you need to forge ahead."
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