"When Brazil hosted their first World Cup for 64 years in 2014, it's fair to say the pressure was on the Selecao to exorcise the demons of 1950 and win the trophy on home soil. The final match of the 1950 World Cup - technically not the final, as it was a round robin stage - saw Uruguay break the hearts of a nation, when they defeated Brazil 2-1 in the Maracana to claim their second title. Brazil goalkeeper Moacir Barbosa would go down as the scapegoat that afternoon after the winning goal slipped underneath him and this would haunt him for the rest of his life, feeding the narrative that Brazil could not produce good goalkeepers."
"Fast forward to 2014, and Julio Cesar was the Selecao's No.1 for the World Cup, despite the fact that he had fallen behind Robert Green in the QPR pecking order and moved to Toronto FC on loan in order to get regular minutes in the run-up to the tournament. Brazil negotiated the group stage without much fuss, with comprehensive wins over Croatia and Cameroon sandwiching a draw against Mexico."
""It was our home World Cup, and we faced Chile in the round of 16 on a hot day in Belo Horizonte," Cesar recalls to FourFourTwo. "The match was intense and ended 1-1, but I made several crucial saves to take it to a penalty shootout. "Then, that's when goalkeepers stan"
Brazil entered the 2014 World Cup under intense pressure to overcome the 1950 Maracana defeat, a loss that left goalkeeper Moacir Barbosa as a lifelong scapegoat and fed doubts about Brazilian goalkeepers. Julio Cesar served as Brazil's starting goalkeeper in 2014 despite limited club minutes after falling behind at QPR and moving on loan to Toronto FC to regain form. Brazil advanced from the group with wins over Croatia and Cameroon and a draw with Mexico. In the round-of-16 match in Belo Horizonte, Cesar made several crucial saves as the game ended 1-1 and was decided by a penalty shootout.
Read at www.fourfourtwo.com
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