Brazil must improve

Nigeria midfielder Ogenyi Onazi (R) takes a fall while trying to keep possession against France forward Olivier Giroud during their World Cup round of 16 game at the Mane Garrincha National Stadium in Brasilia on Monday. Photo: AFP

As I drove back from the Maracana after watching Colombia beat Uruguay, I remembered how a lot of people, myself included, thought their chances of a good run at the 2014 World Cup had been severely hampered by Radamel Falcao's injury, five months before the start of the tournament. After all, he is one of their leading all-time top scorers and his goals had been crucial in guaranteeing their qualification. Well, the Colombians have surpassed expectations and for the first time in their history they have reached the quarterfinals.
But it's the authority with which they booked their place in the last eight that amazes me. Football is not an exact science and instead of sulking, the Colombians have learned to live without Falcao. When he was scoring so many goals, his teammates simply played for him, but his departure forced them to play more as a team and that allowed James Rodriguez and Juan Cuadrado to emerge. These two are

excellent pieces that fronted a re-engineering job carried on by the Argentinean manager Jose Pekerman, who also deserves some credit for making his team believe they could bounce back from the loss of such a talent as Falcao.
Rodriguez impressed me immensely. In my opinion, he is one of the most talented players in this World Cup. His passing is sweet and it is really interesting how deceitful he can be: Rodriguez can look absent from the game but can pounce and catch his markers unaware. He is in my World Cup XI so far and a midfielder that scores five goals in four matches must be respected.
I also like Mario Yepes at the back. He is a leader and helps manage the defence, while Pablo Armero can be a bit of a loose cannon but he is certainly a talented player. With Colombia playing like this, Uruguay would have suffered even if Luis Suarez was available. In the World Cup qualifiers Colombia beat them 4-0 in Barranquilla. Suarez is an amazing player who seems to know all the secrets of the box but Colombia are stronger collectively.
Now Colombia must fancy their chances. They must have been encouraged by seeing Chile take Brazil to the wire in Belo Horizonte. I don't believe the Selecao will play so horribly twice in a row. Against the Chileans they lacked inspiration and this time Neymar failed to impose himself. He got a whack at the beginning of the game and that hampered his movement a bit, which made it easier for the Chileans to close him down.
Brazil were dominated and put under pressure for long periods of the game and, to be honest, I think the Chileans didn't go for the kill as they did against Spain. It's like they respected Brazil too much. The Selecao managed to create a few chances, but the fact is that we are lacking a proper gameplan. There is no more buildup from the back and players once again resorted to long balls to Neymar.
What worried me more was the marking, especially from the full-backs. In midfield, the second yellow card for Luiz Gustavo was bad news. He is our best man-marker and would have been quite useful to keep Rodriguez at bay. Cuadrado is another player the Brazilians will have to find a strategy to deal with. The penalty shootout was marked by some nervousness from the players that I still find a bit weird. There was a weird feeling in the stadium and the shot that hit the crossbar from Chile's Mauricio Pinilla at the very end of extra time left everybody shocked.
Brazil need to improve and avoid focusing everything on Neymar. Colombia will present a different challenge than Chile, for they don't play such a high pressure game. But with what Rodriguez and co have done so far, they will be looking forward to an upset.

(Brazilian football legend Zico wrote this analysis for the Guardian)