Brazil’s campaign in the FIFA World Cup 2018 begins Sunday against Switzerland. But, for four of its players, the meeting may harbour more than the spirited competition of the tournament, FIFA.com reports.
Goalie Alisson, midfielders Casemiro and Philippe Countinho and forward Neymar were all on the pitch at the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup group match when Brazil took on Switzerland, reports bdnews24.com, quoting FIFA.com.
The Brazilians needed points to advance, but the Swiss took the game 1-0, sending them home early.
Switzerland went on to beat Germany, Italy, Colombia and Nigeria and took the historic world title.
“It’s one of life’s little ironies, isn’t it?” Alisson told FIFA.com. “That wasn’t a very happy time for us because we were knocked out. They had a very strong side.”
It has been nine years since and many things have changed. But on Sunday the Brazilians will face Granit Xhaka, Ricardo Rodriguez and Haris Seferovic, who were all part of that world championship team.
In fact, all seven of the players were born in 1992. The Brazilians even developed alongside each other.
“We grew up together and we identified with one another,” said Alisson. “It makes the story even nicer.”
As in 2009, the Brazilians are favoured to take the title.
“We were expected to go all the way then, but things didn’t work out how we wanted,” said Coutinho. “We had a World Cup to forget. It wasn’t good.”
But the Brazilians bounced back from that unexpected loss in Nigeria, becoming some of the best players in the world. And this time they hope to reverse the outcome.
“We’re definitely more mature, with lots of experience behind us and playing at the highest level,” added Alisson. “It’s going to be a huge challenge and we hope to rise to it. I hope that this time we’ll be the ones coming away with the big result.”