Brazil media scathing after Copa collapse

Posted Tuesday, July 19, 2011 by ca2011.com

BRASILIA, July 18, 2011 (AFP) - Brazil's media were scathing on Monday after the national team were unceremoniously dumped from the Copa America by Paraguay in a quarter-final penalty shoot-out.

The Paraguayans were on the rack for much of the match but the Brazilians, the holders of the trophy, wasted several chances and then missed all four of their spot-kicks as their rivals advanced 2-0 to a semi-final with Venezuela.

"Historic incompetence," was the verdict of national daily O Globo, which saw the five-time world champions eliminated "in embarrassing fashion".

Correio Braziliense was no less forgiving. "What incompetence!" was the glaring headline in the paper, which added that the manner of the exit "places a question mark over the work of coach Mano Menezes and over his remaining in the job until the 2014 World Cup".

Menezes, who took over from Dunga after a quarter-final exit to Holland at last summer's World Cup, said all along that the 2014 event, which Brazil will host for the first time since 1950, is the overriding priority -- but that could not mask current shortcomings in the media's eyes.

Correio Braziliense said that Menezes' insistence that the poor state of the pitch had played a major role in their exit was farcical. "After the Brazilians' disastrous showing, they tried to shift the blame and were unanimous in pinning it on the pitch," the paper wrote.

Estado de Sao Paulo daily said the "attack was useless" and that "Menezes' side bowed out of the Copa America quite miserably".