Dani Alves had no doubt Julio Cesar would come to Brazil’s rescue in Saturday’s dramatic penalty shootout against Chile.
Four years ago Cesar broke down in tears after his mistake against Holland sent Brazil tumbling out of the World Cup.
But the 34-year-old won his place back in the heart of the Brazilian nation when he saved two spot kicks in the 3-2 shootout win in Belo Horizonte.
Cesar’s place in the Brazil team was questioned in the build-up to the tournament.
Harry Redknapp deemed the goalkeeper surplus to requirements at QPR and sent the stopper to Toronto FC on loan.
The quality of football in Major League Soccer is nowhere near World Cup standard, but for Alves, there was no way Cesar would let his country down in the Estadio Mineirao.
“He knows we’ve got total faith in him,” the Barcelona defender said after the game, which was level at 1-1 after 120 minutes.
“We all knew that it would soon be Julio’s moment to shine. So, it By Staff Reporter didn’t matter what each of us actually said to him before (the shootout).
“To be honest, I can’t remember what I did say, and I bet most of the lads are the same. It wasn’t about the words, it was about making it clear he knew we believed in him.”
Luiz Felipe Scolari also never lost confidence in the player despite his lack of high-quality first-team football in the run up to the tournament.
And it was that backing from his manager that made Cesar confident of keeping Brazil in the World Cup.
“That [Scolari’s faith] was what kept me calm. It made it easier for me to do a good job,” Cesar said. “I can understand the doubters though: when you’re not playing, there are always going to be question marks.”
Brazil will travel to Fortaleza on Thursday – 24 hours before they take on Colombia in the Castelao arena.
Brazil may be without their star player Neymar for the quarter-final as he is struggling with a thigh injury he sustained in a bruising challenge with Charles Aranguiz.
“We need to evaluate it but we should have three, four or five days to try and make sure he can play the next game,” said Scolari, who was unhappy that the Chile midfielder was not cautioned for the tackle.
Brazil will definitely be without midfielder Luis Gustavo for the quarter-final as he is suspended, opening the door to a recall for Paulinho.
FIFA experts, meanwhile, have officially awarded Brazil’s first goal against Chile to David Luiz.
Television replays appeared to show that Thiago Silva’s header had been deflected in by Chile defender Gonzalo Jara.
