BELO HORIZONTE – Four years after making the mistake that led to Brazil’s elimination from the World Cup, goalkeeper Julio Cesar came up big, yesterday, turning from villain to hero.
Cesar made two saves in the penalty shoot-out victory and watched Chile’s last shot from the spot by Gonzalo Jara smack the post, helping save Brazil from a humiliating loss in the second round.
The score was level 1-1 after extra time, and Brazil ended up winning 3-2 on penalties to reach the quarter-finals for the sixth consecutive World Cup.
Cesar has always admitted that his mistake on a ball crossed into the area in 2010 led to Brazil’s 2-1 loss to the Netherlands in the quarter-finals in South Africa, something which left him devastated.
This time, there were only tears of joy.
“Four years ago I gave a very sad, angry and emotional interview,” the goalkeeper said, wiping away tears. “And today I’m doing this again, with happiness.
“Only God and my family know what I went through and still go through today, but I know that my story is not over with the Selecao.”
Cesar was visibly emotional even before the penalty shoot-out, when teammates walked over to hug him and wish him well. His eyes appeared to be watering and he seemed to have a hard time staying composed.
He stopped the first two shots by Chile in the shoot-out, staying near the middle of the goal to block Mauricio’s Pinilla’s attempt, then diving to his right to deflect Alexis Sanchez’s strike.
“I just kept my focus. That’s all I had to do,” Cesar said.
His efforts even won the plaudits of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.
“It was hard, it was with heart, with tears and with saves by Julio Cesar,” Rousseff posted on Twitter. “We won!”
While it was Neymar who took the penalty that gave Brazil a 3-2 lead in the shoot-out, he knew where most of the praise should go after the narrow victory.
“Cesar deserves all the credit today,” the star striker said. (AP)