Song and dance there, but where is Brazil's soul?

DOHA: From swooning over the twirling foot of Richarlison the other day, to fretting over the ankle of Neymar, it is back to business for Brazil. Gone is the exultation to dance and express themselves. Instead, now, Tite is adopting a serious, head-down approach, almost as if the earlier comments were merely for the camera. "I have already made my decision but will not disclose until game time," manager Tite said, on eve of their encounter with Switzerland.
Flamboyance could make way for the factory-shift.You would too do the same if your couple of automatic starters - including the team's most visible star -- faces the unpleasant possibility of missing the World Cup altogether.
Neymar sported a right ankle the size of a balloon at the end of the game against Serbia. He is already the player fouled at the most at the World Cup in the first set group stage matches, suffering nine fouls against Serbia. "One of the most difficult moments," the striker posted on his social media platform, with snaps of his ankle. "It's a pain, and it will hurt. Nothing in my life was easy or given to me," he wrote.
Tite, they say, has an embarrassment of riches at his disposal at this World Cup. Deep enough that finally the team would not be overdependent of Neymar or revolve around him, making them big favourites in Qatar.
But for the first time, in many years, the people back home have not warmed to the team and its chances. There is no love, very little soul. Instead, what hangs is the idea of redemption and an attempt to re-appropriating the famous yellow jersey and return it to the people. The 'povos' had always identified with the Brazil jersey till it became a symbol for Jair Bolsonaro's right-wing government that divided the Brazilian people right down the middle.
The Selecao, the national football, is the one big symbolism that Bolsonaro is accused to have annexed for his means, as is evident in his very public closeness with Neymar who had publicly supported Bolsonaro, urging Brazilians to vote for him. So did former star, Rivaldo, who later even compared Bolsonaro's electoral defeat to Lula Da Silva to something as devastating as the 1998 World Cup final debacle when they lost most tamely to France.
The turnaround by Brazilian football's most recognizable faces has outraged and shocked the regular Brazilian who always saw the football team, and by extension, the yellow shirt, as one of their own with its own unique identity and opposition to any oppressive regime. Many say that while there is clearly a monetary incentive at play here, Neymar's very open stand went against the famous Brazilian tradition established by democracy-seeking former stars, Socrates, Casagrande, even Romario and Juninho Pernambucano. Lula's return could put Neymar in a spot bigger than his ankle.
Equally visible and big is the other fall out, which involved the turning against and victimisation of Gilberto Gil, their most famous living musician and huge cultural symbol. A severe Bolsonaro critic for his regressive ways, Gil, a former Minister of Culture in previous Lula governments has come under increasing attack by the Bolsonarists, the outgoing president's faithful.
Both Brazilian icons are present in Qatar - Neymar with an injury and Gil, enjoying the football after Lula's recent victory to oust Bolsonaro. A day after Brazil's opening win, videos emerged where the 80-year-old Gil was harassed at the stadium by Bolsonarists who refuse to accept the election verdict back home.
For a team that prides itself on song and dance, for whom music is so integral to their being, entering stadiums to the beat of drums and music, no player has come out outraged at the action, or in support of Gil.
It is an issue that the astute Tite must have recognised, having hung over the team right through last month's build-up to the World Cup. Whether he has addressed it with his stars is not known, but what is clear is that the Selecao will need to do a lot more than just win to earn back the respect of its people back home.