Long heralded as one of the best defenders in the world, Brazil's captain and cup lifter elect Thiago Silva finds himself at a fork in the road. Down the left path is supreme glory, during which a selection of powerhouse performances at the back, enabling the dynamic, free-flowing and promising attack from the likes of Hulk, Neymar and others leads to he himself lifting the melon and custard in front of thousands of his fellow countrymen and etching his very image into history, destined to be repeated in programmes, YouTube videos and news articles for decades to come. The right fork sees him incapable of replicating his performances at club level on the international stage, choking under the (granted, intense) pressure of an entire nation, suffering from a lapsed defensive performance, conceding goals, maybe losing on penalties, heartbreak, nightmares and despair. Most importantly, the right fork means, decades from now, a scarce few, maybe hardly any, will remember his name. Does anyone remember the name of Piazza, who played in the 1970 World Cup and won but was captain in 1974, when they were very disappointing? What about Dunga, who lifted the cup in 1994? Perhaps in many ways, as prospective cup lifter, Thiago Silva has the most to win (and lose).
Betting on being a brilliant brother to Bodhi since 2008 (-1 Asian Handicap). Find me @LiamJJohnson on Twitter where you might find some wonderful pearls of wisdom in a stout cocktail of profanity, football discussion and general musings. Or you might not. Depends how red my eyes are.
