00:04Brazil has been blessed on football's greatest stage.
00:08With five World Cup victories, no nation embodies success like the Célecone.
00:13But their recent history is layered with a theme of triumph and disaster.
00:202002, a Ronaldo-inspired victory in the final over Germany.
00:272014, a promising campaign on home soil left in tatters by an injury to Neymar
00:32and a catastrophic 7-1 semi-final defeat.
00:35This time, Germany turning the tables.
00:40And the brains behind both operations, Luis Felipe Scolari.
00:47With stints at an array of clubs in Brazil, the Middle East, England, China and even Uzbekistan.
00:55Scolari has never seemed settled, even in his international ventures.
01:02Struggling to qualify on the eve of the 2002 World Cup,
01:07Brazil enlisted Scolari to guide them safely to football's greatest stage.
01:14The Celesome made it and ensured the World Cup wouldn't be without star trio Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho.
01:23But Scolari was in no mood for fairy tales, unashamedly omitting veteran striker Homario from his squad.
01:35I'm sorry for those athletes that have been left out.
01:37Win or lose, it's my choice.
01:40My duty is to win.
01:42We don't have a second-place culture in this country, he said.
01:48After a shaky qualifying campaign, Brazil cruised through the group stages,
01:53absorbing the best the world could throw at it during the knockouts,
01:56before Ronaldo did Ronaldo things in the final.
02:02The breathtaking striker ended Germany's run of four straight clean sheets,
02:07getting two past the seemingly impenetrable Oliver Kahn,
02:10taking his tally to a record 15 in his four World Cups.
02:17Brazil won the match 2-0,
02:19and Scolari had delivered his nation a record fifth World Cup.
02:26His time at Brazil ended after the 2002 World Cup,
02:31taking a role at Portugal in 2003,
02:33and then a high-profile stint with English Premier League Team Chelsea in 2008,
02:39where he lasted just seven months.
02:42But they say home is where the heart is,
02:45and that is where Scolari returned, in 2012, to Brazil,
02:49in time for the 2014 World Cup on home soil in Rio de Janeiro.
02:56Having fallen to an all-time low ranking of 22nd,
03:00Brazil needed a spark,
03:01and it seemed Scolari was the man.
03:06The Celoso lost their first match upon his return,
03:09but quickly turned their form around
03:11by winning the 2013 Confederations Cup.
03:15Neymar starred,
03:16and a 3-0 victory in the final against Spain
03:18was the exclamation mark on their preparation for the World Cup.
03:25A team that's a five-time World Champion
03:27has something in their history.
03:29Our history at this moment,
03:31with all the players that we have playing,
03:33both here and abroad,
03:34is full of very good quality.
03:36What our opponents should fear
03:38is all this good work we have been doing in Brazil.
03:44But disaster lurked around the corner.
03:49After a promising group stage,
03:51a spiteful quarter-final clash
03:53would plant the seed of doubt.
03:55Neymar fractured his vertebrae
03:57after a savage Colombian tackle.
03:59He missed the rest of the World Cup.
04:04Brazil was in disarray,
04:06trounced 7-1 in the semifinal
04:08against eventual Champions Germany,
04:10humiliated on home turf.
04:15Once again,
04:16Scolari was out the door,
04:18with questions lingering over his legacy.
04:21He answered by saying,
04:24To those who want to blame me,
04:25if I'm the only one responsible for the defeat in 2014,
04:29I'm therefore the only one responsible for the triumph in 2002.
04:36He was adored by those who saw the Celeson triumph in 2002.
04:42But that euphoric feeling,
04:44replaced by gut-wrenching grief 12 years later,
04:48proof of the unforgiving theater
04:50that is football's greatest stage.
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