I'm not making this thread as a fan of Brazil, since i'm not. But like any football fan, I appreciate their historical significance in world football.
However now that Brazil have not won the Olympic gold that they clearly wanted badly, with a group a talented but massively hyped youngsters. Once expects their coach to be sacked, if they are true to form.
But what does this defeat really mean?. IMO it just continues along the trend ever since Brazil were knocked out in the 2006 WC quarter-finals/2007 Copa America win. Which is Brazil are searching for an identity without much luck.
Before their Olympics, BBC sports South American guru, Tim Vickery had an insightful article articulating this issue:
Can Brazil rekindle their magic? - ESPN Soccernet
Essentially he painting the picture that since the 1974 world cup, Brazil have depended solely on natural great individual skill to win them games (Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Romario, Ronaldino, Kaka etc etc etc) and have moved away from the magic mid-field play of their legendary 1970 team - which Spain has coincidentally reverted to in their modern domination of world football.
So they are hoping the likes of Oscar, Ganson, Neymar, Lucas can be their registra and triquartista versions of Xavi, Pirlo, Xabi, Iniesta. Moving away from the period of hard tackling mid-fielders like Emmerson, Edu, Dunga, Gilberto Silva, Felipe Melo, Sandro, Julio Baptista
Fortunately for the Brazil clubs pocket and unfortunately for the world, they seems to have already accepted these young kids as the real deal, while conveniently ignoring these dynamics of Brazil's decline,. The money Chelsea and PSG have thrown at Oscar and Lucas is stunning leap of fate and if Neymar and Leandro follow suite to Europe its crazy to think how much they will cost too.
The pressure Oscar and Lucas will be crazy in the next two years - if they don't star up at Chelsea and PSG.
If they can live up and you add experienced players like Julio Cesar, Alves, David Luiz, Ramires, Lucas Leiva Andre Santos or Adriano Corriea at left-back - the team can certainly be very strong. On paper it may be then come 2014, they may be the team best equipped to stop Spain:
---------------------------------Julio Cesar--------------------------
Alves---------Thiago Silva-----David Luiz-----Marcelo/Santos/Adrianno
------------------Sandro------------Lucas/Ramirez------------------
-------------------------------Oscar------------------------------
Hulk------------------------Leandro-----------------Neymar-------
But clearly the time is very short and this Olympics defeat would have clearly hindered that and if they don't win the Confederations Cup next year, then i think world would need to stop treating Brazilian talent its still the most unique commodity in world football.