Brazilian striker Hulk was a guest on Romário's show, where he had an extended conversation with Romário. During the interview, Hulk reflected on his playing experience in Japan, Porto, Zenit, China, and Atlético Mineiro. This article is the second part of an exclusive interview.

Speaking about the Brazil national team, you won the Confederations Cup and participated in the 2014 World Cup. From your personal perspective, do you feel you achieved what you wanted while wearing the Brazil shirt? Or do you still feel something is missing?

No. I feel I could have achieved more, and I also hoped to enjoy the experience more. It's a shame the World Cup was held in Brazil at that time; we were very confident because we had just won the Confederations Cup. But losing that match the way we did at the end was truly very disappointing for us.

Of course, there's always that feeling: "Man, I wish I could have done more."

I was with Marcelo and César before, and I also spoke with them about that 7-1 match. According to them, it took some time before they truly realized what that match meant. What about you? Did you realize it immediately after the match, or did it take a few years to truly understand how devastating that result was for the players at the time?

It was very difficult even then, and it was hard to understand what had happened. Only those who actually lived through that match know how difficult it was to accept. It was really tough. I remember that afterward, I had to go back to Europe because the team was going to start preseason training.

Villas-Boas was Zenit's coach at the time, and I even told him: "Give me a few more days, because I really need some time to recover."

These things take time to process. I think it took about a year to truly fully comprehend what it all meant.

That night after the match must have been incredibly difficult.

It was so hard, really so hard. It felt like you suddenly received terrible news while having the worst day that just wouldn't end. Time seemed to stop completely.

We played the match in Belo Horizonte, and then we had to drive to Rio, and then to the mountains. That day just wouldn't end—it was truly endless. And nobody spoke to anyone.

In that match, did you really miss Neymar? I mean, he couldn't play then, right?

Yes, yes.

But is there a chance that if Neymar had played, it wouldn't have happened? Or do you think it was such an abnormal day that regardless of who was on the field, they would have probably lost anyway?

It's difficult because it's impossible to imagine a different scenario. Of course, Neymar is Neymar. At that time, he was our most important player, the one who could truly change the course of that World Cup.

He was playing very well and was very confident, and we had already developed our own style of play. Some might say that if he had started, or if Scolari had deployed a different midfielder, perhaps things would have been different.

But in football, you never know. You imagine one thing, but what actually happens can be completely different. So that moment is really difficult to explain and hard to understand.

Because at the start of the match, I remember a cross from Marcelo, if I'm not mistaken, and Fred almost scored to make it 1-0. The score was still 0-0, and we really started well. If Fred had scored that goal, the match could have been completely different. It really would have been totally different.

Since Brazil won its fifth World Cup title in 2002, even accounting for that 7-1 match, that World Cup was still Brazil's best performance since then. What do you think is wrong with the Brazil national team now?

I don't know. I'm a very patriotic person, so we always hope the Brazil national team shows its best. I see you watching the World Cup, and I see you supporting the team and offering advice.

We suffer too and truly feel those emotions. When Carlo Ancelotti takes over, he will bring us hope again, because he's a coach who has won many titles.

He understands football and knows how to manage a team. And we obviously have many great players, so people don't understand why things don't always go the way we want. But I think we still need to keep working, trying to figure out what the problem is, and then change it so that other teams start respecting us again.

Your last call-up to the Brazil national team was in 2021, when Tite was still the coach, right?

2021, yes.

Do you think there could have been other opportunities since then?

I think there could have been opportunities between 2021 and the 2022 World Cup. Because I felt very good in 2021, which is why I was called up. After the 2022 season started, I was also playing very well. But I will always respect the coach's choices.

Because it's not easy for a coach to select 23 players from so many talented footballers. Perhaps many would think: "Then I'll bring in more new, young players because that gives me more time to work with them." So I try to respect those decisions.

In your opinion, since you also participated in a World Cup and experienced failure—like me, I participated in one World Cup but didn't win, and then participated in another and won. Those of us who have experienced failure perhaps understand that feeling better than those who never participated in a World Cup. Do you think there's a specific reason for Brazil's recent loss to Norway? Is the team missing something?

Sometimes when we talk about this, we also worry that our words will be misunderstood. But I think we didn't take the responsibility we should have, and didn't truly realize: "Hey, we are Brazil."

I fully respect Norway, 100% respect for Norway. But even so, Brazil should still control the game. We should press and see what opportunities we really have.

You can't just let Norway play comfortably out there—that's wrong, really wrong. You have to make your opponent chase you and take responsibility for dominating the game. You have to see where your strengths are.

Vinícius is in great form right now, so we need to create conditions for him to have more one-on-one opportunities. You have to create those situations because we have many very talented players. You played football; you know.

Any team, as soon as it starts playing comfortably on the field, will perform better and better. So I think Brazil cannot allow any opponent to play comfortably against us.

Related articles:

Hulk: I had the opportunity to move to the Premier League every year during my four years at Porto, but the club didn't want to sell me

Переведено ИИ.

Сайт AF теперь доступен! Читайте полные новости, комментарии, детали матчей и статистику на компьютере. Посетите: www.allfootballapp.com