CAN BRAZIL REPEAT THE HEROICS OF 1962?

Brazil’s soccer idol was in agony, and so, momentarily, was his country. He’d been badly injured, and with him out of the World Cup, Brazil’s hopes for capturing football’s biggest prize seemed to have turned to ashes.

But the date wasn’t last Friday, when Neymar, Brazil’s 22-year-old star striker and poster-boy, was carried out on a stretcher with a broken back, his face contorted into an anguished mask. It was June 2, 1962, when Pelé, then 21, tore a thigh muscle while firing a long shot at goal against Czechoslovakia in a first-round game, "then hobbled off the field and out of the 1962 World Cup," as British soccer writer Brian Glanville put it. Yet, 52 years ago, staring into the abyss, Brazil’s national team rallied from the blow of losing Pelé. A new star emerged in the Botafogo forward Amarildo, who went on to score three goals in the ‘62 tournament as Brazil won its second World Cup, in Chile. He also had plenty of help from two brilliant teammates, Garrincha and Vavá.

Now many Brazilians are hoping that history will repeat itself, and even appear to have found some silver linings in the prospect of this year’s squad, minus its leading scorer, confronting a tough German opponent in Tuesday’s semifinal in Belo Horizonte. In interviews Sunday morning along Paulista Avenue, the main drag of the country’s largest city, some Brazilians said their team now will have to play more like a true team, rather than as "Neymar plus 10," as some were calling the Seleção before the tournament began three weeks ago.

When Sunday morning rolled around, Brazilian media, as well as Twitter and Facebook posters, were turning their attention toward Germany and the question of which Brazilian player might rise to the occasion’s new demands. Could Willian, the Brazilian midfielder who plays for Chelsea, or the striker Jô, become the Amarildo of 2014, some speculated? Or maybe even the much-abused Fred, who has been mercilessly ridiculed for his lackluster performances so far? The Brazilian media also has discovered another compelling story line to complement the updates emanating from Neymar’s hospital room. The grandfather of Brazilian and Real Madrid defender Marcelo died within hours of Neymar’s injury. Marcelo has said that the old man was his greatest supporter since childhood. Will that plunge Marcelo deeper into despondency, or lend him extra motivation for Tuesday’s showdown?

Pelé himself has weighed in on Twitter, raising the analogy with 1962 and trying to raise his country’s hopes. "I was also injured during the 1962 World Cup in Chile, and I was out for the rest of the tournament," he wrote in English and Portuguese. "But God helped Brazil continue on to win the championship. I hope the same will happen with our Seleção in this World Cup."