It's basically the same team AND coach. My guess is that they were simply nervous in previous games, coupled with different tactical schemes proposed by the coach, that clearly didn't work.
There's one thing that never changes with every WC: the refereering is always sub-par. This one's no exception.
As for Fred, he's part of the tactical scheme. He's supposed to sit there in the box, and have 2 or 3 players drawn to him, opening up space for the players coming from the back, like Neymar, Oscar, Hulk, or, in the case of a cross, to one of the defenders, like on the 1st goal yesterday. He's sacrificing himself by not scoring (and not seeking to score), but he's helping the other players get more space. It's a valid tactic, but sometimes a change is beneficial. Like yesterday.
Once Brazil was 2-0 up, the coach should've sacked Thiago Silva and Neymar, moving the team even further towards Colombia's box. Brazil could've done at least 1 or 2 more goals that way, by changing the scheme on an already dead team. But no, stubborn Felipão did nothing, sit there and watched the best player be knocked out, while the rest of the team just lost pace, and allowed Colombia to start playing again. If the game had 10 more minutes, Brazil would've suffered the tie, no doubt.
alexandre
