A cat jumped onto the table during the press conference held by Vinicius Junior before Brazil's match against Croatia in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup, and since then, the situation for Brazilian football has deteriorated. This led the newspaper "The Sun" to label what is happening to the "Seleção" as the "Cat Curse."
While Vinicius was speaking, the cat jumped on the table, and the media officer for the Brazilian team went to grab the cat and threw it away, a move that drew criticism from those present. However, everything changed for the five-time World Cup champions after that.
Days later, it seemed Brazil was heading toward the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup thanks to Neymar's stunning goal, but Croatian Bruno Petkovic scored the equalizer, and the Croatians went on to win 4-2 in a penalty shootout after Rodrigo and Marquinhos missed two penalties.
In October of last year, Neymar, the captain and star of the Brazilian team, suffered a cruciate ligament tear that will keep him from playing football for several months. In the Under-20 World Cup, Brazil's youth team was eliminated in the quarter-finals after losing to Israel, having initially led 2-1 before relinquishing that lead and losing 3-2.
The Brazilian team, which has won the gold medal in the Olympics for two consecutive times, missed participating in the Paris Olympics after being eliminated by their traditional rival Argentina in the qualifying rounds. The latest disappointment came when Uruguay eliminated Brazil from the quarter-finals of the Copa America last Saturday in a penalty shootout, with a result of 4-2 after Eder Militao and Douglas Luiz missed two penalty kicks.
