Felipe Melo came close to quitting football after the furore over his sending-off against Holland.
Midfielder lost his motivation for playing
Brazil midfielder Felipe Melo has revealed he came close to quitting football after the furore over his sending-off against Holland.
Melo was red carded as Brazil lost out to the Dutch in the quarter-finals and the Juventus man was vilified by the media back in his homeland for costing Brazil the World Cup.
The events in South Africa came on the back of a disappointing domestic season with Juventus and Melo conceded he lost his motivation for playing on.
"After the World Cup I no longer had the motivation to play," Melo told La Repubblica.
"I had no joy in it anymore and had decided to leave football. I played a decent World Cup, but in Brazil everyone said we had gone out because of me.
"Those who understand football know that we were going to go out anyway. You just had to look in the eyes of the Dutch players before my red card to realise it.
"I am not an angel, but I understood that I could be hard without going over the top."
