Parreira Is on the Spot as Brazil Arrives Home

Brazil returned home from the World Cup on Monday to little fanfare, and Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira left the airport through a back exit to avoid fans and the media at Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil’s 1-0 loss to France in Saturday’s quarterfinal left most Brazilians with a feeling of resignation rather than anger.

Parreira later held a news conference at the Brazilian Soccer Confederation headquarters and said he regretted the loss as much anybody else.

“No one here wanted to be champion of the world more them me,” he said.

On his future as coach, Parreira said he would only discuss that after talking with confederation President Ricardo Teixeira.

Asked whether defender Roberto Carlos was to blame for the hole in Brazil’s defense that allowed the winning goal, Parreira said, “We’re not going to look for a scapegoat where one doesn’t exist. We lost and France won. If no one made any mistakes and everyone was perfect all games would end 0-0.”

Meanwhile, infuriated fans torched a 23-foot-high resin and fiberglass statue of midfielder Ronaldinho in Chapeco, 620 miles southwest of Rio de Janeiro.

Many in Brazil now have turned their affection to Portugal’s Brazilian Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, who in 2002 led Brazil to the title.

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A man apparently angry over raucous revelry after Portugal’s win over England on Saturday, shot and wounded two Portugal fans and was then shot to death by police.

The man, a 58-year-old postal worker, was responding to noise outside his apartment in Cap d’Ail, France, near Nice, after the game, police said.

Police said the man wounded a man in the head and a woman in an arm. The male victim was in critical condition in a hospital; the woman had surgery.

After the shootings, police said they arrived at the man’s door. He opened it and threatened them with a sword, and the officers responded by shooting him.

Portugal beat England, 3-1, on penalty kicks after a scoreless tie and will play France in a semifinal Wednesday.

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Former Argentina great Diego Maradona doesn’t think much of the German team. Or maybe he does.

In an interview with Italy’s state-run RAI radio, Maradona said the Germans don’t have much going for them besides brawn.

“Germany doesn’t know how to play, but it’s physically strong,” he said on RAI.

But in an interview with Argentine channel TyC Sports, Maradona said, “At the end, Germany will take the Cup.”

Germany defeated Argentina on Friday on penalty kicks, 4-2, after a 1-1 tie to advance to the semifinals, where it will play Italy today in Dortmund. With Argentina out, Maradona said he would be rooting for Italy.

“I think if Italy scores a goal, then Germany will be in difficulty because ... the Azzurri defend very well, 10 times better than Argentina,” Maradona said. “And if Germany doesn’t know how to attack and Italy defends well, then the match is over for sure.”

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Production of Porsches, BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes will have to wait.

The carmakers and unions have agreed to let autoworkers on tonight’s shift stay home to watch Germany’s semifinal against Italy.

The game starts at 9 p.m. local time, and DaimlerChrysler said that the 10,000 people who work the late shift can have the night off. Porsche AG is giving 1,200 workers the night off too. And BMW AG is letting 10,000 workers skip their shift.

Production is slated to resume Wednesday.