A distraught Richarlison admitted that he wanted to lock himself away and cry following Brazil's shock World Cup exit on Friday night.
The five-time champions headed to Qatar as one of the tournament's big favourites, but Tite's side were edged out on penalties by Croatia in the quarter-finals. The game, which finished goalless, burst into life when Neymar finished a slick passing move to break the deadlock in the first-half of extra-time. But Brazil's celebrations were cut short in the 117th minute when Bruno Petkovic restored parity to force a shootout.
The brilliant Dominik Livakovic denied Rodrygo before Marquinhos missed Brazil's fourth penalty to hand Croatia a 4-2 win in the shootout - and he and others were left distraught on the pitch.
Neymar, who was set to take Brazil's fifth penalty in the shootout, was just one player who was captured in tears after the result. Tottenham striker Richarlison was another player who was emotional after the match; and his emotions were still running high when he was approached in the mixed zone.
When he was asked for thoughts by The Athletic, Richarlison said: “Hard to say, huh? Difficult to put words. I think we did almost everything right. Unfortunately, we will not crown the excellent work we built.
“Now it's time to suffer a little. I have to apologise to our family members and our fans who believed in us until the end. Now it's time to go to the bedroom and cry because we are human beings, we are flesh and blood. We suffered a very painful defeat today and we could have won.”
Neymar also struggled to his emotions while speaking with the media after the match and hinted that he was considering his future with the national team - just hours after equalling Pele's all-time international goalscoring record.
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Brazil boss Tite confirmed that he would definitely be stepping away from his role after failing to progress past the quarter-final stage. The 61-year-old had said back in February that he was unlikely to continue in his post past the World Cup.
"The cycle has ended, and I keep to my word," he said after the match. "There are other great professionals that can replace me."
He went on to bemoan how the game panned out but insisted he had no qualms about the final outcome. Tite added: "When their goalkeeper is the best player on the field, the game is talking to you. We had to be more effective in making goals. But did Brazil show their best? Overall, yes.
"I understand that I am the most responsible, but we are all responsible for the loss. It’s not about being a hero or a villain. There is no such thing in sports. Sometimes we have a great performance, we shoot at goal, and the ball deviates. That’s normal. But I can respect the result."
