SAMARA, Russia — Alarm bells rang inside Jim Calder’s brain earlier this week as he watched Neymar, the Brazilian soccer superstar, squirm on the grass and cry out in apparent distress. “Neymar does what all beginning actors do,” he said. “They oversell the event.” Calder would know. For three decades he has taught acting at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. His voice has been consistently hoarse this summer, a consequence of yelling at students all day at a theater workshop he runs every year in Florence, Italy. Yet when the classes have ended, when he turns on the television to watch the World Cup at night, he continues to have his thespian tastes affronted. [LIVE: Follow our coverage of Brazil vs. Belgium] The same thing happens every four years: On the biggest stage in sports, some of the world’s best soccer talents reveal themselves to be D-list actors. They pantomime pain. They exaggerate like silent film stars. They don’t seem to care who sees.<doc-sep>NIZHNY NOVGOROD, Russia — Aside from a couple of outrageous dives, Neymar behaved himself for the most part, and it still wasn’t enough. Brazil threw its heart and soul into a second half salvo aimed at saving its World Cup life, and that didn’t get it done either. In homes and bars and on beaches and in churches back home (because soccer is a religion there), they watched and waited and yes, did plenty of praying too. None of it was enough. Brazil crashed out of the World Cup on Friday for a simple reason. It wasn’t good enough. The score line of Belgium 2, Brazil 1, sounds like an upset when it rolls off your tongue but it is that in name and on paper only. Belgium won this quarterfinal in Kazan because it was a better team. Better tactics, better organization, better spirit and willpower and temperament. Better ability to absorb pressure. And in many areas of the field, better individual players. Brazil has everything we look for in a dynasty but in reality, it is not one any longer. Yes, it has the name, one still capable of conjuring smiles of satisfaction from those who love soccer, whether they are from Rio, or Russia or Redding, Calif. Those yellow jersey gleam as brightly as ever but in a modern age, Brazil's soccer has lost some of its twinkle. Dynasties are the kind of teams that win five World Cups out of 12, which it did from 1958 to 2002. Brazil has come up short four times in a row now, making just one semifinal in that time – the one that produced a 7-1 destruction at the hands of Germany and a wave of national embarrassment four years ago. MORE WORLD CUP: It still has swagger but there is panic in its step these days, a quickened tread from having teams snapping at the heels. Moments of individual skill are still in abundance but there is not enough collectivity. Brazil is caught in a void between its free-flowing past and a more modern, measured approach. Present-day formations are at their most-developed in Europe and hence European teams are shining here. Belgium’s backline was always there, getting bodies in the line of shots, crowding the shoulder of Neymar and others and finding the right positions to parry. It is not lost on Brazil that in part, it has been found out. That's why all the nonsense of diving and faking and feigning was such a part of its game during this tournament, perhaps like never before. Especially Neymar, who is a gem of the sport when he stays out of acting school, and should know better. Would Brazil have gotten a couple of borderline calls late on if Neymar’s reputation for simulation didn’t precede him? We will never know. His antics earlier in the tournament certainly made Brazil somewhat less lovable than normal. Belgium had the romance factor working in its favor here, and probably stole the heart of most neutrals. It went two up in the first half before Brazil saw Renato Augusto narrow the gap to one late on, but that was were it ended. Neymar didn’t shed any visible tears at the end – if he had there would be a Michael Jordan-style meme of him coursing around cyberspace by now – but he will be hurt by this. This was supposed to be about redemption for four years ago, when Brazil went in with abundant belief and got routed like no host nation in history. It was supposed to be savvier this time, smarter, more structured, more European in some ways. Instead it found itself mired in an identity crisis, a situation true dynasties rarely find themselves in. Brazil’s past has set a lofty standard for its current crop. Some nations would give anything for three quarters and a semi in four tries. Not Brazil, where those at home count progress using gleaming trophies and nothing else. And so it is Belgium that moves on, a team of its time and with a crop of players, led by the fearless Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku, that could have been produced in a test-tube and manufactured for how soccer is played right now. Brazil will come again; always a contender, always compelling. But if it wants to find success, it needs to find itself.<doc-sep>
SOCHI, Russia -- Former Brazil striker Ronaldo called recent criticism of countryman Neymar for diving at the World Cup "nonsense" and said he hasn't been protected by referees. Neymar has been accused in the media, especially in Britain, for diving, rolling and exaggerating fouls. Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio made a reference to "too much acting" and former internationals Alan Shearer, Pat Nevin, Peter Schmeichel and Eric Cantona were among those who criticised Neymar's theatrics during the first four games of the tournament. But Ronaldo said Neymar -- who is one of the most fouled players in the entire tournament -- needed more protecting. "There are many ways to see football and interpret it," Ronaldo told reporters. "I am against all these opinions [on Neymar acting]. He is an intelligent player in his movements and on how to defend himself from being tackled. I don't think referees have been protecting him enough. "When people repeatedly hit me I would feel a sense of unfairness. Criticism is nonsense. TV shows and newspapers just want to fill the space." World Cup 2018 must-reads - Make your daily ESPN FC Match Predictor picks! - World Cup fixtures, results and coverage - All 32 World Cup teams' tournaments in three words - Godin shows why he's football's best defender - Jesus should start for Brazil despite Firmino claims - Who is the best World Cup penalty shootout keeper left? Ronaldo's comments came as fans and pundits, many of them Brazilians, hit out at what they saw as play-acting by English players in their shootout win over Colombia. Brazilians who watched Jordan Henderson go down clutching his forehead after being hit under the chin and Harry Maguire diving in the box want the same rigid criteria to be used as when judging Neymar. "What they are saying about the theatrical and pathetic performance of English players yesterday?" Elena Landau, a Brazilian lawyer who used to advise Rio club Botafogo, asked on Twitter. Landau's comment came after Colombian coach Jose Pekerman accused the England players of going down too easily in search of fouls. Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho also singled out Maguire, "normally a very honest guy...for diving in the box. "People are focusing on Neymar, but if it was only Neymar, I'd be happy, but it's not only Neymar," Mourinho said on Russia Today after England's win. "Every team has lots of diving, lots of pretending, lots of putting pressure on the referee...the game loses quality...and for me that was the negative point."