EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Vinícius Júnior had the ball at the penalty spot, a perfect chance to give Brazil the lead.And he handed it to Bruno Guimarães.And by the time Neymar — in what he said was his final World Cup appearance — took and made Brazil’s second penalty kick, it was too late for the five-time champion.Guimarães had his penalty shot stopped by Ørjan Nyland in the 14th minute and Brazil couldn’t get one past Norway’s goalkeeper until deep in stoppage time, losing 2-1 on Sunday in the round of 16 for its earliest World Cup exit since 1990.“We just have to apologize to the Brazilian people, to everyone that attended this venue and witnessed this match, and I think we have to learn from our mistakes,” Brazil captain Marquinhos said. “For those that come in the new generation, I ask that the people will support them from the beginning.”The Brazilians will be left with four years of second-guessing, wondering why they chose not to have one of soccer’s elite scorers take the penalty shot after Matheus Cunha was taken down by a sliding tackle in the box.No foul was called originally, to the Brazilians’ protest, but the penalty was awarded after a video review. Vinícius, who came into the game leading Brazil with four goals in four games, had the ball in his hands, and it appeared he would take the kick.Instead, Guimarães walked to the spot and Vinícius handed him the ball, then went and stood to the left of the box and watched as Guimarães stutter-stepped, then fired the shot that Nyland dived to his left to knock away.Guimarães ended up the choice through a combination of analytics and injuries.Coach Carlo Ancelotti explained that the Brazilians had compiled statistics on their best penalty takers for a year, and the best choices were Neymar and forward Raphinha. Guimarães was next. But Neymar, who has battled injuries and didn’t even play in Brazil’s first two matches, wasn’t in the game yet. Raphinha injured his hamstring last month.Popular Reads“So, we chose Bruno Guimarães because we felt that he was the best on the field at that point,” Ancelotti said.It was Brazil’s first unsuccessful penalty kick in the …
