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Concluding our three-part special, Chris Beesley tells the Bernard story by speaking to those who have watched Everton's new Brazilian star closely throughout his career to date.

There's a five-second clip that became famous for exemplifying what happened in the 2014 World Cup semi-final.

It doesn't contain any footage from the game but simply shows a cocktail glass with some fruit and a Brazil flag against the backdrop of some samba rhythms and then – bang – it is smashed into oblivion by the force of a giant German beer stein.

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World Cup heartache

The destruction is sudden, dramatic and crushing, perfectly summing up the feelings of a crestfallen football-crazy nation of over 200 million people following a scarcely-believable 7-1 annihilation (it really should have been 8-0 but Mesut Ozil blew a late chance to add to the misery before the hosts went down the other end and bagged a consolation goal).

The grief was collective but the pain would have been even more acute for Bernard.

This was supposed to be his big night, the evening for him to shine in front of his home city crowd and guide Brazil into the final.

After a couple of substitute appearances against Croatia and Mexico earlier in the tournament, the boy from Belo Horizonte was handed his first start of the competition in his own back yard – deputising for star man Neymar who was forced to miss out through injury.

Belo Horizonte (meaning 'Beautiful Horizon') is an unlikely setting for such an on-field catastrophe.

(Image: Pedro Vilela/Getty Images)

Bernard, the home-grown hero

Brazil's first planned modern city, it has an unassuming feel compared to brash Rio de Janeiro or gargantuan Sao Paulo.

Thiago Fernandes, a journalist for UOL Esporte, describes the place that both he and Bernard call home.

He told the ECHO: “Belo Horizonte is amazing. I was born here and I can tell you it's a good place in Brazil.

“It's a quiet city. People from Belo Horizonte love going out with friends.

“We don't have beaches, but there's a lot of bars and restaurants. We have good gastronomy.

“There's a food that we call Tropeiro. It has beans, pork meat and a pepperoni sausage – it's amazing. And then there's a cheese bread – everyone loves it in Brazil.

“If you stay longer than an hour in Belo Horizonte, you will see we are football lovers.

“We have two big clubs - Atletico Mineiro and Cruzeiro – and the city is split between these two teams.”

A gentle 'Eden' perhaps but for proud Brazil, the only ever-present nation in World Cup finals history and a record five-times winners (plus England too – it was the site of their humiliating 1-0 defeat to the USA in 1950) it remains the scene of their lowest ebb in the competition.

Given the stakes with Bernard returning to the city of his birth where his mother Nelia and father Delio still reside, around the corner from the Mineirao stadium, was too much expected of him?

Thiago said: “Felipao (Luiz Felipe Scolari), the Brazil coach at the time, remarked that Bernard had happiness in his legs during the World Cup.

(Image: VANDERLEI ALMEIDA/AFP/Getty Images)

“Despite this speech, Bernard was mostly a reserve during the tournament and none of us expected he would start the semi-final.

“We, journalists and nation, were expecting Neymar of course but he was injured and Felipao needed to choose someone to replace his best player.

“Bernard was the natural option, but he disappointed everyone.

“Brazil lost that match 7-1 and Bernard was really bad. He didn't do anything to change the game and subsequently he received a lot of criticism for his performance.”

He added: “It was a semi-final in Brazil. We were really confident, fans, journalists and players as well.

“The Neymar injury left everyone a little bit sad but it wasn't enough to destroy our hope. “We thought Brazil could win that game. The Mineirao was crowded, with a huge party, but Brazil was not in the same vibe.”

(Image: ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images)

Still counting the cost

Over four years on, Bernard still seems to be counting the cost of that fateful night as, after quickly clocking up 14 caps between 2012-14, he has yet to be picked by Brazil since.

Thiago said: “Losing a match is normal. We can all lose, but 7-1 was really hard to accept.

“Some players found it difficult to back in the national team. Since then, Bernard has never played for Brazil.

“Dante, David Luiz, Luiz Gustavo and Fred had difficulty to re-establishing themselves.

“All of them saw their opportunities decrease and it still hurts them.

“Take the coach, Felipao, for example. He always has to answer something about this match.

“When he came back to Palmeiras this summer, he faced questions about it.”

(Image: CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP/Getty Images)

Given his long period in the international wilderness, has Bernard been unfairly singled out for the heavy loss in the eyes of his countrymen?

Thiago said: “I don't think he was made in a scapegoat for the defeat. To be honest, I think people expected more than he could give on the pitch.

“Of course, Bernard is a really good player. However, he was playing in Ukraine and we were seeing players better than him on the rise, even there.

“There were the likes of Taison, Douglas Costa, Willian and Philippe Coutinho.

“I think these are guys who have since emerged ahead of Bernard in the pecking order.

“All of them showed us more than him. So he doesn't play for Brazil because there are players who have been better than him.

“He needed to play in a better league. His chance is right now. He can improve in the Premier League and get back to the national team.”

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The Goodison springboard

So could his move to Everton prove the springboard for Bernard to get back in the Brazilian national side?

He has already seen his Goodison Park team-mate Richarlison make the grade following his switch to the Blues and will surely be hoping to follow suit.

Thiago said: “Tite (the current coach) is really fair. If Bernard show us that he can be back, I'm sure Tite will call on him and will use him in his team.

“Bernard is on Tite's radar. Before the World Cup, Tite went to Europe to watch some matches and saw Bernard in a game between Shakhtar and Manchester City in last season's Champions League.

“He loved Bernard, but he had decided his 23 players for the World Cup finals in Russia and didn't give him an opportunity.

“It can come now. However, Bernard needs to show us that he is better than before.”