President Dilma Rousseff has urged Brazilians to bounce back after the national soccer team devastating 7-1 World Cup defeat against Germany.
“Like all Brazilians, I am very, very sad after the defeat. But we will not let ourselves be broken,” Dilma Rousseff tweeted.
The coach of the Brazilian team Luiz Felipe Scolari called the defeat “the worst day of his life”.
Brazilian media reflected the mood of shock on Wednesday, describing the result as a “historic humiliation”.
The result was Brazil’s biggest defeat in World Cup finals history.
“I feel bad for all of us – for fans and for our players,” Dilma Rousseff said, urging Brazilians to “get up, shake off the dust and come out on top”.
Some have speculated that the team’s poor showing may affect Dilma Rousseff’s chances in the presidential election in October.
“Brazil’s historic humiliation has set off a warning signal in Dilma Rousseff’s government, which fears that the bad mood stemming from the defeat may affect expectations for the economy – already not very favorable – as well as the campaign trail,” a column in the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper said.
It added that fans in the stadium had chanted insults about Dilma Rousseff.
The German team established a 5-0 lead within just 29 minutes, adding two more goals in the second half.
By the end of the match many of the remaining Brazilian fans were cheering the German team.
The match was the first time a team had scored seven goals in a World Cup semi-final, and the first World Cup game with eight or more goals since Germany beat Saudi Arabia 8-0 in 2002.
