Brazil midfielder Fernandinho has apologised to the nation for their World Cup exit and called on his teammates to restore a little pride by winning Saturday's third-place playoff.
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The Selecao suffered their most humiliating defeat in history on Tuesday night when they were hammered 7-1 by Germany in the semifinals.
There was an outpouring of frustration towards the team from the Brazilian people, who believed they could lift the World Cup on home soil at the second time of asking, having failed in 1950.
Fernandinho, visibly shocked by the comprehensive nature of the defeat, was at a loss to explain how Brazil collapsed in such a humiliating fashion afterwards.
"I'm not sure how long it will take for me to get over this. This pain is big, big,'' the Manchester City player said.
"The people wanted a good result, a win, the title, but we lost in the semifinal and all we can do is say sorry.''
Brazil's hopes of making the final were dashed within half an hour as their defence imploded, allowing Germany to race 5-0 ahead.
"The first half was unbelievable,'' Fernandinho added.
"Incredible things happened out there. We can try for the rest of our lives to explain what happened, but we won't find the words.
"I've never experienced anything like that in my life.''
Brazil now turn their attention to the third-place playoff, and Fernandinho thinks it is important for the side to win the match in Brasilia.
"The best way for us now is to try to finish in third position,'' said the midfielder, whose mother and wife were among the stunned crowd at the Germany game.
"The most important thing now is the psychological recovery. We have to recover for Saturday, to play to finish the World Cup in the best way we can.
"We have three or four days to take some rest and think just about the next game.''
