World Cup blog

Brazil the football team deserved to lose in Belo Horizonte. But Brazil the nation did not. This was a bitter end to a beautiful dream, however misplaced, naive or downright counter-productive it has been at times. In that sense, there was little fun about being in the Estádio Mineirão on Tuesday.

The atmosphere before kick-off was rousing and the a cappella of the host's national anthem was hearty enough. Germany's first goal, zinged from the boot of Thomas Müller, was a peach. And of course, I cheered Miroslav Klose's record-breaking strike.

But here, the joy ebbed from the occasion. Brazil's players morphed from pumped-up Neymar-redeemers, to training-ground cones. Their anguish filled the air as they disappeared inside themselves. The lights even briefly went off in our section of the stadium as if giving up in disgust, packing up and heading home early. Germany ran rampant. And tore Brazil apart.

To my right, a little girl kicked her feet dejectedly as tears filled her eyes. She looked up at her mum, hoping for some explanation, but her mum could only look back with tears in her eyes, too. There were no words to describe the unprecedented capitulation unfolding. German fans continued to sing. Brazilians booed their team back after half-time. And soon, it all became rather embarrassing.

As a nation, Brazil's mistake has been to see results at this tournament as the only way to heal their national psyche. What they should be looking at is the fact, that they pulled this thing off at all. That they proved every gringo journalist looking for a bad news story wrong.

That through their warmth and openness, they won the hearts of every person to travel to the World Cup. Brazil's footballers are no longer its greatest resource. Its people are. And when the dust settles, it is they who need celebrating; listening to and investing in. Only then can the nation shrug off its sometimes myopic obsession with the beautiful game.

What did you think of the game? Where did you watch it? Tell us about your Brazil vs. Germany experience in our comments section below.