Scolari out to restore pride

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Luiz Felipe Scolari wants his Brazil players to restore some pride to the nation by ending the FIFA World Cup™ with a victory.

Brazil's hopes of winning the World Cup on home soil were dashed in the most brutal fashion on Tuesday when Germany hammered them 7-1 in the semi-finals. A wave of anger towards Scolari and his players followed the humiliation, but the Brazil coach rejected calls for him to resign. The defiant 65-year-old held up a sheet of paper during a press conference that followed the defeat, detailing his record of just three losses in 28 matches.

Another defeat in Saturday's third-place play-off against the Netherlands would increase the public's anger towards Scolari, but he is desperate to end the summer with a win for the hurt people of his football-mad nation.

"I know my career will be marked by this defeat, but we have an obligation to move on and think about the next goal, which in this case is the match for third place on Saturday in Brasilia," the Brazil coach said.

"I know it's a much smaller dream that we all wanted, but we have to honour the shirt of the national team."

Scolari will meet with officials from the Brazilian Football Confederation following the match in the capital to discuss his future. Brazilian football great Zico called on Scolari to quit following the hammering in Belo Horizonte. But Scolari insists he has done a good job with the players he has at his disposal.

"We made the semi-finals, the top four teams in the world," he said. "And there were a lot of good teams that were knocked out before us."

Neymar, who missed the semi-final because of a back injury, tried to raise spirits among the players by visiting the squad at their Teresopolis base on Thursday. It will take a lot to lift the mood of the fans though.

I know it's a much smaller dream that we all wanted, but we have to honour the shirt of the national team.

Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari

Some supporters inside the Estadio Mineirao burned a Brazilian flag on Tuesday night and many left after 29 minutes, when the hosts were 5-0 down.

Those who remained booed their team off at half-time and then in the second half they cheered and clapped the Germans as a sign of their disapproval towards Seleção.

Captain Thiago Silva wants the home fans inside the stadium in Brasilia to get behind their team this weekend.

"This is a bad time so we need strength from our fans," said the defender, who returns to the starting XI after sitting out the Germany game through suspension.

"I guarantee that we will play this Saturday's game like it was the final." Silva was at a loss to explain the comprehensive nature of the defeat to Germany.

"It's almost impossible to explain what happened," the Paris Saint-German centre back said.

"This was not the Brazil team we know."

New CBF President backs Scolari

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Luiz Felipe Scolari looks set to keep his job despite Brazil's humbling in the World Cup semi-final against Germany. Brazil's 200-million strong population was hoping to cheer the country in the World Cup final this weekend, but must instead watch them fight for third place against the Netherlands.

Scolari's team bowed out of their own World Cup on Tuesday when they were demolished 7-1. But the president elect of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) believes 'Felipao' should remain in his post. "To me, he stays," Marco Polo Del Nero, told the Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper.

"What happened was a tactical error. That was the problem. But we all make mistakes. It can happen to anyone. The important thing is that he did a good job. The campaign and the preparations were good. A base exists."

Scolari will meet Del Nero and the current president of the CBF, Jose Maria Marin, following the match in Brasilia. Scolari said he had no idea whether the words of the president in waiting, who takes over next April, meant he would definitely stay on. "The first phase of my job finishes on Saturday," Scolari told a press conference in Brasilia on the eve of the match.

"After that I will prepare my report and then I will talk with the presidents. They will look at what was right and what was wrong in what I did, but I know in the last year and a half we had several good situations. We have to be ashamed of the 7-1. It was a catastrophe, but I have to ask the media - is everything bad because of one result?"