Disappointment for Brazil fans

The Brazilian sports press has, unsurprisingly, been full of misery since the national team's shocking defeat to Germany. Just like in 1950, a home World Cup campaign ended with a traumatic defeat. The loss to Uruguay in the 1950 final, the so-called Maracanazo, was not just a bad result for the Seleção, it was an event that affected Brazil's national psyche. There has been much talk that the 7-1 thrashing will have a similar effect on the country, but this time around the team had the chance to save face with the third place playoff against the Netherlands. The question was: did Brazil fans care?

The importance of the game is often downplayed, written-off by coaches, players and supporters alike as a chance to squeeze some extra cash out of the World Cup. This week Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal criticized the tie, saying it has nothing to do with sport. He pointed out that two teams that had done so well to reach the semi-final now faced losing their last two games at the tournament - an underwhelming end to an otherwise good performance.

Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari saw things differently. He said the game was a chance for his team to honor the famous yellow and green shirt, even if the achievement was much smaller than hoped. So with the match approaching, I head to Copacabana beach to find out whether or not Brazilians feel the game really matters. Rio native Daniela is unconcerned when I ask her about the match before kick-off. "Brazilians only care about coming first," she says. But her husband Fernando disagrees, in part thanks to the team's improvement from four years ago. "It's progress from the last World Cup. Winning wouldn't change anything, but it's a chance to regain some honor," he tells me. More than that, he thinks Scolari needs a win to keep hold of his job. "If we lose I don't think Felipão will stay."

Going out on a high is an important feeling for people around the world, and many in the crowd are desperate to see their team finish with a win. "We need to leave with a victory, if we lose it will be a tragedy," says Naissa from Sao Paulo. Despite that, she is impressed with the way the team has performed at the tournament up to this point. "The players are young, I like seeing how proud they are to play in the World Cup."

Dutch dash Brazilian hopes

The atmosphere builds on Copacabana as the teams enter the pitch. The players belt out the national anthem as they have in every game, and their passion is matched by the people here on the sand. But the excitement dissipates instantly when Robin van Persie smashes home a penalty for the Netherlands. There is barely any reaction from the crowd, the noise levels drop like a stone and a strange sense of inevitability grows; that even though Brazil have almost the entire match to equalize, this game will end in defeat. Another Dutch goal only adds to the feeling. By half-time large sections of the crowd are sitting down, as though the game has become too tiresome for the fans to remain on their feet.

The second-half does little to change this, a late goal surprises no-one and by full-time there is a sense that people here are fed-up with football. It is telling that the post-match music act gets the crowd back on their feet and dancing straight away – people didn't come here to be miserable and cynical, but they remained subdued throughout the 90 minutes.

Naissa is disappointed the team could not give the fans something to cheer. "A win could have given us hope for the future," she says wistfully. But she isn't angry about the defeat. "I just feel sorry for the players." Fernando doesn't mention the coach, but it is clear he thinks Scolari made mistakes. "We didn't change enough from the last game," he says.

After dismissing the importance of the game earlier, another heavy defeat seems to have changed Daniela's mind. "The country won't believe in the team now, they've missed a chance to rebuild their reputation."

All three agree that the events of the last few days will affect the Brazil team in the future. "There's already too much pressure on them and this will make it worse," says Fernando. "They will have more of a responsibility to do well," adds Daniela. According to Naissa, it's not just the players who will suffer. "It will affect the Brazilian people too, this was our home tournament."

The loss does nothing to stop the party from starting on Copacabana and elsewhere in the city. But despite exceeding the expectations of many experts, the Brazil players are unlikely to join in the festivities any time soon. The pressure heaped on them is already unbearable, and it may be about to get even worse.