President Dilma Rousseff said she was sad and sorry about Brazil’s humiliating 7-1 defeat to Germany in the World Cup semi-finals on Tuesday.
“Like every Brazilian, I am very, very sad about this defeat. I am immensely sorry for all of us. Fans and our players,” she wrote on Twitter.
“But we won’t let ourselves stay down,” she said, before quoting a Brazilian song: “Brazil, get up, dust yourself off and move forward.”
During the match at the stadium in Belo Horizonte, sections of the crowd chanted obscenities against Rousseff, who did not attend the game.
Rousseff has seen her popularity drop over the past year amid protests against the record $11 billion spent on the tournament, but she still has a wide lead in opinion polls ahead of October elections in which she is seeking a second four-year term.