Missing captain Thiago Silva through suspension in Belo Horizonte on Tuesday, Brazil suffered a humiliating 7-1 thrashing at the hands of rampant Germany.
A desperate first-half performance saw Brazil go into the break 5-0 down and things barely improved after the interval as Germany cruised into an eighth World Cup final.
Brazil fans, so fervent in their support of the national team throughout the tournament, were stunned into silence and even began to applaud Joachim Low's side after Andre Schurrle netted the seventh goal.
Thiago Silva, who had watched on from the stands, took to the field after the final whistle to console his team-mates, with stand-in skipper David Luiz particularly upset.
Expected to return for the third-place play-off in Brasilia on Saturday against either the Netherlands or Argentina, the Paris Saint-Germain defender has asked the Brazil faithful to show their backing for a squad that are hurting badly.
"It's almost impossible to explain what happened," he told the Brazilian Football Federation's website.
"The team was not the Brazil squad that usually presents itself.
"The pain from this defeat is too big. It is in this bad time that we need the strength of the fans even more.
"I guarantee that we will play Saturday's game like it was the final of the World Cup."
