Brazil must honour the shirt: Scolari
Luiz Felipe Scolari wants his Brazil players to restore some pride to the nation by ending the World Cup with a victory in Saturday's (Sunday AEST) third place play-off.
Brazil's hopes of winning the World Cup on home soil were dashed in the most brutal fashion 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 the playoff against Holland would increase the public's anger towards Scolari, but he is desperate to end the World Cup 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 to discuss his future.
Brazilian football great Zico called on Scolari to quit following the semi-final hammering.
But Scolari insists he has done a good job with the players 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."
It will take a lot to lift the mood of the Brazilian fans though.
Captain Thiago Silva wants the home fans in Brasilia to get behind the team.
"This is a bad time so we need strength from our fans," said the defender, who returns to the starting side 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 St German centre-back said.
"This was not the Brazil team we know."
