•     Brazil were battered 7-1 by Germany in the World Cup semi-final in Belo Horizonte

•     There was no wide spread rioting following the humiliating defeat however a bus was set on fire in Sao Paulo

•     There were also reports of trouble in and around the stadium after the match

By Paul Collins

Brazilian police were on high alert following their country's humiliating exit from the World Cup as they feared angry fans could riot after the defeat.

Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side were thrashed 7-1 in the semi-final by Germany in Belo Horizonte.

And while the wide spread rioting that was feared did not happen, there were some reports of trouble in and around the stadium after the game and in other cities across Brazil.

Violence: The streets were mostly calm after the defeat, but not completely - vandals set a bus on fire in a busy district of Sao Paulo after the match.

Blaze: The bus was left as little more than a burnt-out shell after the 7-1 defeat, which saw dismayed fans howling with despair in the streets

The Brazilian cities which played host to fierce protests before the tournament were mostly calm after the match.

Although authorities were called to a densely-populated area of Sao Paulo after supporters reportedly set a bus alight, leaving it as little more than a burnt-out shell.

Security was beefed up around the stadium as one fan, Samir Kelvin, clung to a streetlamp and cried: 'I have nothing left! I am Brazilian and humiliated I want to kill myself.'

A woman shouted 'What shame, what shame!' as a man nearby banged his head against a bar table.

With Brazil dumped out of its own World Cup in such rough fashion, 'you are going to have the most depressed country ever,' fan Pablo Ramoz said.

Brazil spent billions of dollars preparing for the tournament, and the high cost ignited intense anger and protests against the World Cup over the past year. Demonstrators complained so much was being spent when the nation is saddled with woeful public services.

Few thought Brazil's humiliating loss would spark renewed mass protests, but it is sure to put a severely sour taste back into the mouths of the nation's fans. Many were already strongly questioning whether it was worth it to hold the event, a bad omen for President Dilma Rousseff as she looks ahead to the election.

'I hope this can make people wake up and start thinking with their heads and not their emotions and that people translate the anger they are feeling at the ballot boxes,' said Antonio Hipolito, who works at a bookstore in a wealthy part of Rio but lives in a distant, hardscrabble neighborhood.

'Soccer is just an illusion and we need to wake up to reality,' he said.


Source: Daily Mail