The inquest into the blackest day in Brazil's football history has begun in earnest after the threadbare quality of the hosts' team was ruthlessly exposed by Germany.
A country which has always viewed success on the pitch as a divine right woke up after a living nightmare of the likes that Brazil has not experienced for 64 years.
The 'Maracanazo', when Brazil lost 2-1 to Uruguay in the final of the first World Cup on their soil, was viewed as a national disaster, but that was nothing in comparison to the 7-1 humiliation inflicted by Germany.
Brazil's newspapers declared an unofficial day of national mourning. The hugely influential O Globo gave every single Brazilian player and coach Luiz Felipe Scolari zero out of 10 in its ratings.
For many observers, the semi-final simply exposed the shortcomings in the Brazilian squad that many had suspected but which had been covered up by home advantage, automatic qualification for the World Cup, cynical and negative tactics towards opponents, and over-reliance on one player: Neymar.
Scolari has remained adamant that this was little more than a calamitous blip and that the core of this squad will still be there in the 2018 World Cup.
Asked if Brazilian football will have to reinvent itself, Scolari replied almost scornfully, saying: "Why? Because we lost one match? Thirteen or 14 of those players out there will be at the 2018 World Cup. They're working, developing still. I think you'll see at least that many there in 2018.
"This is a catastrophic, terrible loss The worst loss by a Brazilian national team ever, yes. But we have to learn to deal with that."
Neymar's crushing injury served to lift the lid on the paucity of quality in the Brazil squad; few of them could hold a candle to previous Brazil sides.
If Scolari insists on closing his eyes to the state of the squad while merely stating "Life goes on", then Brazil will have a long-term problem.
Forget about jogo bonito, the beautiful game and the five gold stars on their chest.
This is a crisis such as Brazilian football has never before faced and if they do not wake up to that fact then a country which has given so much to the world may find themselves, as others such as England have become accustomed, to staring through the window while the party goes on without them.
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