THE last time Brazil endured humiliation on home soil, the fallout and the soul-searching ran so deep it resulted in them changing the colours of their playing kit.
Thiago Silva comforts a tearful David Luiz after Brazil's World Cup horror show[EPA]Golden yellow shirts and blue shorts were suggested with green and white detail, in keeping with the Brazil flag, and the most iconic shirt in football was born.
Yet after Germany inflicted Brazil's heaviest loss of all time in Tuesday's barely-believable 7-1 semi-final success, it will take more than a new jersey to strip away the carnage of Belo Horizonte. The morning after the night before and the realisation dawned on a nation and a squad that the shame will stay with them forever.
"It is a scar which will remain with us for the rest of our lives," said Fred, who was made a scapegoat by the crowd. "The booing did not hurt me but the result did."
'Historic Disgrace' read the banner headline on the website of the Folha de Sao Paulo, the country's most influential newspaper. The globoesporte website, part of the Globo media empire, called the result the 'Disgrace of Disgraces' in a play on President Dilma Rousseff's claims this would be the World Cup of all World Cups.
From among the players there was talk of "blackouts" in that dizzying spell where Germany scored four goals in six spellbinding minutes - three of them right-foot finishes after one-twos in the penalty area - and of "stains on careers".
But mostly there was a sense of numbness. "We have failed our people," said Dani Alves in a succinct summation.
The Brazilian players have been savaged by the national press [/]As Luiz Felipe Scolari's squad trooped disconsolately through the post-match mixed zone, suspended skipper Thiago Silva walking straight into a barrier to confirm everything that could go wrong did go wrong, many at least stopped to speak of their demons.
Manchester City's Fernandinho had been particularly poor in a midfield which failed to cope with Germany's pace and power, highlighting the folly of Scolari's decision to play a winger in Bernard as a replacement for the injured Neymar rather than a third midfielder.
Fernandinho wore a glazed expression, his eyes red, as he sought and failed to make sense of it all.
"We can try to explain for the rest of our lives, but we cannot find the words to explain this situation," he said. "Incredible things happened. I can't say now what the problem was. I cannot begin speaking about this. It's not easy. You can see the goals, the match, the things we did very, very badly in this game.
"I'm not sure how long it will take for me to get over this. This pain is big, big. All we can say is sorry to the people. They wanted a good result, a win, the title, but we lost in the semi-final and all we can do is say sorry for that.
"I've never experienced anything like that in my life."
After the torment of 1950, Brazil were to embark on a golden era with successes of 1958 and 1962, and beyond that 1970, though this was a period forged around the talents of Garrincha and Pele to name but two.
Scolari claimed the core of the current squad would be in place in Russia in 2018 when they will seek some sort of redemption but, Neymar and Silva apart, they have no stars.
David Luiz was in one of his accident-waiting-to-happen moods against Joachim Low's side when he needed to play the game of his life. But the reality is that Brazil lived on the edge throughout this competition, most notably when Chile's Mauricio Pinilla struck the crossbar before the penalty shoot-out in their last-16 tie, and finally came unstuck. Spectacularly so.
"Germany have been playing together for eight years," said goalkeeper Julio Cesar. "They were semi-finalists four years ago, they have a very good tactical scheme. We are a team of young players that will have an opportunity four years from now to remake history. So we need to focus on that rather than be critical."
His assessment was so out of kilter with the mood in a country, angry and humiliated, as to be barely credible. It is hard enough for Brazil to look ahead to Saturday's third-place play-off in Brasilia as it stands.
Certainly, the psychiatrist Scolari has been entrusting to help his squad, Regina Brandao, will be busy in the days ahead.
"It is a historical moment," said Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho with no sense of understatement in a column for Yahoo. "A moment that we will remember forever the same way that we all know that once many, many, many years ago, once Brazil lost a World Cup final against Uruguay and the same way my son who is 14-years-old knows that.
"In 50 years' time our kids will know that Brazil lost at home against Germany, one to seven. From my point of view, from the professional point of view, it's heart-breaking and I'm really sorry for them."
Sympathy only goes so far.
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