Brazil icon Ronaldinho has opened up about his former team’s misery in the wake of their humiliating World Cup exit on home soil and called for “warriors” to end the tournament on a high note.
Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side take on Holland in Saturday night’s third-place play-off after seeing their dreams shattered by a shock 7-1 defeat at the hands of Germany on Tuesday.
The hosts found themselves 5-0 down after only half-an-hour and most of their players were in tears at the full-time whistle, when they looked shell-shocked.
Former Barcelona star Ronaldinho, who now plays for Atletico Mineiro in his homeland, returned to the international fold last year but was not selected by Scolari for the World Cup squad.
He took time out to praise Germany on social media site Twitter but also called on those donning the famous yellow shirt to give their passionate supporters something to shout about this weekend.
He said: “The Germans did not stop amazing us with their football. I am very sad about this monumental defeat, it is so hard and difficult.
“Now is the time to motivate the crowd and recover. On Saturday warriors will face one of the most difficult games of all.”