"MICK JAGGER'S Fault!" screamed the website of Lance!– Brazil's biggest sports newspaper.

Many Brazilians were nervous when cameras caught the wrinkled Stone at yesterday’s match with his 11-year-old son Lucas supporting their Seleção. Commentators straight away saw it as a bad omen. They labelled Mick a “cold foot” – the bringer of bad luck – after he showed up last weekend to back the USA and England, only to see both teams crash out.

Now the curse of Mick struck again, Brazil is out and a football-mad country is in shock.

After a dominant first-half performance the large crowds that had gathered at big screens in cities across Brazil were in fine voice.

But the firecrackers that had exploded across the country since early morning were soon silenced as the team imploded on the pitch during the second half. Even before the final whistle fans started to drift away from the big screen erected on Rio’s famous Copacabana beach.

The centre of São Paulo resembled a scene from Return of the Zombies as shell-shocked fans staggered away from the big screen, wandering around the centre of town barely able to comprehend their team’s capitulation. The country had taken an unofficial day off but instead of a partying start to the weekend there was just the grim post-mortem and the realisation that the country would have to wait four more years to make amends. At least in 2014 they will try to do so as hosts.

On local television, commentators were ripping into Dunga, captain of Brazil’s 1994 World Cup-winning team who as coach has had a fraught relationship with the press. Many were highly critical of his over-reliance on a clearly unfit Kaka and his preference for bringing a surplus of defensive midfielders to South Africa instead of exciting local stars Henrique Ganso and Neymar.

A national campaign calling for the inclusion of the two young Santos players had been ignored by Dunga, who many local fans feel is too conservative to have been entrusted with Brazil’s attacking football reputation.

“The good thing to come out of this is that at least the Dunga era is over. Hopefully now some of the poetry can return to Brazilian football,” said writer and philosophical fan Lira Neto.