Brazil Coach Luiz Scolari has described the team’s 7-1 World Cup semi-final loss to Germany as “the worst day” of his life, and said he took responsibility.

The hosts were 5-0 down by half-time in Belo Horizonte as Germany reached the final in emphatic style.

“I will be remembered as the coach to lose 7-1 but I knew that risk when I took the job,” said Scolari, who guided Brazil to the 2002 World Cup trophy.

“The person who decided the line-up, the tactics, was me. It was my choice.”

Scolari described the result, which surpassed the 3-0 defeat by France in the 1998 final as Brazil’s heaviest World Cup loss, as “catastrophic”.

“My message for the Brazilian people is please excuse us for this performance,” added the former Chelsea manager.