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Louise Thomas
Editor
Luiz Felipe Scolari has been axed as Brazil's national team manager along with his entire staff following the team's disastrous performance at the World Cup, according to reports.
Scolari's team had previously been humiliated in Brazil's worst ever World Cup defeat, losing 7-1 in the semi-final to a rampant German side.
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The defeats also marked another unenviable record, being the first time Brazil had lost two consecutive games on home soil for 74 years.
After the third-place play-off Scolari had said: "My future is not yet decided. It's CBF who will tell me whether I'll stay or not."
Reportedly not wanting to overshadow the World Cup final on Sunday, he added: "I won't discuss this with press today."
It is not yet known definitively whether Scolari has been sacked or resigned.
Prior to the World Cup Brazilian fans were confident of Brazilian success and believed that Scolari could emulate the success he had in guiding Brazil to their fifth World Cup title in the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.
However, the abysmal performances in the quarter and semi-final stages of the competition.
The reported sacking of Scolari would represent a change of mind by the Brazilian Football Association's next president Marco Polo Del Nero.
Earlier in the week, Del Nero had backed the 65-year-old to continue as manager.
Commenting on the Germany defeat he said: "To me, he stays"
"What happened was a tactical error. That was the problem. But we all make mistakes. It can happen to anyone," adding, ""The important thing is that he did a good job. The campaign and the preparations were good. A base exists."
Should the news be confirmed that Scolari will not have his contract extended, it will bring an end to Felipao's second reign in charge of the national team. He led the Brazilians to World Cup glory back in 2002, when a Ronaldo-inspired side defeat Germany in the final to claim their fifth World Cup crown - knocking England out in the process.
The loss of Neymar proved to be a pivotal turning point in Brazil's World Cup (EPA)
Having taken the national team role again in 2012, Scolari led Brazil to the 2013 Confederations Cup on home soil in a dress rehearsal for this summer's World Cup. But Brazil never looked to be a settled side, as their defence was often left exposed, and the failures in front of goal from the likes of the now-retired Fred and Willian left the weight of a nations expectations on the shoulders of 22-year-old Neymar.
The poster boy of the World Cup took the tournament by storm, scoring four goals in the group stages as well as the winning penalty against Chile in the second round, but the forward would take no further part in the World Cup after he suffered a fractured vertebra in the quarter-final victory over Colombia.
Without Neymar, Brazill looked lost when they met a rampant German side, and the absence of captain Thiago Silva through suspension only made things worse as the hosts succumbed to their worst ever defeat in the semi-finals. With a shot at redemption, Brazil fell horribly short again as the Netherlands recorded a comfortable 3-0 win in the third-place play-off, but by then Scolari's fate may well have already been sealed.
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