Stage set for host nation's nightmare final

Just when Brazilians thought it couldn’t get any worse after Tuesday night’s total humiliation in Belo Horizonte, they must now dry their tears and play host to their final from hell.

Not even in the nation’s worst nightmares did it envisage an ending like this: their hated continental rivals and the team most likely to inherit their mantle as the sport’s spiritual home set to duel at the Maracana for its ultimate prize.