In her first interview since Brazil’s devastating 7-1 loss to Germany in last night’s World Cup semi-finals, Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that the defeat was an “extremely painful situation” but one that Brazil will overcome.

“My nightmares never got so bad, Christiane," Rousseff said, speaking through an interpreter. "They never went that far. As a supporter, of course, I am deeply sorry because I share the same sorrow of all supporters. But I also know that we are a country that has one very peculiar feature. We rise to the challenge of adversity."

"Being able to overcome defeat I think is the feature and hallmark of a major national team and of a great country."

Commenting on what she thought went wrong, Rousseff said: "We came into this match without two of our main players, Neymar, a major attacker, and our captain, Thiago Silva."

The president, whose own public image is so closely tied with the World Cup, emphasised that the competition has been an opportunity for Brazil to prove itself on the world stage.

"One has to bear in mind that from all different aspects, the fact is that Brazil has organized and staged a World Cup, which I do believe is one of the world's best World Cups,"said Rousseff. "And that is largely due to the Brazilian people's ability to offer and extend hospitality and welcome supporters from all over the world."

The full, wide-ranging interview with Rousseff – which will also cover the waves of protests which have swept across Brazil – will air tomorrow evening (Thursday 10 July) on CNN International’s ‘Amanpour’, 2200 GST.