Diehard supporters who rose before dawn to watch Japan take on Brazil were crushed as the World Cup title holders thrashed the Samurai Blue 4-1.

"We lost, we lost," cried Kunio Hayashida, 25, holding his head in his hands as he came out of a Tokyo bar.

With a sigh he hoisted himself onto his bicycle and headed for his shift at a ramen noodle shop.

"Well, they still did their best and did what they could. I'm going to go work now. It's going to be one long day," he said.

Kenji Shibata, 27, tried to look to the future.

"Next time Japan will do better, although we always keep saying that," he said. "But for now I'm going to sleep the whole day."

With Japan needing nothing short of a miracle to beat the fancied Brazilians, many fans decided against getting up to watch the game which kicked off at 4:00 am local time.

Only 25 percent of television viewers in Tokyo and Osaka tuned into the game, far fewer than the 50 percent for Japan's other two matches, although they were in better time slots, monitoring group Video Research Ltd. said.

After losing its crucial opener to Australia and drawing with Croatia, Japan needed to pulloff an unlikely win against the five-time World Cup champions to advance to the second round.

"I'm sad. I'm speechless. I have no words," said 28-year-old Mayumi Sato. "Although I knew Brazil was strong, I believed in Japan. But I'm not ashamed in the end, since they did their best."

Kanta Aso, 30, said Japan was simply no match for the Brazilian superstars.

"Perhaps if some of their members weren't playing, Japan could have had more chances of scoring," Aso said of Brazil. "But in any case the Japanese played with full power. They gave it their all."

A first-half goal by Keiji Tamada raised Japanese hopes of repeating their "miracle" at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics when they unexpectedly defeated Brazil 1-0.

"When Japan scored a goal, I had goosebumps and had tears coming out," said waiter Kazu Yamasaki, 22.

But even with Brazilian legend Zico to guide them, the Samurai Blue watched helplessly as Brazil smashed in four goals.

"Japan was really weak," Yamasaki conceded.

He said momentum had been slipping since the opener with Australia, when Japan also squandered an early goal.

"This began with Japan's defeat against Australia, which was really a pity. Nakata's attack wasn't that strong either," he said, referring to Bolton's Japanese midfield star Hidetoshi Nakata.

"I'll wait for the next time. I hope they'll do better."