Germany captain Bastian Schweinsteiger has thanked the country's fans for their support during Euro 2016.
Joachim Low's side were beaten 2-0 by hosts France in the semifinal on Thursday and Schweinsteiger, who is considering his international future, expressed his disappointment in an open letter on the German Football Association (DFB) Facebook page.
The Manchester United midfielder was penalised for handball as he conceded the penalty that brought the first of Antoine Griezmann's two goals.
"Dear fans, I have one word: pity," Schweinsteiger wrote. "Our dream has not been fulfilled. We haven't reached the final and there will be no magic night to follow the one [World Cup final] in Rio.
"Sadly, we lacked something decisive against France: the luck you need. But defeats are part of the game, even if they hurt.
"And of course we can acknowledge the performance of our opponents and congratulate France from the bottom of our hearts for reaching the final."
Schweinsteiger said that, despite the defeat, he was "proud" of what Germany had achieved in France.
He added: "We stuck to our style of playing football. We are one team.
"Part of that is you, the fans. In Lille, St-Denis, Paris, Bordeaux, Marseille -- wherever we were, thanks to you we had a 12th man by our side.
"Many thanks also to the hosts, France and the French people. From day one, we felt good, secure and very welcome. France have been outstanding hosts of this European Championships."
Schweinsteiger, 31, has been capped 120 times by Germany and became captain following the retirement of Philipp Lahm in 2014.