Brazil 1-7 Germany
Brazil 2014 | Semi-finals
Estadio Mineirao, Belo Horizonte
Attendance: 58,141
Brazil goals: Oscar (90)
Germany goals: Muller (11), Klose (23), Kroos (24 & 26), Khedira (29), Schurrle (69 & 79)
Teams
Coach: Luiz Felipe Scolari
Starting XI: Julio Cesar; Maicon, David Luiz, Dante, Marcelo; Luiz Gustavo, Fernandinho; Hulk, Oscar, Bernard; Fred.
Substitutions: Paulinho for Fernandinho (HT), Ramires for Hulk (HT), Willian for Fred (69).
Coach: Joachim Low
Starting XI: Manuel Neuer; Philipp Lahm, Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels, Benedikt Hoewedes; Sami Khedira, Toni Kroos, Bastian Schweinsteiger; Mueller Thomas, Mesut Ozil; Miroslav Klose.
Substitutions: Per Mertesacker for Hummels (HT), Andre Schurrle for Klose (58), Julian Draxler for Khedira (76)
Hitherto head-to-head record
12 Brazil wins
5 draws
4 Germany wins
Going into the game
Germany had limped into the last four, needing extra time and Manuel Neuer heroics to oust Algeria and only scraping past France. Paul Breitner had been at the forefront of fierce criticism of the team, and especially Mesut Ozil: “Nine men are torturing themselves for 90 minutes and he’s going for a walk.” Low ignored the interrogators and named an unchanged 11.
Brazil’s quarter-final win over Colombia came at considerable cost: Thiago Silva collected his second caution and was consequently handed a suspension, while Neymar, who had been in scintillating form, suffered a broken vertebra and returned home. Scolari summoned Bayern Munich’s Dante and bantamweight baller Bernard to deputise.
Even without their two most paramount performers, the Seleção were the favourites. They had won four and drawn one of five competitive clashes with Die Mannschaft, scoring 16 goals in the process, and had their deafening diehards behind them.
The game
The atmosphere was beyond electric as this colossal contest commenced but, to the dismay of the masses, so too was Germany’s flaming of their foes. Thomas Muller volleyed home a Toni Kroos corner for the opener, Miroslav Klose made it two, and Toni Kroos bagged a breakneck brace. Sami Khedira then slotted home the adidas Brazuca to stretch the Germans out of sight.
Low’s men appeared to take their foot off the pedal after the restart, and though Brazil created opportunities, Neuer pulled off awe-striking saves from Oscar and Paulinho. Julio Cesar also made a stunning stop to deny Muller a double, which Andre Schurrle then registered. The substitute’s second – a sizzling strike in off the underside of the crossbar – prompted the Brazilian crowd to graciously give the Germans a standing ovation. Oscar did pull one back, but it was atomic consolation for a cosmic capitulation.
Klose had stolen Ronaldo’s World Cup goal record in the city in which the latter began his career – and with Fenômeno forced to analyse it inside a Mineirao commentary booth. Germany had delivered a breathtaking rendition of ‘jogo bonito’ on its creators’ land.
Quotes
“I won the World Cup, but I’m probably going to be most remembered because of the worst defeat in Brazil’s history. This is the worst day of my life.”
Luiz Felipe Scolari
“It was, at least in parts, a humiliation. At half-time we told the players to be respectful with the result and not ridicule Brazil.”
Oliver Bierhoff, Germany team manager
“In nigh on half a century of watching football, that’s the most extraordinary, staggering, bewildering game I’ve ever witnessed.”
Gary Lineker
Stats
221
Brazil had held the record for the most World Cup goals for 64 years, and with a 220-216 lead over Germany, there seemed no chance of it disappearing in Minas Gerais. Khedira nevertheless rewrote history with the Germans’ 221st goal in the tournament.
62
The result shattered Brazil’s 62-game unbeaten streak in competitive home contests. It also equalled their worst-ever defeat: 6-0 to Uruguay in 1920.
20
Twenty seconds after play restarted following Toni Kroos’s first goal, he completed the fastest brace in World Cup history. It helped Germany score four times in six minutes and 40 seconds – another unprecedented feat.
6
Germany’s six-goal victory remains the biggest ever in a World Cup semi-final. It was also the first time in 76 years that a team had won by more than five goals in the knockout phase. Germany’s five-goal half-time lead, meanwhile, remains the second biggest in World Cup history. Yugoslavia were 6-0 up against Zaire at the interval in 1974.
5
Thomas Muller became only the third man to reach five goals in multiple World Cups after Peruvian Teofilo Cubillas and team-mate Miroslav Klose.
Trivia
Germany won over 40 million Brazilians before even landing in Salvador, ingeniously modelling their change kit on Flamengo, the best-supported club within one country in the world. In the red-and-black hoops, they then devastated 200 million-plus in Belo Horizonte.
The Brazilians nicknamed Toni Kroos ‘Garçom’ (‘Waiter’) due to his serving of appetising through-balls.
Despite inflicting national devastation, the Germans endeared themselves to the Brazilian public thanks to showcasing ‘The Beautiful Game’, their gentlemanly nature and whispered celebrations.
