World Cup: Germany 7, Brazil 1
Germans stun hosts with 5 goals in 1st 29 minutes
Shocking. Horrifying. Humiliating. Unimaginable.
Take your pick, it happened to Brazil.
Even without two of its best players – Neymar and Thiago Silva – who could’ve predicted the 7-1 annihilation Brazil suffered at the hands of Germany on Tuesday?
And it happened on home soil, in the World Cup semifinal, at Estadio Mineirao in Belo Horizonte.
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Nigel Reed | Brazil was lost without its captain Thiago Silva
More improbable was that Germany scored its first five goals in the game’s opening 29 minutes.
Midfielder Thomas Müller got things going in the 11th minute and the goals kept coming. Miroslav Klose gave Germany a 2-0 lead in the 23rd minute following a nifty back-heel pass Müller. Klose became the World Cup all-time leader with 16 goals, surpassing Brazil’s Ronaldo.
But the nightmare for Brazil wouldn’t stop. Toni Kroos scored twice in two minutes, with Sami Khedira rounding out the first-half scoring in the 29th minute.
The Germans were so dominant that their first nine shots were all on target.
Brazil suffered its first loss on home soil in 63 competitive matches, that’s a stretch that dates back to 1975. But this loss will definitely go down in its own class of infamy, drawing comparisons to Brazil's defeat at the hands of Uruguay in 1950.
Key play
Thomas Müller. He set the tone for Germany, converting a perfect corner kick from Kroos with a one-timer past Brazilian goalkeeper Julio Cesar.
Man of the match
Miroslav Klose. It could've gone to several German players, but since Klose made history he gets the nod. The career World Cup goal breakdown for Klose reads like this:
- 5 — 2002, South Korea/Japan
- 5 — 2006, Germany
- 4 — 2010, South Africa
- 2 — 2014, Brazil
Fast facts
The six-goal deficit matched Brazil’s worst ever international defeat in its glorious history. Prior to Tuesday’s debacle, Brazil’s most lopsided defeat was a 6-0 affair against Uruguay 94 years ago.
It was a good day for…
Manuel Neuer. The German goalkeeper watched his team score five goals before anything dangerous came his way. Early in the second half, Neuer made a number of close-range saves with the Brazilians pressing and his teammates sitting back.
It was a bad day for…
The country of Brazil. It got ugly both inside and across the nation. As Germany piled up the goals in the first half, tearful fans began exiting the stadium before the first half ended. CBC Sports World Cup host Andi Petrillo even tweeted out a photo of Brazilian fans burning their nation’s flag.
They said it
"We wanted to make the people happy…unfortunately we couldn't. We apologize to all Brazilians" — Brazil defender David Luiz
"The space we had was bigger than against defensive teams. We took advantage of it superbly, the opponent at some point gets broken. Now we have to pull it off one more time and lift the thing. We should keep our feet on the ground." — German midfielder Thomas Müller
What this means
Germany
The Germans advanced to Sunday’s final (CBC TV, cbc.ca/fifaworldcup, 3 p.m. ET) and will play the winner of the semifinal match between the Netherlands-Argentina on Wednesday.
Brazil
How is the side going to recover from this slaughter? Brazil must now return to the pitch on Saturday (CBC TV, cbc.ca/fifaworldcup, 4 p.m. ET) for the third-place match against the loser of the semifinal match.