Brazil lost against Germany in the first semifinal of the 2014 World Cup, but the story is not that the host nation failed to reach the final, but the fashion in which it all took place. Before the end of the first half Germany lea Brazil by five goals in route to a final score of 7-1 and a place in the final match at Maracana on Sunday.
Missing Captain Thiago Silva and superstar Neymar because of suspension and injury respectively, the Brazilian squad went on the field of Mineirao stadium with the intent of relying on emotion and crowd support to be victorious. The emotion and the crowd were no match when put up against the calculating, efficient and ruthless approach the German squad took.
After a level first ten minutes, Germany opened up the scoring when Thomas Muller right footed a badly defended corner kick into the net in the 11th minute. The score did not seem to be completely out of order in a matchup that was very close and with plenty of time for both teams to act and react, but that all changed with Miroslav Klose’s record breaking goal that made it 2-0 in favor of the Germans.
After Brazilian goalkeeper Julio Cesar saved Klose’s initial shot, the German striker picked up the rebound and made it count. The goal put Klose a top the lead of the all-time World Cup scoring list breaking the tie he had with now retired Brazilian Ronaldo.
After the second goal the impossible happened– Germany went on to score three more times before the half was over ultimately ending Brazil’s hope of vindicating the defeat of 1950.
Toni Kroos scored twice and Sami Khedira added a third to make it 5-0 by the time the half time whistle was blown.
A shocked nation looked on as its heroes played 45 more minutes of unfathomably uncharacteristic soccer in which they conceded two more goals to their European counterparts. Andre Schurrle would come on to the game as a substitute and net two goals to make the score 7-0.
The Brazilians that fell apart at the seams after the second goal were able to avoid being shutout when Oscar beat Manuel Neuer in the 90th minute to make the final score an incredible and historic 7-1.
This defeat, for the Brazilians, becomes as humiliating a defeat as they have ever experienced, only paralleled by the one suffered 64 years ago in 1950 against Uruguay.
On the other side, this victory is one that Germany will never forget and that puts them into their eighth World Cup final and first since 2002. They will face the winner of Argentina and Netherlands in Maracana on Sunday. The loser will get a chance at the third place when they play Brazil on Saturday.
