Brazilian hopes of World Cup glory end in agony
It took only 11 minutes for the Germans to score and they never looked back. Playing under the lights against the home nation Brazil, Germany was able to score five times in 18 minutes, and twice more in the second half to pummel Brazil 7-1.
In a truly German fashion, Brazil was picked apart from the start in one of the worst defeats in Brazilian history. The team tactical superiority displayed by Germany was too much for the individual flare of Brazil to handle. By taking control of the midfield, Germany was able to control the game flow from the very start.
With so much on the line, Brazil came out of the tunnel wearing their emotions on their sleeves. After loosing Neymar to injury and Thiago Silva to suspension, Brazilian captain David Luiz marched his teammates out slowly, followed by the belting of the national anthem while clutching the jersey of Neymar. In a game of such passion German manager Joachim Low knew the best way to fend off the host nation was to remain calm.
The scoring machine of Germany can be traced back to their excellent passing. The opening goal by Thomas Muller in the 11th minute was off a pinpoint corner kick from Toni Kroos. After breaking free of the Brazilian coverage, Muller simply took a few steps back and was able to tap it past keeper Julio Cesar.
Another great attempt by Muller lead to the now all-time goal-scoring leader Miroslav Klose’s rebound goal in the 23rd minute. After Muller fed the ball to Klose, the ageless wonder put up an initial shot which was blocked, but a quick reaction allowed Klose to put the ball into the back of the net. In the next six minutes, three more goals were provided by Toni Kroos in the 24th and 26th minutes and Sami Khedira in the 29th. By the half, Brazil knew, Germany knew, and the rest of the world knew that this match was over.
In what had to be one of the most difficult speeches of his coaching career, Brazil manager Luiz Felipe Scolari seemed to have motivated his team enough for them to not throw in the towel. Coming out with a much more aggressive game plan, Germany had their backs against the wall for the first 20 minutes of the second half. German keeper Manuel Neuer had to make many spectacular saves to keep his clean sheet intact. Brazil ultimately could not find the net on this most difficult of days until the 90th minute when Oscar was able to finally beat the Bayern Munich man Neuer.
As for Germany they were able to tally two more goals at the feet of André Schurrle in the 69th and 79th minutes. Now the Germans prepare for their matchup against either Argentina or The Netherlands. Both teams will provide a challenge up top with Lionel Messi for Argentina and Robin Van Persie for the Dutch. With Neymar having missed with injury, the German back four had very little to worry about. With the extra day of rest as well look for Germany to play similar to today in attempt to capture their first World Cup since 1990.