Heading into Tuesday’s World Cup semifinal, many pundits predicted a Brazil loss to Germany. But nobody, and I mean nobody, saw that coming. Countless records were broken during Germany’s 7-1 drubbing of the host country in a match the likes of which has never been played in a World Cup semifinal.
Brazil didn’t look good before they looked very bad. Since the opening game of the Cup, there have been doubts about this Brazil team. This was the legendary Brazil, a nation that is soccer-mad like no other and winner of five World Cups. They were playing at home. They were the safe bet on the brackets of the uninformed. But the actual team of 23 men that took the field for the Cup has been less than awe-inspiring. Their opening win against Croatia required luck and a bit of assistance from the referee and their progression from the group stages wasn’t assured until the last game. Neymar aside, they have been toothless and looked due for a good thrashing.
Don’t blame the missing men. Even prior to this match the only outfield players who could have held their heads high for their performances were Neymar and defender and captain Thiago Silva (goalkeeper Julio Cesar could do nothing about the goals today and will wince to have them added to his record). Neymar’s World Cup was ended by injury and Silva sat this match out because of a suspension. It’s unlikely that either man could have prevented this defeat, but they might have taken the score line down a few notches from total humiliation.
Brazil was brutal…in a much different way than expected. Most analysts predicted that in the absence of their superstar striker, Brazil would play a tough, defensive game, hoping to contain the Germans and score the odd goal on the break. Many thought Brazilian Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari would command his team to employ the “dark arts” of subtle elbows and niggling fouls to break up play. That kind of game is absolutely tedious to watch (unless you are the most cynical of strategy fans), but this match was a different kind of brutal. By the 11th minute, that plan was ripped to shreds by Thomas Muller. At that point, playing defensive wasn’t an option for Brazil and it just got worse from there. Here’s all five of Germany’s first-half goals.
We said this match broke all sorts of records. For example: Germany broke the record for the most goals scored in a semifinal. Germany broke the record for fastest to five goals in a World Cup match (the record for most in a single match is 10, oddly enough by Hungary against El Salvador in 1982). Germany gave Brazil its first home defeat in a competitive match since 1975. This is the biggest loss Brazil has ever faced in a World Cup game.
As if all that wasn’t enough… With his goal (Germany’s second) Miroslav Klose broke the tie with the Brazilian Ronaldo and became the highest scorer in World Cup history. For the 36-year-old Klose it was a great moment (and an archetypically scrappy goal), but it was one more indignation for the host Brazilians to bear.
It’s a bit symbolic too. Klose is what we call a “poacher” — a type of player that has gone a bit out of fashion in the more athletic modern game, which favors generalists over specialists. Poachers don’t really do anything besides score. They don’t make intricate passes or spectacular range shots. They certainly don’t defend. They just “happen” to be there when the ball gets close to the goal and they know what to do with it from there. Ronaldo, despite his somewhat comical girth, was a dancer and a sprinter on the field. He was fun to watch. Klose is just a (very important) cog in the German machine.
Here’s his record setting goal.
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