History was made on the pitch at Belo Horizonte. Not just Miroslav Klose becoming the all-time leading scorer of the World Cup, but Germany beating Brazil 7-1 in the semifinal, with more goals from Andre Schurrle (double), Toni Kroos (double), Thomas Muller and Sami Khedira, while Oscar scoring late couldn’t hide the humiliation of the host nation.
It might be difficult to comprehend right after the match, with fans in the stands either jeering their players or drowning in their own tears, but this just might be the most incredible result in the history of the competition. With two minutes left, Mesut Ozil missed a perfect opportunity to make it an eight goal win, the greatest, on its own, in the tournament’s history. He missed, and Oscar scored on the other end.
This was still Brazil’s worst ever defeat, losing on home soil for the first time since 2002. All the criticism on the tactics and selections of Scholari boiled down to this point, or to be more accurate during a six minute period in the first half.
Germany took the lead from a corner kick in the 11th minute, and simply defended well as Brazil attacked with abandonment, leaving only two or three players to fall back against the counter attacks. From the 23rd minute to the 29th Germany added four more goals, all very similar. Through the middle, with 1-2’s slicing through the defense, as Miroslav Klose broke Ronaldo’s record, joined by Toni Kroos (twice) and Sami Kehdira in the scoring fiesta.
It’s difficult to think and imagine what Scholari had to say to his players during half time. He made two substitutions, but it didn’t matter. Germany were the ones who decided how this match went. For a few minutes, they stopped pressing and allowed Brazilian players some freedom to create chances. Manuel Neuer denied them any hope of making this match even slightly less than one-sided.
The goals didn’t stop coming, as Andre Schurrle, who came on for Klose in the 58th minute, scored twice against a broken and shattered defense. Brazil got their goal in the end, bringing out some sarcastic cheers from their fans, but it didn’t make the defeat taste any less bitter and humiliating. A third place match for Brazil no one wants to be in, while Germany make the final for an eighth time.