Brazil v Germany (2014 FIFA World Cup)

The Brazil versus Germany football match that took place on 8 July 2014 at the Mineirão stadium in Belo Horizonte, was the first of two semi-final matches of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Both Brazil and Germany reached the semi-finals with an undefeated record in the competition, with the Brazilians' quarter-final with Colombia causing them to lose forward Neymar to injury, and defender and captain Thiago Silva to accumulation of yellow cards. Despite the absence of these players, a close match was expected, given both teams performed comparably well throughout the tournament. Also, both were regarded as two of the biggest traditional FIFA World Cup forces, sharing eight tournaments won and having previously met in the 2002 FIFA World Cup Final, where Brazil won 2–0 and earned their fifth title.

This match, however, ended in a historic loss for Brazil; in a massive show of dominance, Germany led 5–0 within 29 minutes, with four goals being scored inside a six-minute span, and subsequently brought the score up to 7–0 in the second half. Brazil scored a consolation goal in the last minute, ending the match 7–1. Germany's Toni Kroos was selected as the man of the match.

The game marked several tournament records. Germany's win marked the largest margin of victory in a FIFA World Cup semi-final. The game saw Germany overtake Brazil as the highest-scoring team in World Cup tournament history and become the first team to reach eight World Cup Finals. Miroslav Klose scored his 16th career World Cup goal and surpassed Brazil's own Ronaldo as the tournament's all-time record goalscorer. Brazil's loss broke their 62-match unbeaten streak at home in competitive matches, going back to the 1975 Copa América (where they lost 3–1 to Peru in the same stadium), and equalled their biggest margin of defeat in a match alongside a 6–0 loss to Uruguay in 1920. It was also Brazil's worst margin of defeat in a World Cup match, with their previous worst loss in that category being their 3–0 loss to France in the 1998 final at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Paris.

Ultimately, the match was described as a national humiliation. The game has subsequently been dubbed the ''Mineiraço'' () in reference to the Mineirão stadium, evoking a previous " spirit of national shame" known as the '' Maracanaço'' in which Brazil unexpectedly lost in the final of the 1950 FIFA World Cup on home soil to Uruguay. Brazil subsequently lost 3–0 to the Netherlands in the third-place play-off, while Germany went on to win the World Cup for the fourth time, defeating Argentina in the final.

Background

Brazil was hosting the FIFA World Cup for the second time (the first being 1950), and had won the tournament on five previous occasions. Germany was a three-time winner but had not won the tournament in 24 years. Brazil was in the semi-finals for the first time since 2002, from which they emerged victorious and subsequently won the tournament against Germany; while Germany was in a record-breaking fourth consecutive semi-final. Both teams had entered the tournament among the favourites to win, with Germany ranked 2nd and Brazil ranked 3rd in the FIFA World Rankings. It was only the second World Cup match between the two sides.

Brazil's route to the semi-final included a group stage with Croatia, Mexico and Cameroon in Group A, from which they advanced with seven points before beating Chile in the Round of 16 in a penalty shoot-out, and Colombia in the quarter-finals. Germany had been drawn with Portugal, Ghana and the United States in Group G, and advanced with seven points before beating Algeria in the Round of 16 (after extra time) and France in the quarter-finals. The two teams had met in 21 previous matches, but their only previous encounter in the single-elimination round of the World Cup was the final of the 2002 FIFA World Cup that was a 2–0 victory for Brazil, which was Luiz Felipe Scolari's first tenure as manager of Brazil while Miroslav Klose was in Germany's starting lineup.

Brazil defender and captain Thiago Silva was suspended for the match due to accumulation of yellow cards, despite an appeal against the suspension by the Brazilian Football Confederation. Forward Neymar was also unavailable for the match, having been sidelined for the rest of the tournament after suffering a fractured vertebra in the quarter-final match against Colombia. Dante and Bernard, making their first starts of the tournament, replaced Thiago Silva and Neymar respectively with Luiz Gustavo replacing Paulinho in defensive midfield. Germany were unchanged from their quarter-final. Goalkeeper Júlio César and stand-in captain David Luiz paid tribute to Neymar by holding his shirt during the national anthem ceremony. Even with the absences, analysts expected a close match, feeling the home crowd could provide an advantage.

Match

Both teams had reached the semi-finals undefeated in their previous matches of the tournament. The officiating team was led by Mexican referee Marco Antonio Rodríguez, in what would be the final match of his career.

First half

Both teams started with attacking play, with Brazilian Marcelo's shot going wide in the third minute and German Sami Khedira's shot in the seventh minute being inadvertently blocked by his teammate Toni Kroos. In the 11th minute, the Germans scored from their first corner of the game. Thomas Müller escaped his marker, David Luiz, in the penalty box, and Toni Kroos's delivery found him wide open for a side-footed shot into the net. In the following minutes Brazil tried to respond but their attacks came to nothing, although Philipp Lahm delivered a tackle to keep Marcelo from setting up a chance in the penalty box. Instead, in the 23rd minute, Germany scored again after Kroos and Müller combined to set up Miroslav Klose, who scored on the rebound after his initial shot was saved by goalkeeper Júlio César. It was Klose's 16th goal at a World Cup, passing Brazilian player Ronaldo as the all-time World Cup top scorer while playing in Brazil.

Klose's goal initiated a flurry of German scoring as Brazil lost control of the game. In the 24th minute, Kroos scored with a left-footed strike from the edge of the area after Lahm's cross was deflected. Then, in the 26th minute, just a few seconds after Brazil kicked off, Kroos caught Fernandinho in possession in his own half and played a one-two with Khedira before scoring again. Kroos' goals came just 69 seconds apart. Khedira himself scored in the 29th minute after exchanging passes with Mesut Özil. All five of Germany's first half goals came within the first half-hour, with four of them coming in one six-minute period. In contrast, Brazil had no shots on target in the first half. Many Brazil supporters in the crowd were visibly in shock or reduced to tears, and many would leave the stadium before the second half. The resulting fights in the Mineirão stands forced the Military Police to send a special forces squad into the stadium.

Second half

Brazil's substitution of Paulinho for Fernandinho and Ramires for Hulk resulted in an improvement in their play after the restart; Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer saved shots in quick succession from Oscar, Paulinho and Fred. By the 60th minute, though, the Germans came close to scoring again, with Júlio César denying Müller twice. Another German goal nonetheless came in the 69th minute – Lahm's low cross found substitute André Schürrle, who side-footed the ball into the net from close range. 10 minutes later, Schürrle ran onto Müller's cross from the left and hit a powerful shot over César at the near post. At this point with the score at 7–0, the remaining home fans gave the Germans a standing ovation, applauding both Schürrle's goal and Germany's overall performance. Close to the end, Özil received a through ball but just missed the chance to make it an eighth goal. Seconds later, Oscar received a long ball and scored in the 90th minute to make it 7–1. The final score matched Brazil's worst loss ( 6–0 to Uruguay in 1920) and ended a run of 62 competitive home matches unbeaten for Brazil. The Brazilian players left the pitch in tears to a chorus of boos and jeers.

Toni Kroos was selected Man of the Match, with three shots, two goals, 93% pass accuracy, one assist and two chances created.

Brazilian striker Fred, who was replaced by Willian in the 70th minute, received a particularly hostile reaction from the home fans. According to Opta Sports, Fred failed to make a single tackle, cross, run or interception during the match, and actually spent the majority of his time in possession of the ball on the centre spot due to six restarts.

Details

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Match rules:
*90 minutes
*30 minutes of extra-time if necessary
*Penalty shoot-out if scores still level
*Twelve named substitutes
*Maximum of three substitutions

Statistics

Records

The game's result was the biggest winning margin in a World Cup semi-final or final. The outcome was also the worst loss by a host country in World Cup history, as the six-goal difference doubled the previous record margin. By the end of the game, a total of 167 goals had been scored at the 2014 World Cup, the 2nd-most at a single World Cup, after 1998 with 171 goals. With 18 total shots on target, the match had the joint-most shots on target of any match in 90 minutes at the 2014 World Cup. The match also had the fastest four goals scored in World Cup history, with Germany scoring in the span of six minutes (from 23′ to 29′); in 1954, Austria took seven minutes (25′ to 32′) and in 1982, Hungary also took seven minutes (69′ to 76′) to score four goals. Germany equalled the record for most goals scored against the host nation of the World Cup, with Austria defeating Switzerland 7–5 in the 1954 World Cup. Germany also overtook Brazil to become the all-time highest-scoring team in FIFA World Cup history, their total of 223 at full-time passing Brazil's 221. Before the match Brazil and Germany were even with seven World Cup finals each; the German victory made them the only squad to reach 8 finals.

For Brazil, the result became one of their two worst losses, equalling a 6–0 defeat to Uruguay in Valparaíso in 1920, and was their worst defeat at home; their previous worst defeat at home was a 5–1 defeat by Argentina in Rio de Janeiro in 1939. The loss broke Brazil's 62-match home unbeaten streak in competitive matches, dating back to their 1–3 loss to Peru in the 1975 Copa América; this match was also played at Estádio Mineirão in Belo Horizonte. The last time Brazil had lost a World Cup semi-final was in 1938, in a dramatic game against Italy in Marseille, and had emerged victorious from this stage the previous six times they had reached it, since the loss in 1974 against Netherlands was not formally a semi-final. Brazil had never before conceded seven goals at home, although they once conceded eight goals in an 8–4 friendly defeat to Yugoslavia on 3 June 1934; the last time they conceded at least five was in a 6–5 win in the 1938 World Cup versus Poland; at least four was in a 4–2 defeat at the 1954 World Cup against Hungary. Brazil's largest losing deficit at the World Cup prior to the match was three goals, which came in the 3–0 defeat to France in the 1998 final. The game's outcome also marked Brazil's worst result against Germany, passing a 2–0 defeat in a 1986 friendly.

For Germany, the final result meant that, for the fourth straight time, they were positioned among the tournament's top three teams; moreover, the victory allowed the Germans to become the first side to reach eight World Cup finals. Germany became the first team to score 7 goals in a World Cup semi-final. The last time a team scored six goals was West Germany in 1954 versus Austria, same as in both semi-finals in 1930. Only two teams have previously trailed by at least five goals at half-time: Zaire (versus Yugoslavia in 1974) and Haiti (versus Poland in 1974). The seven goals scored by Germany reflected a better goal-scoring record in the World Cup Finals than that of 28 other nations in their respective history of the World Cup.

Germany's Miroslav Klose equalled the Brazilian Cafu as the player with most matches being on the winning side at the World Cup, with 16 victories. Klose played his 23rd World Cup match, equalling Paolo Maldini on 2nd place on most World Cup matches, with only Lothar Matthäus remaining with more (25). Klose has played in more knockout games than Matthäus or Cafu – 13, and also became the only player to take part in four World Cup semi-finals ( Uwe Seeler previously played in three semi-finals). In the match, he broke the record for the most goals scored at the World Cup with 16, overtaking Brazil's Ronaldo's total of 15; Ronaldo was in attendance at the match as a commentator. Thomas Müller's goal was Germany's 2,000th in the history of their national team. Toni Kroos' first-half double scored in 69 seconds was the fastest pair of goals scored in World Cup history by the same player.

Reactions

Professional

According to reports, after Germany had scored their fifth goal with Khedira, Neymar, who was also watching the match on television in his home in Brazil, in Guarujá, switched off his set and went to play poker. World Cup-winning Brazil manager Luiz Felipe Scolari said the result was the "worst loss by a Brazilian national team ever" and accepted all responsibility for the defeat. He called it "the worst day of my life", and resigned after the tournament. Stand-in captain David Luiz and goalkeeper Júlio César both offered apologies to the people of Brazil. Fred, who was booed by Brazilian fans during the match, said it was the worst defeat in his and his teammates' careers. He later announced his retirement from international football following the tournament. Recovering from his injury, Neymar expressed his support to his teammates and, despite the 7–1 score, said he was proud to be a part of the team.

During the match, the German team seemed to realise that what was unfolding was not a normal football event. In a post-match statement, Mats Hummels said that the German team had decided that they did not want to humiliate the Brazilians during the second half and after the match:

Accordingly, the Germans cut theatrics from their goal celebrations; arms were raised but there was no jumping or screaming after scoring. Coach Joachim Löw stated his team had "a clear, persistent game-plan", and as they realised Brazil were "cracking up", they took advantage as in contrast to the Brazilians' nervousness the German players were "extremely cool". Toni Kroos, who was chosen as Man of the Match, added that as the Germans felt that in "no game of the Cup, he Braziliansplayed their best", the squad entered with the tactical knowledge on how to counter Brazil: "we took all the balls, and scored the goals". Müller said he was "shocked by just how open Brazil were" as "Gustavo, Luiz, Dante, Fernandinho and Marcelo were shambolic in their positioning", being confused and disorganized, noting that his German teammates benefited overwhelmingly as "the spaces were bigger than against defence-minded teams".

Löw also declared the team had "no euphoria" during or after the game, as they knew that the 7–1 win meant nothing for the upcoming final, saying "We didn't celebrate. We were happy, but we still have a job to do".

Following the match, the German players and managers offered words of consolation to the Brazilians. Löw and players Per Mertesacker and Philipp Lahm even compared the pressure on the Brazilian team and resulting heartbreaking defeat with Germany's own when they hosted the 2006 FIFA World Cup and also lost in the semifinals. Lahm added in an interview after the tournament that he had felt "very uneasy" during the match and "not at all euphoric" since the Brazilian team had made mistakes that "don't usually happen at this level", and Mertesacker noted that despite featuring the Germans at the top of their game, "even from the bench, he semifinalwas crazy to watch". Kroos stated that, despite Brazil having good players, "they couldn't show their best performance" due to all the outside pressure, and expressed faith in "them returning with a good squad". Löw observed in the immediate aftermath of the match that the Brazilian people were applauding his team. Later the Brazilian newspaper ''O Globo'' expressed appreciation for the gestures of the German players, calling them "world champions of sympathy".

Brazilian footballing icon Pelé tweeted, "I always said that football is a box of surprises. Nobody in this world expected this result," followed by, " razilWill try to get the sixth title in Russia. Congratulations to Germany." Carlos Alberto Torres, the captain of Brazil's winning team in 1970, said that the country lost due to a "feeling of 'we've already won'". He added that "Germany played how I like to see and Scolari's tactics for this match were suicidal". In contrast, Argentinian icon Diego Maradona was seen singing a song mocking the Brazilian defeat.

Society

In Germany, the match's coverage by ZDF set a record for the country's most watched TV broadcast, with 32.57 million viewers (87.8% of all viewers), beating the Germany–Spain match at the 2010 World Cup. This record was beaten five days later with the final. In contrast, despite a weekly spike in audience, the broadcast by Brazilian Rede Globo saw the viewers total fall with each German goal.

The match was the most discussed sports game on Twitter with over 35.6 million tweets, surpassing Super Bowl XLVIII, with 24.9 million tweets during the game. At first incentive hashtags such as "#PrayForBrazil" were common, but once Germany built a 5–0 lead Brazilian users instead lent their frustration into self-deprecatory humor, comparing Germany's goals with the Volkswagen Gol car and stating the Brazilian team looked like "11 Freds". Other Twitter users compared Germany's dominating performance to their military efforts during World War II and The Holocaust, for example, dubbing it the "Goalocaust". Bung Moktar Radin, a member of parliament of Malaysia, came under heavy criticism from the Malaysian public and the German ambassador, Holger Michael, for posting such a comment. The President of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, stated on Twitter following the match that "like all Brazilians, I am deeply saddened by our loss." The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Yigal Palmor, mentioned the match when countering Brazil's claim that his country was using disproportionate force in the Gaza conflict, saying "This is not football. In football, when a game ends in a draw, you think it is proportional, but when it finishes 7–1 it's disproportionate."

Due to the pressure on the home nation Brazil, who were odds-on favorites to win the World Cup, and the subsequent shock of the loss, the media and FIFA dubbed the game the ''Mineirazo'' (''Mineiraço'' in Brazil), meaning "The Mineirão blow", evoking the '' Maracanazo'' (''Maracanaço'') in which Brazil were defeated on home soil by outsiders Uruguay in the ''de facto'' final of the 1950 World Cup. The daughter of goalkeeper Moacir Barbosa, who was scapegoated for the 1950 defeat, said the loss was enough to redeem her father's legacy, while Uruguayan striker Alcides Ghiggia, responsible for the Cup-winning goal of the ''Maracanazo'', felt that though both games were traumatic they could not be compared as the 1950 match had more at stake. Following the match, German fans were escorted out of the stadium by police and police were put on alert for possible riots. Observers noted that while the German supporters had shown respect to the defeated hosts, Argentinian fans were celebrating Brazil's elimination.

There were reports of a mass robbery at a fan party in Rio de Janeiro and of fans setting fire to Brazilian flags in the streets of São Paulo even before the match was over. A number of buses were burned across São Paulo and an electronics store was looted.

Media

Brazilian newspapers greeted the result with headlines such as "The Biggest Shame in History" (''Lance!''), a "Historical humiliation" (''Folha de S.Paulo'') and "Brazil is slain" (''O Globo''). German paper '' Bild'' heralded the "7–1 Madness" by the "Lightning DFB team", with a front page headline of "Ohne Worte" (Without Words). The French '' L'Équipe'' simply said, "Le Désastre" (The Disaster). Writing for Sky Sports, Matthew Stanger described the game as the "ultimate embarrassment", while Miguel Delaney of ESPN referred to the match as the ''Mineirazo'', echoing the term invented for the event by the South American Spanish language press.

Barney Ronay in ''The Guardian'' described it as "the most humiliating World Cup host nation defeat of all time", and Joe Callaghan of ''The Independent'' described it as "the darkest night in Brazil's footballing history". Wyre Davies, the BBC
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