Germany have the ideal chance to get the tag of “under-achievers” off of their name when they face off against a Brazil side which is depleted by the loss of two of its key players.
The match kicks off at 22:00 (CAT) at Estadio Mineirao in the 2014 FIFA World Cup host city of Belo Horizonte on Tuesday 8 July.
Germany will be looking to take advantage of the fact that the Brazil team has been dealt two massive blows following the side’s quarter-final encounter with Columbia, due to the fact that their star player, Naymar Jr. has been ruled out for the rest of the World Cup with a broken vertebra and the teams captain, Thiago Silva, is out due to a one match suspension following two consecutive yellow cards in two matches.
It has been 12 years since the Germans have made it into a FIFA World Cup final and in 2002, they lost to Brazil in the final, so they will undoubtedly be seeking revenge when they come out onto the pitch on Tuesday. However, one must not forget that Brazil are the most successful team in FIFA World Cup history and they are playing on home soil, which any football fan knows is a huge advantage.
Currently, Brazil are ranked 3 in FIFA rankings and have won a total of five World Cup Finals. They have also finished as runners-up on two occasions. Germany are currently ranked 2 in FIFA rankings and have won three World Cup Finals titles and have finished in second four times in their history.
However, when it comes to head-on-head encounters between the two football giants, it is Brazil who is clearly favoured historically. In a total of 21 encounters between the two sides, Brazil have finished on top in 12 of them, Germany has won 5 of them and the result has been a draw on 4 occations. In those encounters, a total of no less than 63 goals were scored, of which Brazil scored 39 to Germany’s 24.
What will no doubt be a riveting encounter between two of the world’s best teams, will lead to the elimination of one. Germany knocked out dark horses, France in an impressive display of cool headedness, whereas Brazil were frantic and sporadic in their match against Colombia, leaving the Brazilians with much to prove to their home fans going into this match. With various scoring threats up front, such as Schurrle, Muller and Ozil, to name a few, Germany will be looking to capitalise on a Brazilian defence which seems to be full of holes (even more so without their captain, Silva). Brazil will be looking to insert an extra attacking midfielder, such as Willian to compensate for the lack of Neymar and threaten up front.
