FIFA World Cup 2014 produced yet another upset when the host nation, Brazil, were eliminated in stunning fashion by Germany yesterday. The match ended 7-1 after 90 minutes in Germany’s favour, meaning Brazil are left competing for third place, whereas Germany will get a shot at becoming world champions, a feat Germany last successfully did in 1990.
The defeat equals Brazil’s worst loss margin, when they went down 6-0 against Uruguay in 1920. By beating the Brazilians, Germany have qualified for their eighth FIFA World Cup final, the most out of any side in the history of the competition. The feat very clearly indicated Germany’s intention of becoming world champions. They will face the winner of the other semi-final match between Argentina and the Netherlands which is taking place at 22:00 (CAT) tonight. The final will take place on Sunday, 13 July.
Brazil’s coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, blames himself for the performance by his side which resulted in the devastating semi-final loss that will no doubt go down in history. “I think it was the worst day of my life, but life goes on,” Scolari told reporters after the defeat on Tuesday. “I will be remembered as the coach to lose 7-1, but i knew that risk when i took the job and life goes on so that is what I am going to do,” he said. The Brazilian coach dodged no responsibility and took full credit for his side’s tremendous defeat by the Germans. “I am responsible for what the team does out on the pitch and I am to blame for the result. To the people, please excuse us for this negative mistake,” he stated.
From a German point of view, the match yielded many positives. Miroslav Klose became the all-time highest goal scorer at the World Cup, with 16 goals from 23 matches, surpassing Ronaldo’s previous record of 15. Germany defied all odds to bring down the Brazilians, who have not lost at home in 38 years They have also not been defeated in a World Cup semi-final in 76 years. Germany are now the leading goal scoring nation in the world cup, having scored 223 goals in total. The record used to belong to Brazil, who have scored a total of 220 goals.
The first five goals all came within the first 30 minutes of the first half. The final result was 7-1 in Germany’s favour, which occurred through goals by Thomas Muller, Miroslave Kole, Toni Kroos (2), Sami Khedira and Andre Schurrle (2). Oscar scored a solitary consolation goal for Brazil.
The Germans still have a long way to go, which was summed up by Toni Kroos, who said, “No one has won a World Cup in a semi-final.”