Brazil v Germany (2014 FIFA World Cup)

"Mineirazo" redirects here. For the stadium, see Estádio Mineirão.

Brazil v Germany

File:Novo mineirão aérea.jpg The Estádio Mineirão hosted the match.
Event	2014 FIFA World Cup Semi-final
Brazil Germany 1 7
Date	8 July 2014
Venue	Estádio Mineirão, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Man of the Match	Toni Kroos (Germany)
Referee	Marco Rodríguez (Mexico)
Attendance	58,141
Weather	Clear night 22 °C (71 °F) 51% humidity

The Brazil versus Germany football match that took place on 8 July 2014 at the Estádio Mineirão in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, was the first semi-final match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Both teams reached the stage with an undefeated record in the competition. The game was administered by CONCACAF officials led by Mexican referee Marco Rodríguez. The game ended in a shocking loss for Brazil; Germany led 5–0 at half time, with 4 goals scored in a span of 6 minutes, and subsequently brought the score up to 7–0 in the second half. Brazil scored a goal at the last minute, ending the match 7–1. Germany's Toni Kroos was selected Man of the Match.

Germany's win marked the largest margin of victory in a FIFA World Cup semi-final. The game also saw Germany score the most goals in World Cup tournament history, their 223 overtaking Brazil's 221. Germany's second goal, scored by Miroslav Klose, was his 16th in World Cup play, overtaking Brazil's own Ronaldo as the tournament's all-time record goalscorer. Brazil's loss broke its 62-match home unbeaten streak in competitive matches going back to 1975, when it lost 1–3 to Peru in that year's Copa América, and equalled its biggest margin of defeat, a 6–0 loss to Uruguay in 1920, causing the match to be described as a national humiliation.

The game was subsequently referred to by the Brazilian media as the Mineirazo, evoking the spirit of the Maracanazo in which Brazil unexpectedly lost the 1950 FIFA World Cup on home soil to Uruguay.

Background

Brazil failed an appeal to rescind captain Thiago Silva's suspension for the match

Brazil were hosting the FIFA World Cup for the second time (after 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 were in the semi-finals for the first time since 2002, from which they emerged victorious and subsequently won the tournament against Germany; while Germany were in a record-breaking fourth consecutive semi-final.

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, which Brazil won 2-0.

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 Federation. 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 replaced Thiago Silva and Neymar respectively, in what were their first starts at the tournament, with Luiz Gustavo replacing Paulinho in defensive midfield. Germany was 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.

Match

First half

Brazil's captain David Luiz (back centre) led a defence that was incapable of stopping the Germans from scoring four goals in six minutes, starting with Miroslav Klose's (left) strike in the 23rd minute.

Both teams started with attacking play, with Brazilian Marcelo's shot going wide in the 3rd minute and German Sami Khedira's shot in the 7th minute being blocked by his team-mate Toni Kroos. In the 11th minute, the Germans scored from their first corner of the game. Thomas Müller escaped his mark by 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 immediately but their attacking forays came to naught. Instead, in the 23rd minute, Germany scored again through 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, surpassing Ronaldo as the all-time World Cup top scorer.

Klose's goal initiated a flurry of German scoring. Kroos added two more goals in quick succession: in the 24th minute, he volleyed home from Philipp Lahm's cross while unmarked, while in the 26th minute, Germany caught Fernandinho in possession in his own half, with Kroos linking up with Khedira to evade the Brazilian defence leading to Kroos scoring again. 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 within six minutes. Brazil had no shots on target in the first half. Many Brazil supporters in the crowd were reduced to tears and a state of shock such that the crowd's first serious dissent at the Brazil team came only at half time.

Second half

Brazil's forward Fred is challenged by Germany's defender Jérôme Boateng. Fred was heavily criticized for his performance and booed by Brazilian fans when substituted.

Brazil's quick substitution of Fernandinho and Hulk for Paulinho and Ramires resulted in them threatening more from the restart; they forced Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer to save shots from Oscar, Paulinho and Fred. However, by the 60th minute, the Germans came close to scoring again, with Júlio César denying Müller twice. Another German goal indeed came in the 69th minute — Lahm picked out substitute André Schürrle, who was left unmarked and side-footed the ball in from close-range. Schürrle was not done yet; in the 79th minute, he received Müller's cross from the left and hit a powerful shot over Júlio César at the near post. At this point with the score at 7-0, the remaining home fans gave the Germans a standing ovation, as they applauded Schürrle's goal and started cheering for Germany's passes. Close to the end, Özil received a through ball but barely missed the chance to make it eight. Seconds later, Brazil broke away and Oscar scored in the 90th minute to make it 7–1, but it was no consolation, as the final score matched Brazil's worst ever 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.

Toni Kroos was selected Man of the Match, with 3 shots, 2 goals, 93% pass accuracy, 1 assist and 2 chances created.

Brazilian striker Fred, who was substituted for 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 most time in possession of the ball on the centre spot due to six restarts.

Details

8 July 2014

17:00

Brazil	1–7	Germany
Oscar 90'	Report	Müller 11' Klose 23' Kroos 24', 26' Khedira 29' Schürrle 69', 79'

Estádio Mineirão, Belo Horizonte

Attendance: 58,141

Referee: Marco Rodríguez (Mexico)

Brazil

Germany

GK 12 Júlio César RB 23 Maicon CB 4 David Luiz (c) CB 13 Dante  68' LB 6 Marcelo CM 5 Fernandinho  46' CM 17 Luiz Gustavo RW 7 Hulk  46' AM 11 Oscar LW 20 Bernard CF 9 Fred  70' Substitutes: GK 1 Jefferson DF 2 Dani Alves MF 8 Paulinho  46' DF 14 Maxwell DF 15 Henrique MF 16 Ramires  46' MF 18 Hernanes MF 19 Willian  70' FW 21 Jô GK 22 Victor Manager: Luiz Felipe Scolari

GK 1 Manuel Neuer RB 16 Philipp Lahm (c) CB 20 Jérôme Boateng CB 5 Mats Hummels  46' LB 4 Benedikt Höwedes CM 6 Sami Khedira  76' CM 7 Bastian Schweinsteiger RW 13 Thomas Müller AM 18 Toni Kroos LW 8 Mesut Özil CF 11 Miroslav Klose  58' Substitutes: GK 12 Ron-Robert Zieler DF 2 Kevin Großkreutz DF 3 Matthias Ginter FW 9 André Schürrle  58' FW 10 Lukas Podolski MF 14 Julian Draxler  76' DF 15 Erik Durm DF 17 Per Mertesacker  46' MF 19 Mario Götze GK 22 Roman Weidenfeller MF 23 Christoph Kramer Manager: Joachim Löw

Man of the Match: Toni Kroos (Germany) Assistant referees: Marvin Torrentera (Mexico) Marcos Quintero (Mexico) Fourth official: Mark Geiger (United States) Fifth official: Mark Hurd (United States)

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

German players celebrating after a goal

Statistic	Brazil	Germany
Goals scored	1	7
Total shots	18	14
Shots on target	8	10
Ball possession	52%	48%
Corner kicks	7	5
Fouls committed	11	14
Offsides	3	0
Yellow cards	1	0
Red cards	0	0

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 1954. 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.

For Brazil, the result became one of its two worst losses, equalling a 6–0 defeat to Uruguay in 1920, and was their worst-ever defeat at home. 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 1974, and had emerged victorious from this stage the previous six times it had reached it. Brazil had never before conceded seven goals at home although they once conceded eight goals in a 4–8 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 FIFA World Cup vs Poland; at least four was in 1954 versus 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. After Brazil's 3–0 defeat to the Netherlands in the third place play-off, they conceded a total of 14 goals, the most conceded by Brazil in a single tournament, the most ever conceded by a World Cup host, and the most conceded by any team since Belgium let in 15 during the 1986 tournament. The game's outcome also marked Brazil's worst result against Germany, passing a 2–0 defeat in a 1986 friendly.

Germany celebrate after striker Miroslav Klose scored a record 16th World Cup goal, putting his team 0–2 up against Brazil

For Germany, the final result meant that, for the fourth straight time, it was positioned among the tournament's top 3 teams; moreover, the victory allowed the Germans to become the first side to reach eight World Cup finals. The match was a record 12th time a German team played at a semi-final. 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. It was Germany's highest half-time lead in a World Cup match, with their previous best being 4–0 against Saudi Arabia in 2002 (their greatest win, 8–0); 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). However, 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. Müller became the third player in history to score five or more goals in two different World Cups (after Klose and the Peruvian Teófilo Cubillas) and the second player to score five or more goals in consecutive World Cups (after Klose). 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

Man of the match Toni Kroos stated that Germany were not at their best.

According to reports, after Germany had scored their seventh goal, Neymar, who was watching the match on television, switched off his set and went to play poker. 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." He would resign as manager of the Brazilian National team 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, his pride to be part of this team.

Germany's players and managers offered words of consolation to the Brazilians. Germany coach Joachim Löw and players Per Mertesacker and Phillip 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". Löw said 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". Man of the Match Toni Kroos stated that "although it was a good game, it was not the best for us". Löw insisted 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".

Brazilian footballing icon Pelé tweeted "I always said that football is a box of surprises. Nobody in this world expected this result", followed by "Will 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 said, "Germany played how I like to see and Scolari's tactics for this match were suicidal".

Argentina coach, Alejandro Sabella, struggled to explain Brazil's loss, saying, "Football is illogical".

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:

We just made it clear that we had to stay focused and not try to humiliate them. We said we had to stay serious and concentrate at half-time. That's something you don't have to show on the pitch if you are playing. You have to show the opponent respect and it was very important that we did this and didn't try to show some magic or something like this. It was important we played our game for 90 minutes.

Accordingly, the Germans cut theatrics from their goal celebrations; arms were raised but there was no jumping or screaming after scoring.

After the match, Mesut Özil offered consolation to the Brazilian people in a tweet:

You have a beautiful country, wonderful people and amazing footballers—this match may not destroy your pride!

Later the Brazilian newspaper O Globo expressed appreciation for the gestures of the German players, calling them “world champions of sympathy”. Löw observed in immediate aftermath of the match that the Brazilian people were applauding his team, and observers noted that the Germans had shown respect and class to the defeated hosts, while Argentinian fans had celebrated Brazil's elimination.

Society

In Germany, the match's coverage by ZDF set a record for the country's most watched TV broadcast ever, with 32.57 million viewers (87.8% of all viewers), beating the Germany v. Spain match at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. 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 ever on Twitter with over 35.6 million tweets, surpassing Super Bowl XLVIII, with 24.9 million tweets during the game. While at first incentive hashtags such as "#PrayForBrazil" were common, once Germany built a 5–0 lead Brazilian users instead lent their frustration into self-deprecation 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. A Malaysian MP came under heavy criticism from the German ambassador 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". Meanwhile, pornographic website Pornhub had to ask its users to stop uploading video footage of the game to the website, after several videos were uploaded.

Due to the pressure on the home nation Brazil to win the World Cup and the subsequent shock of the loss, the media and FIFA dubbed the game the Mineirazo, meaning "The Mineirão blow", evoking the Maracanazo in which Brazil were defeated on home soil by outsiders Uruguay in the de facto final of the 1950 World Cup. Following the match, German fans were escorted out of the stadium by police and police were put on alert for possible riots.

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 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". 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 Mineirazo. 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's Rio de Janeiro correspondent, said of Brazilian's reactions at the stadium and fan parks that the "collective sense of shock, embarrassment and national humiliation across Brazil was impossible to ignore". South American football journalist Tim Vickery postulated that the all-time low the result represented might be the catalyst for over-due reform of Brazilian club football, which in his opinion had become complacent in comparison to other countries, resting on the laurels of the national team's history of success. In his words, this was a chance for it to "recapture parts of its historic identity and reframe them in a modern, global context".

Aftermath

Brazil finished fourth after being defeated 0–3 in the third place match by the Netherlands on 12 July. Germany went on to win the World Cup after defeating Argentina 1–0 in the final match on 13 July.

The two consecutive losses, Brazil's first consecutive home defeats since 1940, led to coach Luiz Felipe Scolari's resignation on 15 July. Two weeks later, CBF brought back Dunga as head coach of the Brazil national team. He had managed the team from 2006 until 2010, after a 2–1 loss to the Netherlands in the 2010 FIFA World Cup quarterfinals. Although Dunga won few fans during his four years as coach, the consensus in the Brazilian federation is that losing 2–1 in the quarterfinals is far less embarrassing than losing 7–1 in the semifinals.

See also

• FIFA World Cup records
• Austria v Switzerland (1954 FIFA World Cup)
• Uruguay v Brazil (1950 FIFA World Cup)
• 1958 FIFA World Cup Final
• 1920 South American Championship

External links

• Media related to 2014 FIFA World Cup semi-final match between Brazil and Germany at Wikimedia Commons