Well that was painful.
Brazil, the 2014 FIFA World Cup host and five-time World Cup Champions, were knocked out of the tournament after a horrible defensive showing falling 7-1 to Germany. Brazil went down early and fast, allowing five goals in the first half and two in the second to record its first loss on home soil since 1975 – a total of 62 games. Germany has now advanced to the World Cup final a total of eight times, the most all-time.
Brazil and Germany got off to a spirited start in the first 10 minutes but Brazil’s defense began to crumble as Germany found its first goal in the 11th minute. German forward Thomas Muller was found completely unmarked in the six yard box on a corner kick and volleyed his attempt past Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar from close range, for his 10th career World Cup goal. Muller is now second in the 2014 Golden Boot race with five goals in the tournament, one goal behind Colombian James Rodriguez.
Germany forward Miroslav Klose became the all-time leading goal scorer in World Cup history 12 minutes later, scoring his 16th career World Cup goal to put the Germans up by two. Klose made a nice run into the box to pick up a nice layoff by Muller and blast a shot at Cesar. The Brazilian ‘keeper made the save but Klose was there for the rebound and buried the follow-up shot.
Brazil’s defense continued to fall apart, allowing three goals in five minutes to close out the first half. Germany midfielder Toni Kroos bagged a brace, scoring goals in the 24th and 26th minutes. Germany midfielder Sami Khedira added insult to injury three minutes later, scoring in the 29th minute to put the Germans up by five.
The second half started off better for the Brazilians, with the home side registering a handful of chances early, but German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer proved unbeatable. Brazil’s back line continued to struggle, as German midfielder Andre Schurrle made it six on the night, finding open space inside the box to blast a shot past a helpless Cesar. Schurrle scored a second in the 79th minute, making a nice run into the box and deftly taking down a cross to half-volley a shot to the top far corner for a total of seven on the night.
Brazil was able to score a consolation goal in the 90th minute. Brazilian midfielder Oscar was sprung in behind the German back line and went 1v1 with Neuer, nicely finishing past the German goalkeeper.
Germany will now face the winner of the Argentina-Netherlands semifinal in the 2014 FIFA World Cup final on Sunday, July 13. Argentina and the Netherlands will face off tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. MT on ESPN.
