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Back home - Last 16 - Quarter finals - Semi finals - FINAL
Back home - Last 16 - Quarter finals - Semi finals - FINAL
SEMI FINALS
| Tue 08-Jul | BRAZIL | 1-7 (SEVEN) | GERMANY | Belo Horizonte |
| 9pm BBC | Oscar 90 | Mueller 11, Klose 23 Kroos 24, 26 Khedira 29 Schuerrle 69, 79 | ||
| Wed 09-Jul | NETHERLANDS | 0-0 aet (2-4pens) | ARGENTINA | Sao Paulo |
| 9pm ITV |
GERMANY humiliated hosts Brazil with five goals inside the first half an hour in an astonishing record World Cup semi final win in Belo Horizonte.
Thomas Muller opened the scoring on 11 minutes, taking advantage of being unmarked to finish neatly from a Toni Kroos corner for his 10th World Cup goal.
Muller's strike already puts him level with Gary Lineker at number eight on the all-time list at the tender age of 24 - and that list got a new leader last night in Miroslav Klose.
The 36-year-old veteran became the highest scorer in the tournament's history, his 16th World Cup goal making it 2-0 and moving him one ahead of Brazil's Ronaldo.
Klose tapped in on the rebound from his own shot to score in a World Cup semi final for the first time in a record fourth appearance at this stage.
What had happened up until then was merely an aperitif - what followed next was totally otherworldly. It made for barely believable viewing.
Captain Philipp Lahm, finding himself in acres of space down the right behind full-back Marcelo, crossed for Muller.
He missed it - but Kroos behind him didn't, a ruthless low drive supplied into the bottom corner for 3-0.
It became 4-0 within a matter of seconds, Kroos scoring twice inside two minutes following a neat interchange with Sami Khedira after Fernandinho had amateurishly given the ball away.
Then came the inevitable fifth. David Luiz committed himself to a challenge which he lost out on in midfield, and that left the Germans three-on-three behind him.
Another neat passing interchange - this time between Mesut Ozil and Khedira - allowed the latter to provide the finish, for only his fifth international goal.
Brazil had made him look like a seasoned striker - and, embarrassingly, the hosts clearly had no answer to the barrage they were facing.
Fred has been an abomination of a centre-forward since the start of the tournament - while Marcelo and David Luiz were caught out of position so often last night, it was hard to tell in the end if they were doing it as some kind of elaborate joke.
True, the prospect of Brazil reaching the World Cup Final on Sunday had been severely damaged before the game by the absence of their best player Neymar and their captain Thiago Silva.
Even in these regards, though, the Seleção had only themselves to blame.
Neymar's injury came in a match in which Brazil themselves had committed 31 fouls against the Colombians, effectively kicking James Rodriguez out of the game.
In a rough-and-tumble contest which Brazil had helped to create - and even encouraged - the foul on Neymar was not a particularly outstanding one. Luis Felipe Scolari's men had lived by the sword and died by it.
As for the brainless Silva suspension - the second booking, given to him for obstructing Colombia keeper David Ospina, could only be justified if he was trying to give himself some rest before the Final.
Now, instead, he has an appointment to a third-fourth place playoff in Brasilia. Pertinently, Brazil never played at the Maracana in this tournament, and they will not do so.
The second half was played, for the most part, like a training match with the Nationalmannschaft unwilling to expend unnecessary energy and Brazil staggering around shell-shocked.
Even still, the Germans' effortless attacking was enough to create more chances and yet more goals - particularly following the introduction of hungry substitute Andre Schuerrle.
Again, the sixth goal came down the German right - Lahm getting in behind to provide Schuerrle with a tap-in from 12 yards.
The seventh goal, though, was all down to Schuerrle, as neat control of an awkward ball into his instep enabled him to smash the ball in off the underside of the bar. 7-0.
Schuerrle's club team-mate Oscar scored a merited consolation, Manuel Neuer having earlier produced a fantastic double-save from Paulinho.
But Germany could have also had more on the break too - and the final scoreline made it simply impossible for Brazil to hide from the utter devastation of the worst defeat in their history.
Klose's goal to beat Ronaldo's scoring record just rubbed further salt in the wounds, as did the Germans overtaking Brazil in terms of total World Cup goals, by 223 to 221.
This means much more than a few dry scoring statistics to Brazil, however. This was a momentous defeat to rank alongside the Maracanazo in 1950.
It was a first home loss for Brazil in 12 years since their defeat in a friendly to Paraguay - and their first home defeat in a competitive game since a 3-1 reverse to Peru in the 1975 Copa America
More importantly, in a wider sense among fans everywhere on the planet, the nature of Brazil's destruction potentially brings a sad end to their unique aura in world football.
Of course, the shirt will still show the stars that mean they have five previous World Cup wins to fall back on - but the true glory days feel as if they are now definitely long gone.
For quite a few years now, there has been a feeling that Brazil are no longer the special force in world football.
Yes, the 1994 winners had the romantic story of ending the agonising 24-year wait for World Cup success - but they did so playing largely defensive football, emphasised by their eventual win in the Final on penalties after a 0-0 draw.
The 2002 champions were a better watch - thanks to a front trio of Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho - but, even then, Rivaldo was driven to cheat in a group game.
Ever since then - now 12 years ago - it is the case that Brazil have simply not turned up at the World Cup finals.
The quarter final defeats in 2006 and 2010 to France and Netherlands respectively had the common theme of the Seleção having no idea what to do after falling behind.
But, from having been merely disappointing in the last two World Cup, Brazil have now been completely devastated at their own party.
They are the butt of the jokes, suddenly nobody's second favourite team - and, given their abandonment of the beautiful football for which they are famous, they have no-one but themselves to blame for this sorry state of affairs.
The glorious joga bonito of Pele, Garrincha, Zico, Socrates and Ronaldo is dead. Brazil 1-7 Germany in Belo Horizonte was the funeral.
Messi lands his date with destiny
ARGENTINA won the second semi final, beating Netherlands on penalties after a tense - though pretty tedious - 0-0 draw in Sao Paulo.
Substitute Maxi Rodriguez struck the winning penalty after earlier Dutch efforts by Ron Vlaar and Wesley Sneijder were saved by Sergio Romero.
It will be La Albiceleste's first World Cup final since 1990, when they also met Germany, losing 1-0.
Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal did not repeat his tactic from the quarter final of bringing on Newcastle United goalkeeper Tim Krul for Jasper Cillessen for the shoot-out.
Instead, van Gaal opted to introduce Klaas-Jan Huntelaar in extra time in the hope of nicking a winning goal.
But, in a game of very few chances, Huntelaar was unable to do so - and the lack of another option off the bench left Cillessen on the pitch despite him having never saved a single penalty in his professional career.
Sadly for 25-year-old Cillessen, that is still the case today as Lionel Messi, Ezequiel Garay, Sergio Aguero, and Rodriguez all converted.
The Dutch keeper should have saved one, and perhaps two, of the Argentines' efforts - but the real damage was done early on in the shoot-out by the Dutch takers.
Van Gaal has gone on record to state that two of his players had refused to take the first penalty, leaving the Aston Villa centre-back Vlaar as the man to step forward.
Vlaar, who had played well, struck weakly down the centre - and, though Arjen Robben scored their second, Dutch misery was compounded by Sneijder's effort being saved.
Aguero made it 3-1 by shooting low into the corner - and, although Dirk Kuyt kept the wolf from the door by coolly slotting his kick home, the experienced Rodriguez put just enough power on his shot to beat Cillessen.
Defeated Brazil's ultimate nightmare of Argentine success on their soil remains a distinct possibility, then - but Messi and co will have to play a lot better than they did in this semi final.
Nevertheless, Argentina were the better side and deserved winners of a forgettable encounter, having had the better chances inside the first 90 minutes.
At the end of the first half, Garay sent a header under pressure over the bar and, then late on, Gonzalo Higuain could only find the side-netting.
Then, in extra time, Rodrigo Palacio should have done much better with a header when put through one-on-one. There really was not much to get excited about in a first ever World Cup semi final 0-0 draw.
Indeed, the Dutch only had one shot on target in the whole of the 120 minutes of play, and that was a long-range effort from Robben, never likely to beat Romero.
Germany v Argentina, then - the best team in the world against the best player in the world. A worthy World Cup Final.
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