Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/343370
Sport 19 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 9 JULY 2014 Brazil ....................... 1 Germany ................... 7 THOMAS Mueller struck 11 min- utes into the game and from this point the Brazilian defence simply fell apart. Miroslav Klose added a second in the 23rd minute to be- come the top goalscorer in World Cup history, with 16 goals. Toni Kroos bagged a three- minute brace and a goal from Sami Khedira put Germany 5-0 up by the 29th minute. Andre Schuer- rle's second-half double added salt to the wounds, as Brazil's World Cup exit also equalled the five- time world champions' worst de- feat ever. Brazil looked lost without star striker Neymar and captain Thi- ago Silva and a last gasp consola- tion from Oscar could not stop Germany easily progressing to meet the Netherlands or Argen- tina in Sunday's final. The semi-final, as a contested match, lasted 22 minutes. It start- ed with a fast tempo and seemed to be up for grabs, but the quartet of Mueller, Kroos, Mesut Oezil and Khedira soon proved too much for Brazil's slow defence and ran riot. Brazil paid the price of leaving Mueller alone in the box in the 11th minute, and he calmly scored his fifth goal of a tournament off a corner taken by Kroos. Marcelo appealed for penalty as Brazil tried to fight back, but Ger- many captain Philipp Lahm ap- peared to end his long run with a fair tackle inside the box. That was the last time Brazil came close to getting back into the game. Germany had managed to catch the Brazil defence off-guard sever- al times, and the fast pace of Oezil and Mueller was soon to deliver more blows. Great work from Mu- eller and Kroos set up Klose, who shot and eventually scored off Ju- lio Cesar's rebound. By then, Brazil were staring into the abyss and Ronaldo had lost his place of privilege as the top scorer in the history of the World Cup. Kroos's left-foot finish in the 24th minute was followed two minutes later by great play be- tween himself and Khedira, along with awful defending in the box by stunned Brazil, which led to the former's second goal of the day. In the 29th minute, Khedira himself found the net after some combination play with Oezil. That, in effect, was the end of the match. The pace died down, and Brazil went to the changing room amid booing from the stands, in a match that had started with a thundering crowd rendition of the hosts' national anthem. Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari brought on Ramires and Paulinho after the break and Brazil did ap- pear to wake up a bit, though Ger- many clearly took their foot off the accelerator. "Rio de Janeiro, oh, oh!" Germa- ny fans shouted. The hosts' harm- less attacks did not find the net, and just in case, a right-foot shot from Andre Schuerrle made the score 6-0 in the 69th minute. Bra- zilian fans on the stands chorused "ole" as Germany played. The pounding Brazil got in Belo Horizonte became the biggest win ever in a World Cup semi-final, surpassing three previous 6-1 scores. Brazil remains, along with Spain, the only world champion not to have won the trophy at home. The match in Belo Horizonte was not as bad as the famous Ma- racanazo of 1950: Brazil had been expected to win that World Cup in Rio de Janeiro against Uruguay and only needed a draw to win the title, but they lost. The hosts clearly missed Neymar and Thiago Silva, who are along with David Luiz the team's best players, but it seems hard to be- lieve that having them on the pitch would have made the difference of leading them to the final on the evidence of this dismal display. SPORTTODAY Germany 1. Manuel Neuer, 16. Philipp Lahm, 20. Jerome Boateng, 5. Mats Hummels 46', 4. Benedikt Howedes, 7. Bastian Schweinsteiger, 6. Sami Khedira 76', 13. Thomas Muller, 18. Toni Kroos, 8. Mesut Ozil, 11. Miroslav Klose 58' Subs 12. Ron-Robert Zieler, 2. Kevin Grosskreutz, 3. Matthias Ginter, 9. Andre Schurrle 58', 10. Lukas Podolski, 14. Julian Draxler 76', 15. Erik Durm, 17. Per Mertesacker 46', 19. Mario Gotze, 23. Christoph Kramer, 22. Roman Weidenfel- ler Brazil 12. Julio Cesar, 23. Maicon, 13. Dante, 4., 6. Marcelo, 17. Luiz Gustavo, 5. Fernandinho 46',l 7. Hulk 46', 11. Oscar,, 9. Fred 70' Subs 1. Jefferson, 2. Dani Alves, 8. Paulinho 46', 14. Maxwell, 15. Henrique, 16. Ramires 46', 18. Hernanes, 19. Willian 70', 21. Jo, 22. Victor Germany deal shell-shocked Brazil a remarkable 7-1 thrashing to advance to the World Cup final, in a match that quickly turned into a nightmare for the host nation Germany through to final after historic 7-1 thrashing of hosts Brazil Germany's Miroslav Klose celebrates during the FIFA World Cup 2014 semi fi nal match between Brazil and Germany. Klose scored the second goal for his team and is now with 16 goals the all-time World Cup record scorer. photo by EPA/THOMAS EISENHUTH Germany's Thomas Mueller (L) and Brazil's David Luiz (2-R) hug as Germany's Bastian Schweinsteiger (C) looks on. Photo by EPA/DENNIS SABANGAN