Brazil reduced to a rabble !!

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Shame of all shames for Brazil

World Cup host nation Brazil experienced "the shame of all shames" on Tuesday night, according to its astonished press.

That is how the front page of Rio de Janeiro's prominent daily newspaper O Globo described Brazil's historic and "catastrophic" 7-1 semi-final defeat to Germany in Belo Horizonte.

Pictures of fans with their faces frozen in tears after Germany plundered five goals in 29 first-half minutes were labelled with tags including "suffering", "frustration" and "bewilderment", and the media autopsy has only just begun.

"Nobody suffers a 7-1 rout, especially not in a World Cup semi-final, by pure fluke," wrote Allan Caldas in O Globo.

"It is difficult to find a single explanation for Tuesday's humiliation."

Thomas Muller, Miroslav Klose and Sami Khedira all sliced through the Selecao to score with ease and, with the South Americans seemingly helpless to resist, Toni Kroos and substitute Andre Schurrle grabbed two goals each.

Over in Berlin, Hamburg and Munich, delirious fans of Die Mannschaft partied long into the night after witnessing "a victory for all eternity".

Alongside a picture of two-goal hero Schurrle and grinning Germany boss Joachim Low, daily tabloid Bild described the national team's triumph as "7-1 Madness. Lightning DFB team knock out Brazil.

"Unbelievable! Gigantic! Fantastic!"

Bild continued: "While we lay in each others' arms, images of crying and shocked Brazilians flickered in our living rooms.

"Sorry, Brazil. We did not want to hurt you.

"But without the injured Neymar and the suspended Thiago Silva the glorious Selecao was reduced to rubble."

Football magazine Kicker was the next publication to stick the boot into Brazil.

"What further superlatives can we find to boast about the historic events that took place on July 8, 2014 in Belo Horizonte?" it wrote.

"Since when did the World Cup semi-finals become training games?"

Brazilian papers which had printed cut-out masks of star striker Neymar - ruled out of the game with a fractured vertebra before the showdown at the Estadio Mineirao - refused to accept that his absence had been pivotal.

They instead blamed the complete disarray in Luiz Felipe Scolari's midfield.

Those home fans who stayed until the final whistle sarcastically cheered Germany's every touch and pass until Oscar's late consolation strike invited facetious cheers of mock celebration.

O Globo's Caldas added: "There was one obvious thing, that everyone could see at the Mineirao, but it was not the absence of Neymar.

"The problem was that the team failed to protect the middle of the pitch, where the Germans were at their strongest.

"Was Neymar sorely missed? Of course. But without their best playmaker the team needed to show collective strength.

"Throughout the World Cup, even when Neymar was on the field, Scolari's team was like a desert in the middle: no creativity, no strength, no union."

Such was the impact of the "massacre" to the Brazilian psyche, the nation is now even prepared to forget about the embarrassment of the 'Maracanazo' - the Selecao's World Cup final defeat to Uruguay in Rio back in 1950.

Folha de Sao Paolo ran the headline 'Historical Humiliation', writing: "Brazil are again humiliated when trying to win a World Cup at home" while Rio-based daily Lance described the "insignificant" Maracanazo as "a thing of the past".

Lance went so far as to demand Scolari step down as head coach immediately after Saturday's third-place game against Holland or Argentina in Brasilia.

The Germany media's greatest concern?

"Bring on the Dutch."


As the statue of Jesus would say,

'Oh My Days' !

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..... Brazil 1 - 7 Germany .....

Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari admitted he had experienced the worst day of his life after his side slumped to their worst-ever defeat in their World Cup semi-final against Germany.

Germany triumphed 7-1 on an evening of record-breaking in Belo Horizonte: the highest score in a World Cup semi-final, Brazil's biggest defeat after their 1920 6-0 loss to Uruguay, and a record 16th World Cup goal for Miroslav Klose.

Scolari said: "I think it's probably the worst moment of my life. I've lost other matches. When you lose 4-0 or 5-0, it's basically the same thing.

"Naturally, if I were to think of my life as a player, as a coach, as a teacher, this was the worst day of my life. But life goes on.

"I'll be remembered probably because I lost 7-1, the worst defeat Brazil have ever had, but that was a risk I knew I was running when I accepted this position. Life goes on. That's what I'll do."

Scolari admitted that the result was "catastrophic" for Brazil and said he took full responsibility.

He added: "Who is responsible when the team plays? Who is invited as the coach? Who is responsible for picking the team? I am. It's me.

"So the catastrophic result can be shared by the whole group. My players will tell you we will share our responsibilities. But who decided the tactics, I did. So the person responsible is me."

Scolari said that Brazil now had to concentrate on recovering from pride in the third-place play-off in Brasilia on Saturday.

He said: "The atmosphere in the changing was terrible. Obviously. But what can you do? We'll have to change things, our environment, when we go back to our base ahead of Saturday's match.

"No one expected that result and now we must work on the mind-set. We have to improve our motivation for the match on Saturday. We have to do our jobs, knowing that history goes on.

"Most of these players will continue to play in their high-level teams and will be capped again. Life goes on. It doesn't end with this defeat."

Scolari also rejected the suggestion that Neymar's serious injury, and the emotion created by his absence, had played a key part in the defeat.

"No, no, no. Let's not try to find an excuse in Neymar or the emotions of the anthem," he said.

"What happened was Germany imposed a fantastic rhythm on the game. They were able to score the goals to define the match. That diminished my team. Those six minutes of trouble, Germany made use of those moments.

"I don't think it would have been different with Neymar. He's a striker.

"Germany probably could have done that with Neymar in the side, also. He wouldn't have known how to defend those moves for the second, third, fourth and fifth goals."

David Luiz, Brazil's captain on the night in the absence of the suspended Thiago Silva, admitted their performance did not come up to scratch.

"Apologies to everybody, apologies to all the Brazilian people, I just wanted to see my people smile," he said after the match.

"We all know how important it was for me to see all of Brazil be happy, at least because of football.

"They were better than us. They prepared better. They played better.

"It's a very sad day but it's also a day from which to learn."

Germany coach Joachim Low believes Brazil cracked under the pressure of being hosts.

Low said: "Let's put it into context: the hosts were unable to deal with the pressure.

"We had a clear, persistent game-plan and if we were courageous and believed in our own strengths, we would win this match.

"That the result would be so emphatic was not to be expected. Scoring three in four minutes the hosts were in shock, confused, and never returned to their original organisation. We were extremely cool and realised they were cracking up, and we took advantage of that."

Low said Germany must turn their attention to Sunday's final, and that he understood what Brazil must now be going through.

He added: "We've won this match. We're in the final of the World Cup, against a different opponent. We were lucky that the hosts were shellshocked. Now we must prepare well for the final.

"I remember once losing to Italy in Germany when everyone wanted us to go to the final. We lost in the 119th minute back in 2006, so we knew how Scolari feels, how the Brazilian team feel, and the people in Brazil feel right now."

Two goals for Toni Kroos and Andre Schurrle, plus one each for Thomas Muller, Sami Khedira, and Klose's record-breaking strike saw Germany triumph in remarkable style, with Oscar's last-minute response the smallest of consolations.

Kroos, named man of the match, said the Germany team had not gone overboard in their celebrations and were still mindful that they have an even bigger challenge in store on Sunday.

He said: "We are here to become world champions but no one becomes world champions in the semi-final and there is still and extremely difficult step - this was the feeling in a dressing room.

"Sure, when do you win a World Cup semi-final 7-1... but we still have one more match to go.

"We have to deliver another absolutely top performance otherwise we will lose the final - and I am convinced we will win."

Klose may have broken the tournament record by becoming the World Cup's highest goalscorer but he was keen to praise Germany's team ethic.

"You could see in training that we harmonise greatly," said Klose.

"We are one unit and you can see that in the pitch. It was so important that our set-pieces work.

"Toni brings the ball exactly there where it belongs. I was hit during my goal so there was no chance to do a (celebration) flip."

Muller admits they were surprised by the margin of victory, although he accepts they benefited hugely from Brazil's wide-open approach.

"You couldn't expect that at all but you can see on that how different games can develop," he said.

"The spaces were bigger today than against defence-minded teams. We benefited from that overwhelmingly, at one point you have broken the opponent.

"Now we have to keep pushing, give full power and get the cup."