COMMENT: Germany are receiving all the
plaudits after their 7-1 thumping of hosts
Brazil in Belo Horizonte. But the truth is
that Brazil inflicted this humiliation on
themselves
By Carlo Garganese
Germany’s 7-1 thrashing of Brazil on
Tuesday will go down as arguably the most
stunning result in World Cup history.
World Cup semi-finals are almost always
very tight and tense affairs. The last time a
last-four clash was won by more than one
goal in 90 minutes was 28 years ago when
Diego Maradona led Argentina to a 2-0
success over Belgium at Mexico ’86.
Before the game, Brazil were marginal
favourites – despite losing their two best
players, Neymar and Thiago Silva, to injury
and suspension respectively. They had not
lost a competitive game at home since 1975
and with the whole country behind them it
seemed that nothing could stop the Selecao
in their quest for a sixth world title.
For Germany to not only beat Brazil in their
own backyard, but to register one of the
highest margins of victory at a World Cup
finals is almost impossible to believe.
"That was football from another galaxy,"
gushed DFB president Wolfgang Niersbach.
But how much credit do Germany really
deserve?
Granted, Joachim Low got his tactics spot on
with Germany’s pressing and counter-
attacking picking Brazil apart time and
again. Low must also be praised for
swallowing his pride after the second round
scare against Algeria and restoring Philipp
Lahm to his rightful position at full back.
The decision to drop Per Mertesacker
further tightened the backline.
Germany were ruthless in the attacking
third – bringing back memories of the great
West German sides of the seventies and
eighties when the likes of Gerd Muller,
Wolfgang Overath and Karl-Heinz
Rummenigge would show opponents no mercy.
Thomas Muller and new World Cup record
scorer Miroslav Klose certainly fall into a
similar category.

But the hard truth is that the reason why
Germany inflicted such a humiliation on
their hosts was because Brazil were an utter
shambles. Sunday League players would be
ashamed to perform at such an abominable
level.
Germany did not have to work for their
goals – they were given to them. David Luiz
and Dante may as well have been wearing
white shirts so embarrassing was their
defending on almost all of the seven strikes.
Fernandinho gifted Toni Kroos his first goal
straight from the restart as if it had been
pre-planned.
“You have to give Germany credit, but the
truth is that it was a woeful, woeful
performance from Brazil. In 40 years I have
never seen anything like it,” Liverpool
legend Alan Hansen, who played against
Tele Santana's wonderful Brazil side of
Zico, Socrates and Falcao at the 1982 World
Cup, told the BBC.
Had the Europeans dismantled an
outstanding opponent, then they would
deserve every superlative thrown their way.
But this is the most talentless Brazil team
that has ever appeared at a World Cup.
A Brazil squad whose two centre-forwards
are Fred and Jo. A squad whose right back,
Maicon, is so past-it that he is left gasping
for breath after the first five minutes. A
squad with midfielders, like Ramires and
Paulinho, who can't even pass the ball five
yards square. A squad containing reserves
from QPR, Napoli and Spurs. A squad which
includes a host of sub-par players who were
picked by Luiz Felipe Scolari solely for
personal rather than professional reasons.
Die Mannschaft deserve credit for such an
historic result, and this golden generation of
Bastian Schweinsteiger, Lahm and Klose
certainly merits a trophy before they retire,
but let’s get real – the big story here is that
Brazil were an embarrassment.

source: http://www.goal.com/en-ng/news/4082/editorial/2014/07/09/4945969/best-world-cup-performance-ever-brazil-humiliated-themselves-not-?ICID=HP_BN_11