Our Germany Supporter (and Germany sweep holder) Christine Brown:
Annihilation, Demolition, and death sentence are all words that could describe the match this morning played by Brazil and Germany. “World Cup Suicide” is what the announcers claimed this game should be called. All of Brazil grieves their heaviest defeat after they became the first team to allow the opponent to score seven goals in a knockout match at the world finals. Toni Kroos and Andre Schuerrle led Germany to a 7-1 win over Brazil with two goals each, but you can’t forget the exciting goals made by Mueller, Khedira, and Kolse. After the first goal by Mueller, everyone could feel the rampant energy Germany carried that would eventually bring them to an exciting triumph. There were a number of mistakes made by Brazil during this game, let’s take a look at the stats to see what went wrong…
Could Brazil blame their lost on their missing striker, Neymar? With stats like these, I’m not sure if they can. Brazil had more goal attempts than Germany yet still only scored one goal (thanks to Brazil’s midfielder, Oscar). For Germany, 50% of their goal attempts were successful. If Brazil had 18 goal attempts along with 51% possession time, what happened? You can take your pick between unsuccessful passing and bad defending. It’s clear that Brazil’s offense didn’t show up this morning; and unfortunatley for them, neither did their defense.
Brazil barely beats Germany with their amount of attempts on target (13 to 12). Germany’s defense stood tall throughout the entire game. Germany not only crushed Brazil offensively, but defended far better than them as well. With Germany having 7 saves, and Brazil only having 3, the chances of Brazil making a comeback became smaller and smaller as the minutes went by. Starting in the first half, Brazil’s defense was torn apart. The massive holes Brazil made to allow Germany slide in and make easy shots made this highly anticipated and nerve wrecking match fun for not only the German players, but the fans as well.
While Germany celebrates this tremendously exciting win, they still have one more game to worry about. Let’s look at the stats of Germany’s possible opponents.
These graphs compare total goals scored and goal percentage per match, so we do have to keep in mind that Germany is one game ahead of the Netherlands and Argentina. If Argentina beats the Netherlands, is it possible for Lionel Messi and the rest of the team to take on the powerhouse? This past game improved Germany stats, bringing them to a 2.8 goals per match percentage, while Argentina trails with 1.4%. The Netherlands are certainly still competitors while they only trail Germany by .4% without even playing in the semi-finals yet.
Can Germany keep their momentum going for a fourth title win - I hope so.
Our Brazil Supporter - David Bingham:
Absolute heartbreak but up roaring statement
Earlier today, the two dynamic teams of Brazil and Germany took the field, both having intentions of winning. Little did Brazil know, Germany came with an even more intense ambition to move on to the title match to add to their title list.
This game is one that I did not see coming nor could I have ever predicted happening in my life time. Today’s semi-final match will be one leaving a rancid taste in the Brazilians mouths and an even worse memory for both the fans and team. Only eleven minutes into the game did Mueller of Germany tally up yet another goal to add to his tournament total of now five. It was just twelve minutes after that Miroslav Klose added to the score to put Germany up 2-0 right off the bat. However, they weren’t done yet. Following Kolse’s goal, sixty seconds later was Kroos, scoring his first of the tournament. To put a dagger through the Brazilians, he chose to score again two minutes later. Even before the thirty minute mark, Sami Khedira decided to join the fun of Germany and make it an astonishing 5-0. This was the score when the teams took to the locker room at half.
This was the fear the Brazilian team had as they lost both Neymar and their captain Silva last game against to Colombia due to an injury and yellow cards. However, they were not expecting to be humiliated in front of their own people on home soil. The team of Brazil continued to fight throughout the whole match and showed signs of grit and determination to rally a comeback but could not make it happen.
The second half began in what looked like a new team out of the Brazilians. They came out trying to match what Germany had brought in the first half. Their hopes were shattered at the sixty-ninth minute mark when Andre Schurrle scored Germany’s sixth goal to Brazils nil. Brazil never gave up by giving it their all, never breaking on the speed and continuously encouraging teammates through the worst of times till the end but couldn’t match the intensity or skill that Germany wielded today. The final outcome was 7-1. Even though the Brazilians outweighed the Germans in total shots, 18-14, had more time possession with having control 52% of the time and even hitting the target 13 times to Germany’s 12, it was not enough to prevail. Germany’s goal keeper was red hot today stopping twelve of those shots and helped keep seven corner kicks under control taken by Brazil.
Defensively, Brazil looked better on the stat sheet with more recovered balls, less balls lost and more tackles won. A big stat is ball clearance. Germany did an excellent job and keeping the ball out of their end by booting the ball out of their zone twenty times, while Brazil could only execute four times. This very well have been a factor as to why seven goals were tallied by the Germans.
This was not a game I foresaw, nor enjoyed watching. I believe I speak on behalf of Brazilian supporting fans who wanted to see the home team win and possibly see an appearance from Neymar in the final. As the Brazilians shed tears of sorrow and crushed spirits, Germans shed tears of joy and excitement.
Brazil looks to the third match game for redemption against the loser of Argentina and Netherlands, while Germany brings this momentum with them into the finals. Talk about Neymar returning for the finals is no more, and his World Cup is over for 2014. Brazil is happy to welcome Silva back into the line-up as his presence was missed as well. A healthy and stronger than ever Germany team has high hopes and can’t wait for what is to come for the final game where I predict them of taking the title.
As much as I hate to say it, because of the mixed emotions in Yellowfin’s office about this semi game, after today’s extraordinary show put on by the German’s, it is hard to think that either Netherlands, who are not a favorite, or Argentina can beat them. Mueller is striving to win the golden boot and is knocking on the footsteps of Colombian goal scorer James Rodriguez.
What do you think?