itsbeautifuloutside

Match Report

Where do you start with writing a report about this game? I have seen better matches, more exciting matches, bigger thrashings, bigger upsets. But I don’t think I’ve seen anything quite as earth shattering in a match of such importance. It reminded me of an episode of Game of Thrones - if you don’t watch that show, it’s one of those where Anyone Can Die, no matter where conventional storytelling tropes indicate that the narrative for a character is going, they’ll get brutally and violently killed just when you least expect it. That was what happened in this game, from the moment Brazil were awarded the hosting duties, the story was set up for them to get redemption for 1950 and probably beat Argentina in the final. Even the loss of Neymar just added a bit more against-the-odds drama to it. Then this happened.

The tone was set early on. Brazil were trying long diagonal balls which weren’t coming off, while Germany looked much sharper and showed greater control in the midfield, Khedira in particular looking in the mood with some early darts forward that Brazil were struggling to contain, Brazil’s left side appearing vulnerable. Marcelo had a rough time of it all night.

Brazil had been criticised previously for their aggressive tactics and the way that they had used tactical fouls to stop opponents from playing. That didn’t happen in this match, because they couldn’t get close enough to the Germans to try it, exemplified by the first goal. Khedira made another run down the Brazil left and Fernandinho (I think) tried to pull him back on the half way line but couldn’t get him. The exposed Marcelo managed to smuggle it behind for a corner, from which the Germans scored. There was a blocking move off the training ground, but still that’s no excuse for the ball falling at the feet of Muller 8 yards out, where he carefully finished. You sometimes see unmarked headers from that range, but rarely low shots.

Brazil kept things quiet for 10 minutes, then we saw arguably the most incredible 6 minutes of football in the history of the game as Germany added 4 further goals. There was a distinct theme to these goals, which summed up the difference between the sides. All four were proper team goals, showing teamwork of the highest quality and there was not a hint of selfishness about any of the play. It was a masterpiece of decision making in attacking areas. Contrast this with the ineffective individualism shown by Brazil- more on that later.

So the goals. Number 2 was scored by Klose, after a lovely flick by Muller. Klose needed 2 goes at it (Cesar might have pushed the first effort to the side rather than straight back to him) but made himself the World Cup’s highest ever goalscorer. Number 3 was a powerful low shot by Kroos after a low cross again from Brazil’s ragged left. At this point we saw an image of the crowd looking stunned, but arguably the worst of the goals was immediately to come from Brazil’s point of view as Fernandinho dwells on the ball and is robbed by Kroos, who exchanges passes with Khedira before side footing in. We see an image of a small boy crying in the crowd and I come up with my Game of Thrones analogy for the match report, as things turn farcical with the way that Brazil lose any semblance of being a top international side. They give up in a most unprofessional manner, rather than shutting up shop they seem to think that they can restore pride by getting back into it somehow. Hulk is the first to perform a ridiculous dive, a trick later pulled by Oscar, Maicon and Fred. None of them receive yellow cards. Number 5 comes shortly after, as a Hummels run from the back sees David Luiz abandon his post entirely and step into the midfield in a vain and unnecessary attempt to win the ball, which is sent into the gaping hole for Khedira to perform another one-two with Ozil and this time score himself. Fortunately, David Luiz learns from his error and is never caught out positionally again in the match. On reflection, that last sentence might not quite be true, to be fair. As the team sways without leadership, Phil Scolari stands on the touchline and yells twice at a player to get his attention- having done so he offers no instructions whatsoever, but what can he do now, it’s way too late.

Half time comes with boos ringing around the stadium and the Germans preparing for the final. The second half is not really a contest between 2 teams, it’s more of a psychological experiment on the broken Brazilian team. It’s particularly fascinating to watch the implosion of David Luiz. A player of clear yet flawed talent, he shows all the worst sides of his game here, but we’ll come to those soon.

The first ten minutes of the second half actually brings the best football Brazil play all night, they get forward a bit and Neuer makes some good saves from Oscar and then Paulinho (twice). But it’s not long before David Luiz makes a brainless back-pass which Muller latches onto and should score from. Germany are saving themselves for the final by now, sitting back, knocking the ball around with contempt when they have it, easily repelling the desperate Brazil attacks when they don’t. David Luiz continues his attempt to make the worst ever performance of all time, playing as if he’s in some kind of free attacking role. Germany are actually wasteful when they get a three on one after another preposterous run forward.

It takes until 69 minutes before the inevitable happens and Germany get a sixth. It’s like a training game against some traffic cones, ball watching Brazilians leaving Schurrle to side foot in. Ten minutes later Schurrle gets the seventh, a simple ball through smashed into the roof of the net. Guess which Brazilian was doing a token job of ‘marking’, by standing vaguely near the goalscorer but making no attempt to track him or tackle? The closing stages are like a funeral, the crowd applauding Germany, while still managing to boo Fred even after he is substituted following an inept performance, when he appears on the TV screen. Oscar gets one back right at the end, but it’s no consolation.

What about Neymar and Thiago Silva? No attacker could have done anything about the outcome of this game, Neymar is lucky not to have been associated with it. Thiago Silva was missed, in the sense that he might have been able to do something about the capitulation and kept the score respectable, but the gulf was bigger than any individual player.

As for Germany, they were immaculate and even with these opponents it takes brilliance to make it look so easy. Now the pressure turns on them- as Rio Ferdinand pointed out, this result will count for nothing and be a frustration if they do not lift the trophy. They will be brimming with confidence however.

Lastly, an important point- let’s not retrospectively diminish the impact of this result by pretending we all knew Germany would win and that it was always going to be a matter of how much. Going into the match, the bookmakers had each team with equal chances. Brazil had shown little flair in the tournament so far, but at home and with momentum (they did overcome two good sides in Chile and Colombia, by whatever means) they were a fearsome opponent in theory. Germany meanwhile had needed extra time to beat Algeria and then looked less than fluid against France. This was truly a jaw dropping result. Perhaps on reflection, Brazil did well to get this far in the tournament with such a limited and fragile squad? They’ll probably wish they’d lost on penalties to Chile now, and avoided this era-defining result.

jickster