Host Brazil Stunned by Germany in Semifinal

[iandhr]

Source: NY TIMES

BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil — The fireworks began at dawn. All around this city, loud pops and bangs rang out as men and women and children dressed in yellow set off flares and beeped car horns. It was supposed to be a magical day. The Brazilian national soccer team, playing at home, was one game away from a World Cup final.

No one could have guessed the tears would come before halftime. No one could have imagined there would be flags burning in the streets before dinner. Certainly no one could have envisioned that Brazilian fans, watching their team play in a semifinal, would ever consider leaving the stadium long before the end of the game.

It all happened. The 2014 World Cup, first plagued by questions about financing and protests and infrastructure and construction, then buoyed by scads of goals and dramatic finishes and a contagious spirit of exuberance and joy from the locals, will ultimately be remembered for this: the home team, on the precipice of glory, being throttled like an overmatched junior varsity squad who somehow stumbled into the wrong game.

The final score was Germany 7, Brazil 1. It felt like Germany 70, Brazil 1. By the end, the Germans were barely celebrating their goals and the Brazilians, starting with their coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, could manage little more than blank stares. In the stands, the Brazilian fans — the ones who stayed around at least — passed the time by cycling through obscene chants about each player as well as the Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/09/sports/worldcup/world-cup-2014-host-brazil-stunned-7-1-by-germany-in-semifinal.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=LargeMediaHeadlineSum&module=photo-spot-region&region=photo-spot&WT.nav=photo-spot

[ehrnst]

1. It's as if millions of Brazilians cried out in terror...

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

7. Reminds me of the old 'W' joke.

Wherein Rummy comes in and tells Bush that 3 Brazilian soldiers were killed in Afghanistan, and Bush replies 'My God, I had no idea there were that many soldiers there!' (ie, Bush thinks 'brazillion' is a word.)

[KamaAina]

9. ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018636900

[Submariner]

13. This is how it ends

[link:

|

[big_dog]

19. de bild

[KamaAina]

2. I'm pretty sure you can make that their "ex-coach"

[itsrobert]

3. Has the reports of flag burning been verified?

I heard people were retweeting images from 2013 saying it was happening now.

[longship]

4. If that's true, you have a good point. nt

[Ruby the Liberal]

5. 7 to 1? Ouch. nt

[Bohemianwriter]

11. And Ann Coulter

complained about how few goals are scored in football....

[ChairmanAgnostic]

6. Even worse, Brazil fans began cheering germany.

That rarely happens, and only when your team really really REALLY sucks.

Like the home team today.

[tularetom]

18. Nah, that was all the Germans who live in Brazil

[Bohemianwriter]

8. As a life long Brazil fan....

This years team have been a disappointment.

Call me a romantic, but my heroes of my boyhood days, Zico, Careca, Junior, Socrates of World Cup 1982 will forever stand out as legendary. Todays players seem to belong more on the cat walk than on a football field.

And football in general today only interest me when I put a few bets in and cash in....

[calimary]

31. Welcome to DU, Bohemianwriter!

Glad you're here! Not a big sports nut, myself. I enjoyed what I saw of the World Cup because it was actually quite pleasant to watch something whose results didn't matter to me one way or another. It was kinda nice to be neutral and just sit back and watch casually, and not care about the outcome. Heck, the crazy fans were as much fun to watch as any action on the field.

[derby378]

10. A peek into Brazil's near future

Next year, on the streets of Rio de Janeiro at the height of Carnaval, gaze out amongst the innumerable marchers, dancers, and floats. What do you see? High atop one specially modified trio elétrico, flanked by two samba dancers dressed in gaudy feathered leotards, Julio Cesar, the Brazilian goalie from the 2014 FIFA World Cup, has been tied to a plywood imitation goal. Cesar appears to have been drenched in honey and feathers. From all over the street, soccer balls appear out of nowhere, flung by people on the sidelines and even a few performers. The balls strike the poor goalie all over his torso, arms, and legs. A raucous cheer goes up when one futbol bounces off poor Cesar's head, and the samba dancers gyrate and trill their approval.

It's gonna get ugly at Carnaval 2015. REAL ugly.

[Blue_Tires]

20. Julio Cesar didn't have a good game, but let's be honest here...

The back four hung him out to dry, repeatedly...

[T_i_B]

42. Exactly

It's very difficult for goalkeepers when the back 4 are doing a rather accurate impression of headless chickens.

[SylviaD]

22. Are you serious? n/t

[philosslayer]

12. Germany has a great team, but...

But... its really disappointing to see them run up the score like this. Humiliating the home team is just bad sportsmanship.

[Throd]

14. So is losing by six goals.

[geek tragedy]

15. There is no running up the score.

There is playing well, and playing poorly. Brazil's lack of effort was reflected in the score.

[mcar]

16. Exactly

This is not little kid soccer. I actually thought Germany was holding back in the second half - whether out of sympathy or to avoid injury.

Brazil brought this embarrassment on themselves.

[BeyondGeography]

17. The last three World Cups Germany has lost in the finals once and in the semis twice

by two goals to Brazil and Italy and by one to Spain. What were they supposed to do in response to Brazil's matador defense in the first half with a trip to the final staring them in the face? Special rules for the host?

[Blue_Tires]

21. That wasn't running up the score

Brazil completely laid down with all the lackadaisical jogging and ball-watching so the Germans were essentially playing against air...Germany could have gotten to 10-15 goals easily if they wanted to press the issue...

The defending on that 4-0 goal was so negligent I almost began to wonder if the fix was in...This was a talented but flawed team sorely lacking in heart, mental toughness, and tactical adjustment...I know the pressures and expectations of an entire nation which expects nothing but victory can start to wear players down, but that Brazil side didn't have a plan, and once Germany went up 2-0 they essentially quit on the game and their nation and did *nothing* but wait for the clock to hit 90:00...

(Yes, I'm still wearing my Brazil jersey as I write this---A jersey which I ironically purchased while in Frankfurt...Coincidence??)

[frylock]

25. they'll get over it after a few orange slices and juice boxes

[hughee99]

36. If you're not motivated enough in the world cup semi-finals in front of a home crowd

to keep your team from getting embarrassed, you deserve this. It's not like Germany was playing the Buddy Cianci Jr. High B-squad, they were playing a top ranked team.

[VWolf]

45. Honestly, if they wanted to run up the score,

it could have been 14-0.

[cpwm17]

46. At least it could have been 8-0

Near the end a German player seemed to not try to hit an easy shot, kicking it wide. Moments later Brazil scored their only goal.

[Skittles]

51. I agree

[Codeine]

53. There is no expectation of "mercy" in football.

In fact it would be considered insulting for a team to stop playing their hardest; your job is to score goals, and you score as many as you can without opening yourself to dangerous counters. To do - or expect - otherwise is childish and silly.

Football is not, contrary to prevailing American opinion, a children's sport.

[Blue_Tires]

23. Personally, I blame Greenwald....(and Scolari)

Has Glenn Greenwald even bothered to step up and give some kind of explanation for this national disgrace? Felipao has at least done HIS part in accepting the responsibility...

[ProgressiveJarhead]

24. Any word on this from Nate Silver?

[joshcryer]

28. Looks like he's eating crow:

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/the-most-shocking-result-in-world-cup-history/

[geek tragedy]

29. numbers do not tell the whole story in sports, ever

had the computer model watched Brazil play this WC (ugly win against Croatia aided by refs, tied Mexico, should have lost to Chile) it wouldn't have had them such heavy favorites.

[joshcryer]

30. They got the first round 100%, second round 7/8.

But you're right, you can never guarantee anything. I was surprised he gave it to Brazil even though Brazil was out two good players.

[T_i_B]

43. Brazil have a great team on paper

Sadly for Brazil, the game was played on grass.

[SunSeeker]

33. Wow, Nate had Brazil to win! I guess he knows politics better than soccer.

[Crowman1979]

26. You will all probably hate me for saying this but...

...Team USA only lost to Germany 1-0, the only goal of the game wasn't scored until the second half, and Germany had 63% possession.

But that's none of my business.

[JVS]

27. It seems that Germany has been saving their best stuff for foes who speak Portuguese this year.

The US and Ghana seem to have gotten off easy.

[JDPriestly]

40. They held back in the US game.

I wouldn't say they threw it, but then Germans have two winning qualities: they are team players, can't beat them on that; and, they are well organized strategists. They think long term. They think about consequences.

[JDPriestly]

41. I wouldn't go so far as to say Germany threw the US game,

but I was shocked at how they held back. I suspected at the time that it was a strategy..

[7962]

49. Come on, maybe the US was actually better than people thought??

1-0 is too close to be "holding back".

[JDPriestly]

50. I watched the US/Germany game, and my impression was that the Germans

were taking it easy. But I could be wrong.

[mackerel]

32. It just shows you how important some players are. You lose two key players

at the end game the rest of the team is going to have coping issues.

[JDPriestly]

39. Germans work, play, eat, sleep, take tests and play soccer as a team.

It's their way of life. When you watch them play, it is as if each knows the mind of the other. That is why I respect Germans a great deal.

[a la izquierda]

34. Berliners were celebrating until at least 230am.

Most people in the bar were laughing by the 4th goal.

[IronLionZion]

47. I didn't know doughnuts could celebrate!

[Fred M]

35. We were all cheering for Germany

And have been since the US got beaten. Some base personnel were rooting for Germany from the get-go (mostly people who've spent most of their careers here).

[aggiesal]

37. How bad was your day? ...

Bad ------------------------------ Really Bad ------------------------------ Brazil

[JDPriestly]

38. Once again, the Germans proved that teamwork wins.

But the article is too tough on the Brazil team that suffered a terrible loss when their leading player was seriously injured in an earlier game.

Still, the Germans proved once again what cooperation, working together smoothly and without a lot of stupid, egotistic friction can do.

[NeoNerd]

44. There is no joy in Mudzil

The Might Side has struck out...

[7962]

48. You could say the Brazilians got waxed!

[davidpdx]

52. I noticed how much people talk about the rioting that happened there

*crickets*