WC-MOTD22
Day 22 (Don’t worry, this won’t be THAT long!):-
Brazil vs. Germany:-
A match which re-defined the meaning of the words “ruthless” and “implosion” in the high-profile international football dictionary!
Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari did not make any drastic changes (maybe he should have?), tactics-wise, to his set-up. The only noticeable alterations being Hulk’s position on the left side of attack and Oscar’s free role behind the striker.
In terms of personnel, Bernard and Dante featured in place of the suspended Thiago Silva and the injured Neymar respectively.
For Germany, Coach Joachim Löw (logically) decided to stick with the same formation and tactical lay-out he used against France in the quarter-finals.
Brazil showed they meant “business” from the early stages of the game as they directly enforced a high-press game on their opponents.
Meanwhile, the Germans were clearly set up to play with more patience and less aggressiveness off the ball, and look to launch quick counters in order to fully expose the spaces in Brazil's (rather unorganized) defense.
It didn’t take too long for that strategy to work; with Khedira soon winning a corner following some blitz-fast German play on the break. Kroos utilized it by delightfully crossing to Müller, who was completely unmarked, and the FC Bayern forward tapped the ball in for Germany’s first goal of the night.
It was a result of some poor defending and marking from Brazil in such a simple set-piece situation, with a lot of credit going to Klose for blocking Luiz from following Müller in the box shortly prior to the goal.
The Brazilians seemed flustered after the goal, and were unable to initiate a proper passing rhythm from which they could launch meaningful attacks.
The second German goal started at the middle of the park, with Kroos playing Lahm on the right side of Brazil’s defense, and the RB then sending a low cross towards the tip of Brazil’s final third for Kroos to play Müller through.
Thomas Müller proceeded by back-heeling the ball to Klose, who had his first shot saved by Júlio César, but made no mistake about it from the rebound to become the FIFA WC’s official all-time top scorer!
It was another display of poor Brazilian defending from the center of midfield and all the way back to the goalkeeper.
The rest of the first half was just history; as Brazil succumbed to the nerves and constantly lost possession in extremely vital areas.
Ozil, Kroos and Khedira combined brilliantly to add three more goals in about 5 minutes-time and end the match, then and there, for more than 200 million proud Brazilians!
To be fair, Brazil started the half brightly and showed real fight and spirit in taking the game to the Germans; however, their defensive mistakes leading up to the first 2 goals cost them deeply. From that point on, they just lost all concentration and confidence!
Germany took “ruthless play” to another level as they took advantage of almost every single defensive and midfield mistake from Brazil. They played a compact game in defense and were much more tactically mature than the home nation all over the pitch.
Brazil looked to restore some much-needed pride after the break, with coach Scolari opting to go on the offensive even further and press Germany back into their own half.
They came close on more than one occasion; but Germany’s Neuer put-in some smart saves to prove why he’s considered, among many football experts, the undisputed current World number one goalkeeper.
Germany were not committing more than 4 bodies forward; all the while slowly moving play up the pitch as Brazil seemed unable to retain possession for any considerable period of time.
The sixth and seventh German goals came in a period of less than 10 minutes as they attacked from both sides of the pitch and fully utilized the gaping holes in Brazil’s defense, with Schürrle scoring both amidst some pure German power play.
The game fully faded-out after that and Oscar’s late consolation goal brought an end to a very disappointing semi-final for every true non-German and non-Brazil-hating football fan around the world.
The Brazilians had a fine start but completely imploded following some very, very horrendous defending and it was quite clear, at the end of it all, who the world’s most expensive football defender really is!
Germany made full use of Brazil’s errors, defended not too bad themselves and out-ran Brazil in midfield. They were tactically, technically, physically and mentally superior in almost all aspects of the game.
Man of the match: Toni Kroos: Largely involved in the majority of his team’s goals and added icing to the cake, or strudel if you like, with 2 goals “made in Germany”.
Brazil vs. Germany:-
A match which re-defined the meaning of the words “ruthless” and “implosion” in the high-profile international football dictionary!
Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari did not make any drastic changes (maybe he should have?), tactics-wise, to his set-up. The only noticeable alterations being Hulk’s position on the left side of attack and Oscar’s free role behind the striker.
In terms of personnel, Bernard and Dante featured in place of the suspended Thiago Silva and the injured Neymar respectively.
For Germany, Coach Joachim Löw (logically) decided to stick with the same formation and tactical lay-out he used against France in the quarter-finals.
Brazil showed they meant “business” from the early stages of the game as they directly enforced a high-press game on their opponents.
Meanwhile, the Germans were clearly set up to play with more patience and less aggressiveness off the ball, and look to launch quick counters in order to fully expose the spaces in Brazil's (rather unorganized) defense.
It didn’t take too long for that strategy to work; with Khedira soon winning a corner following some blitz-fast German play on the break. Kroos utilized it by delightfully crossing to Müller, who was completely unmarked, and the FC Bayern forward tapped the ball in for Germany’s first goal of the night.
It was a result of some poor defending and marking from Brazil in such a simple set-piece situation, with a lot of credit going to Klose for blocking Luiz from following Müller in the box shortly prior to the goal.
The Brazilians seemed flustered after the goal, and were unable to initiate a proper passing rhythm from which they could launch meaningful attacks.
The second German goal started at the middle of the park, with Kroos playing Lahm on the right side of Brazil’s defense, and the RB then sending a low cross towards the tip of Brazil’s final third for Kroos to play Müller through.
Thomas Müller proceeded by back-heeling the ball to Klose, who had his first shot saved by Júlio César, but made no mistake about it from the rebound to become the FIFA WC’s official all-time top scorer!
It was another display of poor Brazilian defending from the center of midfield and all the way back to the goalkeeper.
The rest of the first half was just history; as Brazil succumbed to the nerves and constantly lost possession in extremely vital areas.
Ozil, Kroos and Khedira combined brilliantly to add three more goals in about 5 minutes-time and end the match, then and there, for more than 200 million proud Brazilians!
To be fair, Brazil started the half brightly and showed real fight and spirit in taking the game to the Germans; however, their defensive mistakes leading up to the first 2 goals cost them deeply. From that point on, they just lost all concentration and confidence!
Germany took “ruthless play” to another level as they took advantage of almost every single defensive and midfield mistake from Brazil. They played a compact game in defense and were much more tactically mature than the home nation all over the pitch.
Brazil looked to restore some much-needed pride after the break, with coach Scolari opting to go on the offensive even further and press Germany back into their own half.
They came close on more than one occasion; but Germany’s Neuer put-in some smart saves to prove why he’s considered, among many football experts, the undisputed current World number one goalkeeper.
Germany were not committing more than 4 bodies forward; all the while slowly moving play up the pitch as Brazil seemed unable to retain possession for any considerable period of time.
The sixth and seventh German goals came in a period of less than 10 minutes as they attacked from both sides of the pitch and fully utilized the gaping holes in Brazil’s defense, with Schürrle scoring both amidst some pure German power play.
The game fully faded-out after that and Oscar’s late consolation goal brought an end to a very disappointing semi-final for every true non-German and non-Brazil-hating football fan around the world.
The Brazilians had a fine start but completely imploded following some very, very horrendous defending and it was quite clear, at the end of it all, who the world’s most expensive football defender really is!
Germany made full use of Brazil’s errors, defended not too bad themselves and out-ran Brazil in midfield. They were tactically, technically, physically and mentally superior in almost all aspects of the game.
Man of the match: Toni Kroos: Largely involved in the majority of his team’s goals and added icing to the cake, or strudel if you like, with 2 goals “made in Germany”.
Ahmad Al-Omar - 8. Jul, 22:47
