Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Belo Horizonte: Miroslav Klose became the World Cup's all-time top scorer as Germany stormed into the 2014 final on Tuesday after one of the most one-sided semi-finals in the tournament's history as Die Mannschaft hammered hosts Brazil 7-1.
There was a number of intriguing subplots to the eagerly-anticipated encounter at the Estadio Mineiro, not least Germany looking to avenge their 2-0 loss to Brazil in Yokohama back in 2002 as Asia hosted the World Cup for the first time – but few could have anticipated what transpired over the 90 minutes.
Brazil went into the match without suspended skipper Thiago Silva and the hosts clearly missed the Paris Saint Germain defender's presence as Germany took the lead in the 11th minute from their first corner of the match, when an unmarked Thomas Muller side-footed Toni Kroos' flag-kick past Julio Cesar to score his fifth in sixth matches and match the total he scored in South Africa 2010.
Brazil, unbeaten at home since 1975, were far from out of contention until a quite phenomenal four goals in a blistering six-minute spell had the Germany's place in the final all but sealed by the half-hour mark as the Europeans cut through the unfamiliar central defensive pairing of Dante and David Luiz with alarming ease.
Klose struck in the 23rd minute to set a tournament scoring record with the 36-year-old beating Julio Cesar at the second attempt, sweeping home his 16th World Cup goal to surpass the number he shared with Brazilian superstar Ronaldo.
Kroos made it 3-0 two minutes later when he drilled the ball home with authority after Muller had failed to connect with Philipp Lahm's inviting cross from the left before the Bayern Munich midfielder got his second of the night 120 seconds later courtesy of an unselfish cutback from Sami Khedira.
Khedira's generosity was rewarded three minutes later when the Real Madrid man was set up by Mesut Ozil to fire home number five into the bottom corner and complete a remarkable passage of play in which the Germans scored with almost every opportunity.
To their credit, Brazil came out fighting in the second half but German keeper Manuel Neuer was in no mood to show the hosts any sympathy keeping out Oscar's 52nd minute shot before denying substitute Paulinho twice with a fine double save from close range.
Julio Cesar made an even more impressive save on the hour mark, flying across his penalty area to tip Muller's superb curling shot over the crossbar but was unable to prevent substitute Andre Schurrle – on for the record-breaking Klose – from coolly slotting home number six nine minutes later.
Brazil's desire for a consolation goal left them vulnerable on the counterattack and this was exploited as the game approached the 80th minute mark when Schurrle slammed in number seven off the underside of the crossbar from an acute angle.
Ozil should have made it eight with two minutes remaining before Oscar had the final say with a cool finish past Neuer in stoppage time in the final act of one of the most unexpected results in World Cup history.
Photo: AFP