Preview Brazil versus Germany

The first semi final = instant classic

An encounter that has only happened once before in all world cup history. It was the final of 2002 in Japan/South Korea.  The Oliver Kahn mistake and the goals by Ronaldo sealed the 5th championship for brazil back then. It featured the worse team that Germany has ever sent to a world cup and in my opinion also the worst team that brazil had ever sent to a world cup.

12 years later, the german side has improved dramatically. It probably features the greatest squad that the germans have ever had. All the players are in top form and are very experienced. Most of them have played at least one semi final in the world cup before (some even 2) and are ready and hungry to finally advance to a final.

The contrast to the Brazilian side couldn't be more krass. The defensive abilities of the Brazilians are quite good. With the likes of David Luiz, Maicon, Dani Alves, Marcelo, Dante and oscar, one can argue that the have the best defense of all the semi finalists.  The problem is, that is where the quality ends.  Fred as their offensive man is an embarrassment. He seems like a caricature of a strike from the 50s. No movement, low technical abilities and a diver through and through.

The second striker Hulk looks like he does not belong anywhere near a football field. He looks more like a body builder. He, along with Fred, has had a horrible tournament so far and it's puzzling why they are still being put in the starting formation by the coach. The Brazilian offensive line seems to be very weak indeed, specially since their only quality man Neymar cannot play due to a broken back.

Common sense would dictate that this would be an easy route for the Germans. Unfortunately, this world cup has proven that all games involving the host Brazil have their own special rules. The game against Chile was won with a lot of luck. And the game against Columbia with its 60 fouls was much more an exercise in mass martial arts than it was a football game. Mysteriously , the referee decided not to give any yellow cards. The Brazilians managed to compensate the quality difference with a huge amount of fouls.

Will they manage to win this game despite the quality difference?

We shall see tonight!