It has been 10 years since one of the biggest blowouts in World Cup history and the most humiliating defeat in Brazilian national team history. On July 8, 2014, Germany defeated hosts Brazil 7-1 in the World Cup semifinal, a result that still resonates in the football world.
Joachim Löw, the coach of that German team who later completed the job by defeating Argentina in the final, spoke with Globo Esporte a decade after the historic semifinal and explained how the atmosphere at Mineirao was experienced.
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“There was a crazy atmosphere in the stadium, and the fans were very excited and loud during the anthem. In the first few minutes, Brazil started the game a little better. You could say the Brazilians had energy and dynamism, and we had to get our bearings for ten minutes. But the first goal (by Thomas Müller, at 11 minutes) obviously helped us gain some confidence and become aware of our game. After the second goal, Brazil was relatively shocked, the atmosphere in the stadium changed somehow, and the players also became somewhat insecure. And then, naturally, the other three goals followed,” Löw explained.
In a flurry, Germany found themselves 5-0 up on the scoreboard in less than 30 minutes of play. Brazil was living a nightmare, with fans stunned by the thrashing received on the field, which caused millions of tears and faces of disbelief at the result.
“Of course, there is always special pressure when playing a semifinal at home; everyone expects you to somehow reach the final, and we have to deal with that in some way. It always helps to take the lead on the scoreboard, and of course, that would have helped Brazil. But it also has the opposite effect. There was some uncertainty, and the players were paralyzed. You could see that somehow, they were suddenly disturbed and had no more energy. And then naturally, they were completely tactically confused because they could no longer process things in their heads,” the German added.
Although Germany had everything in their favor to secure a spot in the final thanks to an excellent first half, they had the challenge of maintaining concentration and not underestimating the opponent despite such a significant difference.
Löw, however, made it clear that his team always kept their feet on the ground: “It wasn’t necessary. On the contrary. I looked at the players and saw their reactions. It was very calm, no one was arrogant in any way, I just said a few words of warning to myself: it’s a World Cup, it’s a World Cup. In fact, I reminded the players that a year before, we were beating Sweden 4-0 and were doing very well (in a World Cup Qualifying match). But in the end, we conceded four goals in 30 minutes. Many things are possible in football, and of course, that experience helped me remember that.”
