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THURSDAY, JULY 10, 2014 FAN FERVOR Germany has the world at their feet BELO HORIZONTE: Some 14 years after their humili- ating Euro 2000 exit, Germany now stand with the world at their feet amidst the fall-out from their remarkable thrashing of Brazil. Joachim Loew’s Germany capitalised on an emo- tionally fragile Selecao side, shorn of injured star Neymar and suspended captain Thiago Silva, to inflict a 7-1 mauling on the hosts in Tuesday’s World Cup semi-final. The battering Brazil sustained in Belo Horizonte even had the usually reserved German Chancellor Angela Merkel describing the victory as ‘historic’. Loew’s Germany are now on the verge of their first World Cup title for 24 years with their global rep- utation for eye-catching football enhanced after handing Brazil their heaviest international defeat. “The final is sure to be a different game, but there is one thing they have done-the respect for this team has now become even greater,” enthused Franz Beckenbauer who captained West Germany to the 1974 title and coached the 1990 World Cup winners. It’s all a far-cry from Euro 2000, when Germany bowed out after failing to win any of their three matches. That humiliation prompted the German FA (DFB) and the German Football League (DFL) to put politics aside and focus on a player development strategy which is now bearing fruit. The DFB ploughed millions of euros into building youth academies across the Bundesliga’s top tiers. A tactical blueprint was laid out for the DFB’s junior teams, so a player rising through the age groups had continuity while DFB coaches scouted playgrounds and sports fields for talent. The various clubs con- trolled their own academy systems, but followed DFB guidelines. Despite reaching the 2002 World Cup final, Germany again exited in the first round of Euro 2004 with two draws and a defeat as coach Rudi Voeller resigned. With increasing desperation, the DFB took a gamble by naming inexperienced former striker Jurgen Klinsmann as head coach and he appointed Loew as his assistant. With the academy system starting to yield talent like Bastian Schweinsteiger, Philipp Lahm and Lukas Podolski, Klinsmann and Loew promoted youth and attacking football. Only an extra-time defeat to Italy in the semi- finals halted the Germans’ march when they hosted BELO HORIZONTE: Brazil’s defender Thiago Silva (right) comforts Brazil’s defender David Luiz after the the 2006 World Cup and when Klinsmann stepped semi-final football match against Germany. — AFP down, Loew took over. The 54-year-old steered the Germans to the Euro 2008 final where they lost the Vienna final 1-0 to a Blow-by-blow account Spanish side at the start of a golden era. The South Africa World Cup was when Loew’s BELO HORIZONTE: Brazil’s World Cup dream crum- shot, the ball came to Kroos. Germany announced their return as a powerhouse bled in spectacular fashion on Tuesday in a record 7-1 The Bayern Munich man’s connection, first-time on on the global stage. With an average age of 24, the semi-final defeat. Here is is a blow-by-blow account of the half-volley with his left foot from the edge of the multi-national squad saw the likes of Mesut Ozil, a Germany’s night of triumph: area, was marvellous and Julio Cesar could do nothing. Sami Khedira, Thomas Mueller and Manuel Neuer break into the side with performances which sug- * ONE (Thomas Mueller 11) * FOUR (Toni Kroos 26) gested they were there to stay. Brazilians wondered how their team would cope Fernandinho was hopelessly caught in possession Ozil, the Gelsenkirchen-born son of Turkish immi- without the injured Neymar, but the absence of cap- just outside his own area, and Kroos and Sami Khedira grants, is a good example of a current player who tain Thiago Silva, such a reassuring presence at the took advantage to break into the area. Khedira rose through the system having been spotted by a back, was just as big a blow. returned the ball to Kroos, who this time simply could DFB coach before he joined Schalke. The Brazilian defence was hopelessly exposed at not miss. Both England and Argentina conceded four goals the opening goal, as Toni Kroos floated in a corner to the Germans, who won scores of neutral fans at from the right and Thomas Mueller found himself com- * FIVE (Sami Khedira 29) South Africa 2010 with fleet-footed, eye-catching pletely unmarked at the back post to slot home his The culmination of an extraordinary first-half burst football, in the knock-out stages. Again, Germany’s fifth goal of the tournament. that will go down in history came as Mats Hummels run was halted by Spain, this time in the semi-finals. However, the movement by Mueller and the sliced right through the heart of the Brazilian team, rid- Four years on in Brazil, Germany can grind out German players was intelligent as David Luiz, who ing unchallenged deep into the opposition half. results after a 2-2 draw with Ghana and 1-0 win over should have been marking the goalscorer, found him- Germany simply walked the ball into the net this self blocked off and unable to make a challenge. time, with Mesut Ozil providing the assist and Khedira the USA in the group stages, but also turn on the applying the finish. style in their 4-0 rout of Portugal before Tuesday’s * TWO (Miroslav Klose 23) thrashing of Brazil. “The team is a step further,” The crumble really began as Fernandinho failed to * SIX (Andre Schuerrle 69) Schweinsteiger said when comparing the 2010 cut out a pass from the German right, and Kroos and Brazil attacked after the break in a doomed attempt team. “Every single player has developed further at Mueller combined to cut through the middle of the to rescue some pride, but they still had six defenders in their clubs and the amount of good players has also Brazil defence. their own area when Germany went on to add a sixth increased.” Klose collected the ball inside the area and saw his goal midway through the second half. Schuerrle, who Domestically, German football is in rude health shot from close range blocked by Julio Cesar, but he had replaced Klose 11 minutes earlier, still found him- with Bayern Munich and Dortmund both major still reacted the quickest to convert the rebound. self in space in the box to convert Lahm’s cutback, as forces in the Champions League last season having The veteran striker confirmed himself as the great- Brazil were yet again found wanting on the left-hand contested the 2013 final. est poacher in the history of the competition, scoring a side. Six Bayern players started the Belo Horizonte record-breaking 16th World Cup goal to move one semi-final while Dortmund’s Mats Hummels has clear of the Brazilian Ronaldo, compounding the hosts’ * SEVEN (Andre Schuerrle 79) established himself as a world-class centre-back. misery. Mueller turned provider this time to set up And who knows how much stronger the Germans Schuerrle to score again, and his delightful control was would have been had dynamic Dortmund winger * THREE (Toni Kroos 24) followed by an arrowing left-foot shot on the half-vol- Marco Reus not torn ankle ligaments before the Almost immediately after the restart, Germany ley that beat Julio Cesar and went into the net off the World Cup? scored again through a combination of poor defend- underside of the crossbar. In sunday’s final, Germany face the winner of late ing and marvellous finishing. Oscar’s late reply for the hosts was irrelevant, with Nobody cut out Philipp Lahm’s low centre in from Brazil already having succumbed to their greatest ever yesterday’s second semi-final between Argentina the German right, and even after Mueller mis-hit his humiliation. — AFP and the Netherlands. — AFP World Cup shocks Brazil fans shake off the blues and put on orange BELO HORIZONTE: A selection of the biggest opened up a whole new world. “I learnt that play- World Cup shocks in history after Germany’s 7-1 ing football can improve diplomatic relations and SAO PAULO: Out of the World Cup and dreading the idea rout of hosts Brazil in Tuesday’s semi-final in Belo promote peace,” he said when he made an emo- of their South American archrival lifting the trophy, many Horizonte: tional return to Middlesbrough in 2002. North Brazilian did the only thing they could do - put on the Korea went on to lose 5-3 to Portugal in the quar- Dutch orange shirts for yesterday’s semi-final’s match United States 1 England 0 (1950) ter-finals. against Argentina. England arrived at their first World Cup finals Orange clad Brazilians joined Dutch fans who were out- appearance hailed as potential winners having East Germany 1 West Germany 0 (1974) numbered by a massive blue-and-white Argentine pres- lost just four times in 30 matches. Faced with a One of the most politically charged matches in ence around Sao team of part-timers, England selectors rested star World Cup history, with the Cold War raging and Paulo’s arena player Stanley Matthews. It proved to be a fatal intense rivalry between the two states reaching a Corinthians. error as with substitutes not yet permitted peak as West Germany hosted the tournament. Tiago Pinhiero, an Matthews sat helplessly on the sidelines and a The two-divided since World War II-fought con- goal by Haiti-born Joe Gaetjens, who earned his stantly for supremacy in the sporting arena but advertisement exec- keep as a dishwasher upper in a restaurant, this was the most high profile meeting.