Brazil’s coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, left, greets Germany’s Thomas Mueller after the World Cup semifinal soccer match between Brazil and Germany at the Mineirao Stadium in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on Tuesday, July 8, 2014. Germany won the match 7-1.BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil – Germany poured in the goals Tuesday to hand Brazil its heaviest World Cup loss ever with an astounding 7-1 rout in the semifinals that stunned the host nation.
Miroslav Klose scored a record-setting 16th career World Cup goal in a five-goal spurt in the first half as Brazil’s defense was torn apart.
The Germans reached their eighth final and will face either Argentina or the Netherlands on Sunday at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
Previously, Brazil’s biggest World Cup loss was 3-0 to France in the 1998 final. This matched their biggest ever margin of defeat in any competition, equaling a 6-0 loss to Uruguay in 1920 in the South American championship, the predecessor of the Copa America..
“We wanted to make the people happy … unfortunately we couldn’t,” Brazil defender David Luiz said. “We apologize to all Brazilians.”