Posted on 07/08/2014 4:00:29 PM PDT by Cecily
The dreams of millions of Brazilian football fans have been left in tatters as Germany beat the host nation a 7-1 in the World Cup semi-final.
Spectators inside in The Mineirao Stadium in Belo Horizonte were in tears as their side succumbed to the humiliating defeat, ending dreams of a title on home soil.
The side were booed off following the disappointing performance, the biggest defeat in a World Cup semi-final and Brazil's worst defeat in their history.
Four goals in the space of just seven first-half minutes silenced an entire nation and the shell-shocked hosts leaving them an almost impossible task to progress to the final.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Your assessment is right on target. My wife is from Brasil, takes soccer seriously and is completely heart broken by this humiliation.
Brasil went in with two key players sidelined. Neymar was hit repeatedly and blind side by the Colombians until they fractured one of his vertabrae. Silva was yellow-carded out of action. I’m sure these two missing had a significant impact but the magnitude of the rout is beyond explanation.
One team gets into the zone. The other team gets rattled and collapses. That's a recipe for a blowout in any sport. You usually don't see such an epic collapse at this level, but ....
Y'all might remember the Redskins' (can I say that here?) perfect quarter vs. Denver in Superbowl 22. Doug Williams, a solid journeyman quarterback, was surrounded by a good defense, the posse, and the Hogs, and had a great season. Against Denver, the 'Skins came up with a perfect second quarter and scored 35 points. They could do no wrong, Denver could do no right, and boom. That's what happened today for a twelve minute stretch in Germany vs. Brazil. It's beautiful, scary, and eerie to watch.
Of the sports with which I'm most familiar, basketball is the most prone to this sort of thing. You are plugging along on a pretty competitive game, the score one minute is 36-32, and the next time you look up, it's suddenly 58-34. The big difference in basketball is that the coach can call a time out to try to break the momentum. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't.
In the ten years I've watched my daughters play soccer (ok, not quite at the World Cup level ....), I've seem my older daughter's team, a reasonably competitive travel team, lose one game that looked as ugly. Fortunately, they've had perhaps three games that broke big the other way. That's over ten years. It happens.
It's probably rarer in soccer than most other sports because of the dearth of scoring, but there are exceptions. We saw one today. History ... and I only wonder how much Germany could have scored if they hadn't called off the dogs after the fourth goal.
Soccer STILL sucks.
lets hope Argentina wins the WC...then the real fun starts....
Would that Americanese would pay so much attention to the antics of the Regime of Dear Leader right here...
I remember when I was 12, or so, and sulking when my favorite team lost (the Washington Senators - so yeah, I had a lot of practice in sulking), but a lot of those grief stricken folks seemed to be beyond their teenager years. Bummer, your team lost, now get over it. They are entertainers. Skilled folks, but entertainers like jugglers, or other traveling minstrels.
Also, to put things in perspective, you can bet your favorite team is not cheering you on at your work, nor are they weeping when you have a bad day.
oor last year’s super bowl when denver flubbed the first hike and never recovered.
there’s perfect explanation- Brazil’s not that good...from the word go they were winning by the hair on their chin (and all their guys are clean shaven)...that will eventually catch up to you...
you say “it could be worse- we could lose to Germany 7-1 on our home turf”....
Germany just scored another goal....
Was the Brazil team yelling, "Omaha"?
“Also, to put things in perspective, you can bet your favorite team is not cheering you on at your work, nor are they weeping when you have a bad day.”
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To me it’s always just a game; teams win, teams lose...that’s how it goes. It’s the way of the world. Having encountered quite a few Brazilians in Europe, for them, football is the nation. It’s national prestige, national pride.
It’s just a sport, and like you said, they’re just entertainers when all is said and done, but I’m not gonna tell that to a hardcore fan - known as “Ultras” here in Europe, because I really don’t feel the need to have extensive dental reconstructive surgery at this point in my life. :D
I know exactly how Brazil feels.
I’m not sure I would want to be a German in Brazil right now.
They better hope they don’t have Argentina in the game for third place. If they think this was bad, losing to Argentina at home, is much worse.
Prayers for folks I call family in Brasil. They’ve been telling me the folks were ready to burn down the country and Dilma with it. What is holding them back now?
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