Semi-final, Today

Brazil vs. Germany 22.00

Tragedy has struck for Brazil as their star player Neymar has been ruled out of the rest of the tournament due to a fractured vertebra he suffered in the quarter-finals against Colombia. 

Manager Luiz Felipe Scolari needs to come up with a quick solution, as the Barcelona forward has been doing most of the work in the past matches, and will be looking on players such as Hulk and Chelsea’s Oscar to finally reach top form.

To make matters worse, the team’s captain Thiago Silva will be suspended after getting carelessly booked last week.

Germany seemed very efficient and dominant against France last week and manager Joachim Low was fortunate enough to see an impressive performance by the returning Mats Hummels, who also scored the winning goal. 

The team will be looking on the likes of Thomas Muller, Mario Gotze and Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil to take advantage of Brazil’s troubled defence.

Ever since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Brazil have faced Germany nine times where they won the lion share of the exchange with five wins and lost two matches.

Germany made it to their tenth World Cup semi-final in 13 tournaments since 1966. They have made the final six times from that exchange.

Lazio striker MiroslavKlose is just one goal away from becoming the all-time top scorer in the history of the competition. If he scores in this match he will surpass Brazil icon Ronalo, as they currently share the top spot with 15 goals.

Brazil are undefeated in 41 straight home matches. Their last loss goes back in 2002 where the Selecao fell short to Paraguay.

Thiago Silva’s seventh minute goal against Colombia was Brazil’s quickest World Cup goal since 2006.

Brazil manager Luiz Felipe Scolari has never lost a World Cup match with Brazil; in fact he was the coach last time the Selecao won the title in 2002.

In 2002 Brazil won the World Cup after Ronaldo’s second goal, which marked the Selecao’s fifth title that made them the most successful team in the history of the competition.