When the DFB team injured an entire nation with the 7:1 win
Surreal. Obscene. Humbling. The historic 7:1 sent Brazil ten years ago into a vortex of sorrow and left lasting scars. Yet there was a standing ovation. A decade later, the German team itself experienced one of the bitterest defeats in German history. Gray and pain were present, but this time on the German side: Seven goals and the most astonishing 90 minutes ever seen at a World Cup shattered a great dream and injured - unintentionally, understandably - Brazil.
New word creations find their way into the common usage of an entire nation and become ingrained in a culture only if they are particularly noteworthy. This was the case when, ten years ago, the German National Team wrote football history - and Brazil on July 8, 2014, inflicted one of the most devastating defeats in football history.
In the host country of the 2014 World Cup, the result "7:1" (Portuguese: sete a um) has become a metaphor for something unpleasant that comes back to haunt you, while "goal for Germany" (gol da Alemanha) is used as a call to action after a mishap. Ten years before the last-minute elimination at home against Spain, one of the most painful defeats in DFB history, the German National Team celebrated one of its most impressive victories. There was grief and pain, but it was on the side of the opposition: Seven goals and the most surprising 90 minutes ever seen at a World Cup shattered a great dream and injured - unintentionally, understandably - Brazil.
Müller (11.). Klose (23.). Kroos (24., 26.). Khedira (29.). Schürrle (69., 79.). It reads like a video game, looks like a video game. Seven goals in a World Cup semi-final against Brazil. It made no sense. It was surreal. Obscene. The honor goal from Oscar just before the end didn't change anything about one of the greatest victories in the history of football World Cups or the devastating defeat. Brazil wept, Germany celebrated, the world rubbed its eyes in wonder.
"I wanted to give my people just a little happiness. My people, who have already suffered so much," said a tearful David Luiz as the national reflection of the Mineiraco began. "Unfortunately, we couldn't do it. I'm sorry, for all. I'm sorry for all Brazilian people." This defeat was so shocking that the President of the country tried to lift the mood on Twitter after it. He expressed his sadness, but urged his citizens to "stand up, shake off the dust, and move on."
The Press was genuinely shocked by this unprecedented event. The Brazilian daily "Folha de São Paulo" reported on a "historic embarrassment," "O Globo" on a "shameful performance," and "O Estado de Minas" was blunt and spoke of the "greatest massacre in [the] History [of the Seleção]." Even the "Time" Magazine wrote at the time: "The Brazilian World Cup dream ended not only in the semifinals, but was spectacularly shattered into tiny yellow pieces."
Comparison with 9/11
In an interview with a Brazilian TV network, the Technical Director of the Brazilian Federation, Carlos Alberto Parreira, compared the debacle to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York: "You can't believe it, it was just like that with the Twin Towers. You see how the first one is destroyed, then the second. It looked like a fiction, it wasn't real. It all happened very quickly, there was no time to react."
In Germany, the "Südeutsche Zeitung" asked: "Is that really true?" The Frankfurter Rundschau saw "a victory for the history books" and England icon Gary Lineker, who has his own relationship with the Federal Republic, described the match as "the most extraordinary, breathtaking, and confusing game I have ever experienced."
"On the Day of Judgment, which the Brazilians yesterday believed they would experience without a doubt, one will still remember this semifinal," wrote the French sports magazine "L'Equipe". And Star-Trainer José Mourinho said: "In 50 years, children will still know that Brazil lost 1:7 at home to Germany." Both were right with this statement. July 8, 2014 will be a day that neither Brazil nor Germany will ever forget.
Neymar will probably still remember the debacle ten years later. After Germany's seventh goal, the sad and desperate superstar, who missed the game due to injury and watched it at home with his family, turned off the match and went to play poker instead. Luiz Felipe Scolari called it the "worst day of my life" and retired after the World Cup 2014.
DFB team receives applause for behavior
For Joachim Loew's team, the 7:1 was an important building block on the way to the later title. The fourth star might not have been possible without the self-confidence earned through this game. And the shocked Brazilian fans applauded the Germans at the end for the extraordinary performance and pressed the thumb's up to the DFB team in the final against arch-rival Argentina.
Above all, because Klose, Kroos and Co. did not overdo it in celebration when it became clear that the game was turning into a historic rout. They sensed that it was about more than just a World Cup semifinal. That they should dampen their goal celebrations, as if they were attending a solemn state funeral. That they should not add salt to the wounds of an entire nation. In the halftime break, the then Bundestrainer Joachim Loew warned, who had experienced a missed World Cup final in his own country as a co-trainer in 2006, against arrogance towards the opponent. A subtle move from the German team, which was previously perceived internationally as ruthless, emotionless, and iron-willed.
For Brazil, the 1:7 still brought unimaginable athletic pain. The Seleção lost a bit, a wound opened up that might never fully heal again. The five-time World Champion was considered the most dominant soccer nation of all time, the bankruptcy became a turning point. Since 2014, the Brazilian team has lacked the fear factor and the strength of a nation that dominated and won World Championships with "o jogo bonito" and produced some of the best players in the sport.
Subsequently, they could not win anything except for the Copa América 2019. In the previous two World Championships, they were eliminated in the quarterfinals each time. The last World Cup title is 22 years old. Many fans even lost interest in the Seleção. The seven nails made it so that today, from Porto Alegre to Rio de Janeiro to Belem, other national teams are cheered for and laughed at the failure of their own team.
A Scar Remains
The collective shock that shook Brazil then can only be understood in the context of the competition and the country. The blunder hurt so much because it came so unexpectedly - even though Neymar, the best player, and Thiago Silva, the defensive chief, were missing. The Seleção went into the tournament full of confidence, with the technical director Parreira even saying they had "a hand on the cup," as the team met for preparation.
Furthermore, the personal identification of soccer fans with their team and its performances was hardly greater and more emotional in any other country than in Brazil. At the home tournament, a massive patriotic fervor spread, even though in 2013 there were massive political unrest and protests against corruption, social injustices, and the 14 billion dollars spent on the World Cup, while millions of Brazilians lived in poverty in favelas.
Images of despairing fans on the tribunes in Belo Horizonte remain in our minds. Here, an older man with a replica World Cup trophy, there, a young boy howling like a dog. Bitter, sad, iconic. Ten years before the dramatic EURO exit against Germany, the German national team - with beautiful play, with Joga Bonito, as it is called in football jargon today, which the Brazilians had proudly claimed - overtook Klose with his 2:0 and even surpassed the Brazilian legend Ronaldo as the World Cup record scorer.
Because so much collapsed with the 1:7-blunder, the shock had deep-rooted effects on society: Despite how fair the German team celebrated, the defeat was seen by many Brazilians as a national humiliation and a traumatic event. As a crack in the collective psyche. The debacle became a defining moment in the history of Brazilian football, and the seven-game losing streak remains a scar that is still referred to in the vernacular.
The 7:1 scoreline against Brazil in the 2014 World Cup semi-finals has become a defining moment in Brazilian football history, serving as a metaphor for unfortunate circumstances coming back to haunt someone. Even ten years before this devastating defeat, Germany inflicted one of its most painful defeats on Brazil in the 2002 World Cup qualifiers, notching a 5-1 victory.
During the 2014 tournament, the German team's tactical masterclass and superiority left Brazil in a state of shock, culminating in a historic rout that injured the nation's pride. In the aftermath, the DFB team received praise for their sportsmanlike behavior, dampening their celebrations out of respect for their opponents and the collective pain of the Brazilian fans.
