On July 8, 2014, the unthinkable happened in Belo Horizonte. At the World Cup, Germany swept the hosts Brazil out of the stadium 7:1. Also unbelievable: a Swiss member of the DFB team predicted the Brazilians' historic humiliation.
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- Ten years ago, on July 8, 2014, Germany beat Brazil 7:1 in the semi-finals of the 2014 World Cup.
- A Swiss player was also partly responsible for the resounding victory: Urs Siegenthaler was working as a scout and analyst for the DFB at the time and watched the Brazilians before the game against Germany.
- The national coach at the time, Jogi Löw, remembers and reveals that Siegenthaler predicted a big win for the Germans.
This match should not be missing from any list of the most legendary matches in football history: The 2014 World Cup semi-final between Brazil and Germany. The Germans crushed the hosts 7:1 and sent the record-breaking world champions Brazil into the valley of tears. A humiliation the likes of which football has probably never seen before.
Not only what happened on the pitch is unbelievable, but also the story leading up to it. In the documentary "We world champions. In search of 2014" on NDR, the then national coach Jogi Löw recounts that a Swiss man had predicted before the game that the Germans would be able to sweep the Brazilians out of the stadium.
The day after the quarter-final victory over France, Löw went for a walk on the beach with his chief analyst Urs Siegenthaler, who had been watching the Brazilians. "Urs told me: 'Jogi, if we concentrate and do some things right, then we'll win against Brazil in a way we've never won against them before'."
So it was a Basel native, who worked as a coach at FC Basel and as an assistant coach for the Swiss national team before joining the DFB, who was able to decode the Brazilians. "I looked at Urs with wide eyes and said: 'What have you seen? I couldn't believe that Urs, who was usually so reserved in his analysis, was telling me these things so vehemently," Löw continued.
A result that nobody would have thought possible
Siegenthaler then went one better. He told Löw: "If we really take advantage of this and do things the way we discuss them, then we can achieve a result against Brazil that nobody thinks is possible. Because they have huge problems in defense. They're full of euphoria and almost unstoppable up front, but our key lies in their defense. Then we'll create chances that we don't even think are conceivable now."
Some of the DFB stars around Bastian Schweinsteiger, Toni Kroos and Thomas Müller were speechless when the national coach explained the match plan to them the day before the game. Löw recalls: "Some of the players looked at me and said: 'But against Brazil in the semi-final ... There might not be that many chances'. And I said: Yes, there are!"
The Brazilians were highly motivated before the game. "That's as good as it gets. I've never seen that before," said Löw. What remains unforgettable is how the players screamed their heads off during the national anthem together with the fans - only to be taken apart by the Germans by every trick in the book. Between the 23rd and 29th minute, Germany went from 1:0 to 5:0. In the end, the eventual world champions won 7:1. Löw's simple conclusion: "We got them with our play."
