Visualized: Brazil 1-7 Germany

As always, match data from Stats Zone, except average position locations from ESPN FC.

Nota Bene: As all six substitutions were fairly involved, all are included in the passing networks. Substitutes are outlined in gold.


Well, that was emphatic.

This will sound presumptuous, and somewhat akin to comparing a delicious meal to the best meal you've eaten in your life, but Liverpool fans will recognize large parts of that match.

It all started with an early set play, taking the lead because you know how to take advantage of dead ball situations. It was almost the exactly same time that Germany scored their lone goal against France, and was Germany's fifth set-play goal of the tournament, if you count Müller's rebound against the US. They've scored on a set play in every game except the Round of 16 match against Algeria. As if Liverpool's previous season didn't emphasize this enough, set plays matter, and matter very much.

And that early lead led to five goals before 30 minutes – surpassing those Liverpool matches against Arsenal, Everton, and Tottenham – and absolutely destroyed any idea of an opposition comeback with two-thirds of the match still to play. I guess France's defense is better than Brazil's. At least Brazil's defense without Thiago Silva.

It's cliche, but Germany did it with ruthless efficiency: taking full advantage of their opportunities, seizing on the opposition's weaknesses and then fully exploiting them.

Until Germany's second goal, Brazil had much more possession, attempting 120 passes to Germany's 89, completing 86% to Germany's 72%. But Germany got that early set play goal, and had also created two open play chances. Brazil created none. And when Germany's counterattack earned a deep throw in Brazil's half, they made it count: Müller's movement, Klose's poaching. But it doesn't end with the ball in the back of the net if Fernandinho doesn't whiff when trying to intercept Müller's pass to Kroos, immediately fed back to Müller to set up the goal, played onside by Marcelo while the other three defenders stepped forward. Even in a 7-1 romp, football is decided by those small margins.

But from there, demolition. Utter, utter demolition. The third goal took 20 seconds: from Neuer's arms to Kroos' shot from just inside the box, sliced and diced through a broken midfield then down the right flank. The fourth goal took five seconds: Kroos pressing Fernandinho into a giveaway, to Khedira, back to Kroos. The fifth goal took 11 seconds: Hummels' run forward after gaining possession thanks to Luiz's hopeful long ball solely designed to relieve pressure, to Khedira to Özil to Khedira. As an aside, that's why progressive managers have stopped thumping the ball out of defense. It frequently doesn't relieve pressure.

"Blitzkrieg" was one of my go-to adjectives when describing Liverpool counterattacks last season. It seemed to perfectly encapsulate how fierce and how fast they blindsided the opposition. Well, it may not be smart to use that word when writing about the German national team, but I guess I'll take my chances. Those were blitzkrieg attacks. Also, Credit Where Due File: Khedira's pass to Kroos and Özil's pass to Khedira on the fourth and fifth goals. Both assist providers had space for the shot, but both were unselfish enough to find a much better placed teammate. Team work makes the dream work.

The second half sixth and seventh were icing on the cake: more deliberate, more patient, but again taking advantage of a poorly marshaled defense. Schürrle, the scorer of both goals, the only player going full out, attempting to play his way into contention for the final. Again, like Liverpool, the foot off the gas, controlling the tempo, but still happy to pillage if you give the chance. The sixth: Marcelo rashly overcommitting, and missing, followed by six Brazilians in the box watching the ball rather than Schürrle or Müller's runs from outside the area. The seventh: Dante dragged well out of position by Müller's tireless running, Luiz unable to keep up with Schürrle.

David Luiz: fun to watch and maybe worth a bunch of money if you have Thiago Silva (or *groans* John Terry, for that matter) to babysit him (*waves at PSG*). Probably worth a fair amount less if he's the stalwart and captain of your defense, seemingly taking all responsibility for Brazil's performance and utterly losing his mind after going five goals down. Which, I guess, is slightly understandable. It is also no coincidence that the second, third, and sixth goals came down Germany's right, Brazil's left. Marcelo, like a fair few others, had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

Germany scored seven goals from 14 shots, an unbelievable 50% conversion rate. 10 of those 14 shots were on target. Nine of those 14 shots were in the danger zone (the center of the 18-yard box): six goals, one other on-target shot, one off-target shot, and one blocked shot. Schurrle's second goal was the only non-DZ goal, scored from a tight angle on the left side of the box. That is the definition of attacking efficiency.

It's also a fairly impressive division of responsibility by Germany. The five attackers attacked, and were responsible for all 14 shots and 11 of the 14 chances. The five defenders defended, except for Lahm, who created three chances leading to two assists; again, able to exploit Brazil's vastly weaker left flank. Although, considering the average position diagram, you could probably consider Lahm an attacker. Schweinsteiger and Kroos, attempting and completing more passes than their teammates, were the metronomic links.

Yes, Brazil missed Neymar in attack – his replacement, Bernand, created just one chance and took one shot in 90 minutes – but I find it hard to believe Brazil concedes half that total, if that, with Thiago Silva on the pitch. A defense disheveled on the set play first, disheveled on the second when Müller cut into wide-open space in the box, disheveled on the third, nowhere to be found on the fourth and fifth goals. Those goals don't often happen when Thiago Silva plays.

Germany's attacking third passes clearly exploited the space where Dante and Marcelo were.



Germany looked a shade better than mediocre against both Algeria and France, just good enough to advance. Germany looked the best side ever against Brazil. The truth, as usual, lies somewhere in the middle. And they got an awful lot of help from the hosts, thanks to injury, suspension, personnel, and tactics.

It goes without saying that Sunday will not be this easy, no matter who Germany's opponent is.

Visualized: Brazil 2-1 Colombia

As always, match data from Stats Zone, except average position locations from ESPN FC.


Build a funeral pyre, throw the long-dead corpse of Jogo Bonito upon it.

To be fair, that's been the case for some time now. Dunga's side at the last World Cup was the textbook definition of pragmatic, and it's not as if the winning side from either 1994 or 2002 were the football equivalent of the Harlem Globetrotters. But this seemed the final shovel of dirt on the burial plot.

Two Brazilian goals from set plays, the lone Colombian from the penalty spot. Four open play shots on-target combined, 10 open play chances created combined. All of 436 passes completed combined, out of 566 attempted. 79% pass accuracy for Brazil, 74% for Colombia. Which drops to 61.1% and 58.2% accuracy in the final third for Brazil and Colombia respectively. Those are Stoke totals. Not even Mark Hughes totals. Tony Pulis totals. "Just promoted from the Championship" Tony Pulis totals.

Oh, and 54 fouls. 54 painful, game-prolonging, this-feels-like-death-warmed-over fouls.

Regardless of the long-expired beautiful game narrative, to see a Brazilian side commit 31 fouls in a match with 54 fouls in total was disorienting. In the 57 previous matches at this World Cup, the average number of fouls committed per match was 28.7 – 28.5 in the group stage, 29.9 in the knockout round. The previous high in a single match was Netherlands-Australia, with 43 fouls. There have been 36 matches with fewer than 31 fouls in total.

And it was made infinitely worse by the Spanish referee, Carlos Velasco Carballo. You never want to see cards handed out indiscriminately, but the referee needed to take control of the match earlier. Four different Brazilian players managed to commit four or more fouls without being carded: Marcelo, Fred, Fernandinho and Hulk. And that's after Fernandinho managed to make it through the entire Round of 16 match without being carded, despite committing six fouls. Brazil is trying to win its record-extending sixth World Cup. Oh, and they're the home side, trying to make amends for 1950. It's almost as if referees are giving them free passes for some reason. I've no idea why. (*glares at FIFA, whose Executive Committee members are currently doing Scrooge McDuck-style dives in a bank vault full of money*)

When the yellows finally came, starting in the 64th minute, Thiago Silva's had to be given, for a moment of utter stupidity when challenging the keeper despite Ospina having possession. Then, Yepes and James each got a card, for their first fouls, both fairly innocuous (Luiz's goal came from James' "foul"), enough though Marcelo had committed five by that point, Fernandinho four, and Fred and Hulk three. And then, Julio Cesar's yellow should have been a red, taking out Bacca through on goal, which would have given Colombia that much more of an opportunity to level the score after James tallied the spot kick.

So, naturally, karma reared its ugly head, with Neymar brutally fouled in the final minutes – yet another incident which failed to provoke a yellow – and he's now out for the rest of the tournament with a fractured vertebrae.

It feels rude to add insult to injury, but you do reap what you sow, after all.

"We're being too nice, too cordial with our opponents," Scolari said after his team's round-of-16 win over Chile. "It's time we defended a little differently, to go back to my style, which is more aggressive."

That worked out well, huh? Ends, means, justification, etc.

A dismal referee performance fit with a match when football was only intermittently played.

There were only nine different pass combinations where the two players interchanged more than 10 passes: five for Brazil (Marcelo/Hulk, Marcelo/Neymar, Maicon/Oscar, Thiago Silva/Maicon, and Fernandinho/Marcelo) and four for Colombia (Armero/James, Guarin/James, Armero/Teo, and Guarin/Cuadrado).

And it was fitting that all three goals came from dead ball situations: a corner, a direct free kick, and a penalty.

As this is a usually a Liverpool blog, allow me a tenuous comparison. After last season, Liverpool fans will be well aware of the importance of set plays. When the attack isn't firing, when the match has devolved into mud wrestling, those situations can make all the difference. Newcastle at home, West Ham at home, Everton away, Hull at home, etc etc.

Brazil may not have been at their best, anywhere near their best, and this is assuredly not the best Brazil side we've seen in recent decades. But they were good enough to limit a side that scored freely in the group and Round of 16, by hook and by crook, and good enough to take advantage of their set plays. That's all that's needed in the knockout rounds of a World Cup.

Now let's see if they can do it without their two most important players, their best attacker and defender, the former for the rest of the tournament, the latter for the semi-final thanks to yellow card accumulation.

Holland 2-1 Brazil

Stekelenburg
Van der Wiel   Heitinga   Oojier   Van Bronckhorst
De Jong
Robben   Van Bommel   Sneijder   Kuyt
Van Persie

Julio Cesar
Maicon   Lucio   Juan   Michel Bastos
Gilberto Silva   Felipe Melo
Dani Alves   Kaka   Robinho
Luis Fabiano

Goals:
Robinho 10'
Felipe Melo (og) 53'
Sneijder 68'

That was not supposed to happen.

It was all set up for Brazil. Once again, the team I'm rooting for concedes an early, junior varsity-style defensive error, aided by Mathijsen injured in warm-ups. Melo's 50-yard through, Heitinga caught upfield, and Robben failing to track Robinho's run (not that it's his responsibility) put the Manchester City misfit one-on-one with the keeper, easily beating Stekelenburg from the top of the box.

An early goal feeds right into how Brazil loves to play under Dunga. They could stifle Dutch possession through Silva and Melo. Robben's disregard for passing the ball (it's beneath him, dammit) and van Persie's petulant invisibility also helped. Brazil soaked up the pressure, sprinted down the field on the counter with attacking fullbacks, and the Robinho-Kaka-Fabiano triangle perpetually frightened. Brazil could have been two goals up if not for Stekelenburg's marvelous 31st minute save on Kaka's curler. Meanwhile, the only times Holland tested Julio Cesar in the first half were Kuyt's narrow, low shot in the 11th and Sneijder's 36th minute free kick from approximately four miles away straight down the keeper's throat.

But it didn't matter in the end. I can't remember how many times I've written that you pay for not scoring more when a goal to the good. It's happened a lot.

Holland pulled one back less than ten minutes after the interval thanks to Sneijder's brilliance and an absolute mess from Melo and Julio Cesar. Sneijder's cross on a short free kick, Cesar somehow misses his punch, and it glances in off Melo's back. Should be Sneijder's as it was on target, but I'm not complaining either way.

The equalizer absolutely shell-shocked the Brazilians. Again, that was not supposed to happen. The Dutch dominated possession, finding an extra gear, before Sneijder got his deserved goal 15 minutes after the first, thanks to that man Dirk Kuyt. Kuyt, cleverly running into space, flicked a corner on for Sneijder's free header from four yards out. Ecstasy.

Unsurprisingly, the Brazilians completely lost the plot. Dunga broke down on the sideline, fortifying me with his delicious tears, and five minutes later, Felipe Melo was given his marching orders for a stupid, frustrated, typical stamp on Robben after conceding yet another soft foul. That combined with his assist perfectly encapsulates Melo.

It was never done and dusted; Brazil can terrify even with ten men, especially in crunch time, but the Dutch held out admirably. They stayed resilient, batting away every set play, including a crucial clearing header from Kuyt in the 82nd, while Ooijer did brilliantly to close down Kaka on a break in the 86th. Holland should have added a third on the break, but a win is a win is a win.

I expect to never, ever find it necessary to defend Dirk Kuyt from the haters after today. He was the only Dutch player who didn't disappoint in the first half and set up the crucial second goal, yet again the key man on a set piece. He kept Maicon occupied for long stretches, and had innumerable clearing defensive headers, including that vital one with eight minutes to play. Were he a step faster, he could have scored a game-sealing third after some jaw-dropping fancy footwork that would have sent hacks to the fainting couch were it performed by Messi, running past Maicon and Lucio as if they weren't there only to see Juan get back. He is utterly immense and I love him to bits.

I won't lie. I love seeing Brazil beaten, and it's especially awesome that Holland are the ones to do it. For all of South America's dominance, the best South American side was just beaten by the best European side. For once, the Dutch didn't fall apart in the face of adversity, and Dunga's well-organized team helped Holland to the victory by beating themselves in the second half. It's gonna be hard for Felipe Melo to show his face in Brazil. Dunga will be heavily criticized as well, but, honestly, he shouldn't be. Samba football is a thing of the past. You win games by beating hard to beat, and Holland won that battle today.

US 2-3 Brazil

Howard
Spector DeMerit Onyewu Bocanegra
Dempsey Clark Feilhaber Donovan
Altidore Davies

Goals:
Dempsey 10’
Donovan 27’
Luis Fabiano 46’ 74’
Lucio 85’

So close and so far. My allegiances were far less conflicted in this match, and no surprise, the result was a bit different. But for a moment there…

The first half was stuff of dreams, even less believable than Victory. The second half was far less surprising, but all the more disappointing given where the US stood at the break. And those Liverpool fans who saw United come back against Spurs a couple of months ago will have felt some déjà vu.

Unsurprisingly, Brazil pressed the Americans early on, but the US was first on the board again, from their first attack. And again it was Spector to Dempsey, and a cross from the right back cleverly redirected with a right-footed volley past Julio Cesar.

Brazil stormed down from the field from the restart, with Howard making the first of countless fantastic saves on Robinho's effort. Two US chances from corners quickly followed after Davies' break, but it didn’t take long to revert to ‘all hands on deck,’ as it was for long stretches against Spain. Notably, Howard had to make two more stops, on Felipe Melo and Maicon, in the 25th and 26th minutes.

And then it was two, with an absolutely textbook counter-attack goal. Donovan broke following a corner and found Davies on the left. Somehow the striker got the ball back to Donovan (seriously looked like he had no angle), Landycakes checked back onto his left at the top of the box, steadied himself, goal. Holy shit.

And the US could have had a third in the 30th, but Donovan’s cross just too far in front of Davies and Altidore, who both looked like they’d beaten the offside trap. From there on out, it was all Brazil, with ESPN helpfully pointing out that the first half possession was 60-40 in Brazil’s favor. Howard made at least three more saves before the break, while Maicon’s deflected cross whistled across the face of goal on the stroke of halftime.

Unfortunately for the US, they suffered the worst possible start to the second half. 41 seconds in, and it’s 2-1. A cross in from Maicon, a wonderful quick turn by Fabiano, fooling DeMerit, and the lead’s halved. If they don’t let it that goal, there’s a chance. A full 45 minutes left with only a one-goal advantage is frightening.

The goal marked the beginning on an onslaught more furious than the one faced on Wednesday. If the possession was 60-40 in the first half, it had to be something like 70-30 in the second. If it wasn’t for Tim Howard, the second goal would have come a lot earlier, and the US would have lost by a few more. First, he stopped a bullet Lucio header at the back post in the 58th before controversy two minutes later when Kaka’s back post header looked over the line before Howard palmed it away.

Donovan and Dempsey shots from distance saved by Cesar in the 65th and 66th were the US’s lone chances during the blitz, while Howard kept the US in front when he took the ball off Fabiano’s foot with the striker through in the 71st.

But the dam finally broke in the 74th. It looked like the crossbar would keep Brazil out again after Kaka’s cross found Elano at the far post, but Fabiano was there for the rebound and his brace. 2-2 after 30 minutes of constant pressure did not bode well, and after DeMerit came up huge against Fabiano in the box, Lucio slammed home the resulting corner. Well, fuck. It was nice while it lasted. There was a glimmer of hopewhen Gooch headed over in the 88th, but it wasn’t to be.

Skeptics will wonder where the hell this team came from. Diehards will claim this is what the Yanks have always been capable of, and they even should have won. The truth, as usual, is probably somewhere in the middle.

As said after the Spain match, it’s a hell of a lot different when you play without pressure. And although there were certainly nerves making the final, against Brazil no less, they still weren’t expected to be there and weren’t expected to win. At the same time, they haven't played as well as a unit in these last two matches since the ’02 World Cup. And the backline was the best I've ever seen from the US.

It’s almost better for the US’ World Cup hopes that they lost today. A win would have raised expectations too high and painted a big target on their backs. This provides incentive and proves they can hang with the big boys.

A win certainly would have caused a media stir, but this’ll still be headline news on ESPN and in local sports pages, and even soccer-haters like Jim Rome will be discussing it tomorrow. And the rest of the world will take notice. It may not be the long-hoped for tipping point for American soccer, but it’s another step in the game’s evolution on these shores.