Photo by Alain Mounic/Presse Sports via USA TODAY Sports
Brazil are well on the way of becoming the enemies of their own World Cup. Since the group stage, they've fit the bill of being antagonists better than they have heroes, knocking out a thrillingly coherent Chile side with what amounted to a dysfunctional make-do-and-mend win, spurred on by home support. They were lucky to make it past their exhausted opponents, lurching ahead into the quarter-finals.There they met their second victims, Colombia; a more functional side than Alexis Sanchez and Arturo Vidal's but still entertaining. Before the match, the global audience knew that it was about to lose one of the World Cup's brightest stars—Neymar or James Rodriguez—but by full-time they had lost both to injury and defeat respectively. It was the dirtiest encounter of the competition so far, with Brazil kicking their foes off the park with relative impunity from the referee.Germany haven't fared better as heavyweight saviors of the tournament's soul. They dispatched an Algeria team who would have beaten them 4-2 if they'd found the finishing touch, such was the number and quality of chances they spurned. Jogi Low's team left it let and picked them off with two professionally taken goals to pour cold water over the North African's brave challenge.All three games were arguably worthy of being named some of the best of the World Cup so far, but the aftermath of each was immense. Brazil 2014 lost three teams full of verve, fair and excitement to two unexceptional heavyweights who seemed to have won with blunt end product rather than glorious magic and invention.For all the undoubted attacking talent they possess, Germany have largely cruised through this summer's World Cup without offering much in the way of flair or flourishes. Even their big 4-0 win against Portugal came about in such a way as to make it feel almost routine. With each passing game, Low's decision not to bring more than one orthodox striker looks like a try-hard attempt to be avant-garde rather than win with effective football.Similarly, Brazil's attacks have wandered about the final third without a proper finisher at times. Their strikers are woeful, and with Neymar it's difficult to see where the attacking impetus will come from. David Luiz can't be relied upon to fire home screamers from near the half-way line every game.The lack of strikers, the lack of samba, the lack of care for the spectacle and total focus on their own enjoyment: it's as if the entire globe have been invited to a football jamboree pitched up in Brazil's own backyard only to be shunted away and ignored, crowded out from the hosts as they boorishly down drinks, eat everyone else's food and bawl songs to the exclusion of the rest. It's not a pretty sight, Brazil. A little football would go a long way.Those seeking a better quality of game would do well to cheer Germany on, a football culture that for so long has been derided by fans as calculated, cynical and efficient rather than entertaining, and yet they are the aesthete's champions in this semi-final, even with their own failings.After the buzz of the groups, Brazil 2014 desperately needs a dramatic finish to seal its status as a classic. Can Brazil vs. Germany provide that?If Low stops trying to impress his friends and instead focuses on playing the game—playing Philipp Lahm as an attacking right-back rather than a defensive midfielder—then you bet.UPDATE: Unless you were rooting for the Germany, the answer is NO. Definitely NO.
Advertisement
Advertisement