In this special 10-part series, ESPN's Jayaditya Gupta, who has attended every World Cup since 2002, recalls his favourite matches from the tournament. At No. 1 is the game in which Germany humiliated tournament-favourites Brazil in front of their home faithful at the 2014 World Cup.
The memories
The Football Museum in Sao Paulo has a room that recreates the "Maracanazo", the 1950 World Cup deciding match at Rio's brand-new Maracana Stadium by showing it on a large screen with surround sound. Brazil were odds-on favourites to win but Uruguay shocked the 200,000 spectators, the country, and the football world by winning 2-1 and claiming the trophy. When Alcides Ghiggia scores the winning goal, you hear the sound of 200,000 people going absolutely quiet. The silence is deafening, it's crushing.
All football fans know of, have read of, the Maracanazo, and many of us have often wondered what it was like. On July 8, 2014, at Belo Horizonte, we got a pretty good idea of that. It was Miandad's last-ball six, multiplied several times; perhaps a succession of last-ball sixes in the same match. The match began under the heavy cloud of Neymar's back injury; twenty minutes in, the cloudburst started and within half an hour had washed away Brazil's hopes, pride and immediate footballing future. Half time allowed us to breathe, to pinch ourselves, to take a look around and see whether it had actually happened. The scoreboard confirmed it: Brazil 0-5 Germany. The hosts hadn't even hit a single shot on target.
By the end, when even the Brazil fans applauded German players and booed their own, we were hoping for the footballing equivalent of boxing's RSC, when the referee does a mercy killing and ends the contest. There was another fear on our minds: the fear of violence, of fans getting so upset they would trash everything in sight. It wasn't unknown in Brazilian football culture and this would be the perfect time for violent venting. There were reports of some scuffles in the stands but they were contained. Largely, though, the fans were too shell-shocked to react; post-match, the streets were deserted, the bars almost empty and the planned party put on hold. The thought of most fans was, "Thank god it was Germany and not the hated Argentines."
The match
The first clue to how the match might pan out came when the teams lined up; Brazil's players held up Neymar's jersey, ostensibly a gesture of support for their injured star but liable to be interpreted as a sign of their own frailty without him. German footballers are not known for giving any quarter on the pitch and sure enough, after a flurry of exchanges they drew first blood. And second, and third, fourth, fifth. Four goals in six brutal, breathtaking minutes as Brazilian dithering was swiftly punished. In the process, Klose added insult to injury by breaking Ronaldo's record for most World Cup goals of all time.
By the end, several other records had been broken: the highest winning margin in a World Cup semi-final, the most goals in total in all World Cups and, for Brazil, the heaviest defeat ever. Brazil supporters -- or at least their coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari -- tried to put a positive spin on the margin, saying Brazil were carved apart while chasing the game. But he was wrong: they were already carved apart when thoughts of attacking entered their minds. In all fairness, they switched off for ten minutes, either numbed by the pressure of performance or missing Neymar. Perhaps other teams would not have punished them; perhaps even Germany of the past might have been more wary. But this German team had their tails up; they'd entertained in two World Cups without much to show for it; this time they were going for broke.
Post script
After the Maracanazo, Brazilian football underwent a massive change. Most visibly and lastingly, they abandoned the white they wore that day for their current yellow and blue. The Mineirazo, as the 7-1 became known, didn't precipitate anything as drastic -- in fact, the good news is that Brazil are among the favourites for 2018. I wonder, though, whether the museum in Sao Paulo has added another room with another disaster match playing on loop.