SAO PAULO (AP) -- Like everyone else, Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella can't explain Brazil's collapse to lose 7-1 to Germany in the semifinals of its home World Cup.
Sabella says the best explanation he has for the result was that ''football is illogical.''
Argentina's
players watched the end of the game on television at Itaquerao Stadium
in Sao Paulo on Tuesday night, delaying their training session for
around 20 minutes and only appearing on the field after Brazil-Germany
had finished in Belo Horizonte.
Sabella said the result was
clearly ''not normal ... but in football you have to expect these
things. It's football. It's the most illogical of sports.''
Argentina plays Netherlands in the second semifinal on Wednesday for the right to face Germany in the final.
Barcelona jerseys with Suarez name already out
After a week of denying it, the Uruguayan striker admitted to biting Giorgio Chiellini and apologized for the act.
Luis Suarez might not have officially signed the papers to represent Barcelona yet but that hasn't stopped the big Spanish club from releasing jerseys already bearing the Uruguayan's name.
New photos have been leaked and
gone viral of a sporting goods store apparently selling jerseys with the
name Suarez on the back.
There have been multiple rumors
tying Suarez with a possible move from Liverpool to Barcelona, and the
fact that the club praised the player for apologizing for biting Giorgio Chiellini during the group stage match between Uruguay and Italy showed more evidence of a possible move.
Germany feels bad for Brazilians after ruining their World Cup title hopes
.
Germany's Bastian
Schweinsteiger, right, consoles Brazil's Dante after the World Cup
semifinal soccer match between Brazil and Germany at the Mineirao
Stadium in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Tuesday, July 8, 2014. Germany won
the match 7-1.
After the game, countless German players made their way to Brazil
coach Luiz Felipe Scolari to offer their condolences for a host nation's
dream that they had just killed. Bastian Schweinsteiger
put an arm on Scolari's shoulder and shook his head. It looked like he
was saying sorry although there were no words that could make any Brazilian feel better.
At least four Germans headed to Brazil defender Dante,
who plays his club soccer with Bayern Munich in Germany, to offer hugs
and kind gestures. Estadio Mineirao had the atmosphere of a funeral and
the victors knew better than to gloat.
"Of course," said Germany midfielder Toni Kroos, the Man of the Match, when asked if he felt pity for the Brazilians.
"Normally the difference is not that big as it was today. They have
great players and they had the higher pressure on their shoulders. We
didn't allow them to become dangerous. We took all the balls from them."
They took more than that. Joachim Loew's Germany grabbed Brazil's
pride and its spirit and its ultimate goal of lifting the World Cup
trophy for the sixth time.
The words uttered between combatants in the moments following a
contest on the biggest stage of all usually remain private, but this
time there was no need for secrecy. The theme of the conversations was
obvious. The Germans had smashed Brazil out of sight, and the Brazilians
were borderline embarrassed by how completely one-sided the game had
become.
"I think we lost a match to a great team and I think not even they believed it," said Scolari, who took the blame and apologized to the home fans.
"The chats we had, they said they don't know how this happened. They
have five [early] chances and scored five goals. They have great skills
and we respect that."
How could they not? Germany was given a large helping hand by the defensive ineptitude of Scolari's team, summed up by captain David Luiz's missed assignment in the 11th minute when he should have been clinging to goal-scorer Thomas Mueller like Lycra.
But even then the Germans' performance was clinical enough to already look like champions and to make you wonder how anyone – Lionel Messi, Arjen Robben or even Clark Kent – can find a way to outwork and outthink them over 90 or 120 minutes.
