Germany demolishes Brazil 7-1, reaches World Cup final

BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil (AP) — Germany poured in the goals Tuesday to hand Brazil its heaviest World Cup loss ever with an astounding 7-1 rout in the semifinals

BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil (AP) — Germany poured in the goals Tuesday to hand Brazil its heaviest World Cup loss ever with an astounding 7-1 rout in the semifinals that stunned the host nation.

Germany's Miroslav Klose becomes World Cup's all-time leading scorer

​Miroslav Klose scored a record-setting 16th career World Cup goal in a five-goal spurt in the first half as Brazil's defense was torn apart. The Germans reached their eighth final and will face either Argentina or the Netherlands on Sunday at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Previously, Brazil's biggest World Cup loss was 3-0 to France in the 1998 final.

This matched their biggest ever margin of defeat in any competition, equaling a 6-0 loss to Uruguay in 1920 in the South American championship, the predecessor of the Copa America.

"We wanted to make the people happy ... unfortunately we couldn't," defender David Luiz said. "We apologize to all Brazilians."

It's also Brazil's first loss in a competitive match on home soil since 1975, when Peru won 3-1 at the very same Mineirao Stadium in the Copa America. Its last loss at home came in a friendly with Paraguay in 2002.

Brazil's attack was weakened by the loss of Neymar, who fractured a vertebra after getting kneed in the back in the quarterfinal win over Colombia. But it was Brazil's porous defense that was the biggest problem in the first half as the host also sorely missed suspended captain Thiago Silva.

On Tuesday, with Bernard playing as the third striker, Brazil attacked from the start. But they failed to get any solid chances, and it wasn't long before the Germans opened up the defense and started the rout. Toni Kroos and Andre Schurrle scored two goals each, while Klose, Thomas Muller and Sami Khedira added the others. Oscar pulled a late goal back for Brazil.

It was Germany's biggest World Cup win since routing Saudi Arabia 8-0 in a group match in 2002.

Klose scored his record goal in the 23rd minute, pushing him past Brazil striker Ronaldo's 15 career World Cup goals. The German had his original shot saved, but he followed up as Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar spilled the ball, easily scoring from the rebound.

Kroos scored his first goal in the 25th minute, knocking in a cross from Philipp Lahm that bypassed Muller in the middle. He made it 4-0 a minute later, beating Cesar after a defensive mistake from Fernandinho left the ball on the feet of Khedira.

Muller scored the first goal, one-timing a corner from Kroos past Cesar in the 11th minute. Khedira made it 5-0 in the 29th, taking a pass from Mesut Ozil and again beating Cesar. Schurrle, who came on for Klose in the 58th minute, scored from a cross by Lahm in the 69th, and then knocked a shot off the underside of the crossbar and into the net in the 79th.

It's the first time Brazil had allowed five goals in a World Cup match since the 1938 tournament in France, when the team beat Poland 6-5 in extra time.

Here's how the historic rout happened: (if chat console is not showing below, please refresh your browser):

Live Blog World Cup Semifinals: Brazil vs. Germany

GALLERY: The Road to the Semifinals

The Road to the World Cup Semifinals

NETHERLANDS | June 13

Robin van Persie latches onto Daley Blind's long cross with this diving header to beat Iker Casillas as part of the Netherlands' 5-1 win over Spain.

NETHERLANDS | June 18

Australia goalkeeper Matthew Ryan watches as Netherlands substitute Memphis Depay's game-winning goal goes into the net in their Group B clash.

NETHERLANDS | June 23

Netherlands substitute Leroy Fer heads home the opening goal as the Dutch topped Chile 2-0 to cement first place in Group B.

NETHERLANDS | June 29

Netherlands star Arjen Robben draws a penalty on Mexico captain Rafa Marquez in the dying moments of the round-of-16 clash, giving the Dutch the chance to win it from the spot.

NETHERLANDS | July 5

After coming on solely for the PK shootout, Netherlands backup goalkeeper Tim Krul makes one of his two saves against Costa Rica to play hero in the quarterfinals.

ARGENTINA | June 15

Lionel Messi evades multiple Bosnia-Herzegovina defenders en route to scoring the game-winning goal in Argentina's opening match of group play.

ARGENTINA | June 21

Lionel Messi celebrates after his stoppage-time goal against Iran snapped a 1-0 deadlock and gave Argentina another three-point haul.

ARGENTINA | June 25

Lionel Messi bends his free kick up and over Nigeria's wall as part of a two-goal showing in Argentina's 3-2 win to secure first place in Group F.

ARGENTINA | July 1

Angel di Maria watches his game-winning goal get by Switzerland goalkeeper Diego Benaglio in extra time of their round-of-16 match.

ARGENTINA | July 5

Gonzalo Higuain volleys home the lone goal in Argentina's 1-0 win over Belgium in the World Cup quarterfinals.

GERMANY | June 16

Thomas Muller scores one of his three goals in Germany's Group G-opening 4-0 rout of Portugal.

GERMANY | June 21

Germany's Miroslav Klose touches home an equalizer against Ghana to salvage a 2-2 draw, while tying Brazil's Ronaldo for most all-time World Cup goals (15) in the process.

GERMANY | June 26

Thomas Muller celebrates his spectacular strike in front of a dejected Matt Besler in Germany's 1-0 win over the USA to close Group G play.

GERMANY | June 30

Germany's Andre Schurrle watches his back-heel attempt open the scoring in extra time of a 2-1 win over Algeria in the round of 16.

GERMANY | July 4

Germany center back Mats Hummels heads home the only goal in a 1-0 win over France, which secured Germany's fourth straight trip to the World Cup semifinals.

BRAZIL | June 12

Neymar celebrates after scoring Brazil's first goal of the World Cup in a 3-1 win over Croatia in the competition's opening game.

BRAZIL | June 17

Brazil captain Thiago Silva's header is stuffed by Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, who made six saves in a thrilling 0-0 draw in Group A play.

BRAZIL | June 23

Neymar slides a shot under Cameroon defender Nicolas N'Koulou to score in Brazil's 4-1 win, which secured first place in Group A.

BRAZIL | June 28

Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar makes a save on Chile's Alexis Sanchez during the teams' penalty shootout in the round of 16.

BRAZIL | July 4

Neymar is kneed in the back by Colombia's Juan Camilo Zuniga, causing teammate Marcelo to call for help and fracturing a vertebra that rules him out for the rest of the World Cup in the process.