The Story of the 2014 World Cup — Germany's Fourth and Brazil's Nightmare
Brazil were hosting the World Cup for the first time since 1950 — the year of the Maracanazo, when Uruguay defeated Brazil in the deciding match in front of 200,000 people in Rio de Janeiro, producing the most traumatic result in Brazilian football history. In 2014, with a squad that included Neymar, Oscar, Hulk and David Luiz, Brazil hoped to finally exorcise the ghost of 1950 by winning on home soil.
What happened instead was worse. Brazil did not lose the deciding match on the last day of the tournament. They lost the semi-final 7-1 to Germany — in Belo Horizonte, in front of their own supporters, in a manner so comprehensive and so swift that even the German players seemed uncomfortable.
The Mineirazo — 7-1
Brazil went into the semi-final without Neymar, injured in the quarter-final against Colombia, and without captain Thiago Silva, suspended. Germany scored after eleven minutes. Germany scored again after twenty-three minutes. And then, between the twenty-fourth and the twenty-ninth minute, Germany scored four more times. Six goals in eighteen minutes. Brazil were 5-0 down before half an hour had been played.
The images from the Estádio Mineirão that night have never left football's consciousness — grown men and women weeping openly in the stands, children with tears streaming down their faces, supporters who had come to celebrate becoming witnesses to catastrophe. The final score was 7-1. It was the worst defeat in Brazilian international football history.
The result has a name — the Mineirazo, after the stadium in which it occurred, echoing the Maracanazo of 1950. Brazil have not hosted another World Cup since.
James Rodriguez — The Golden Boot
The 2014 World Cup produced one of the greatest individual knockout stage performances in tournament history. James Rodriguez of Colombia scored six goals in five matches, including a stunning chest control and left-foot volley against Uruguay that was voted Goal of the Tournament. He was 22 years old and had arrived in Brazil as one of the least-known players in Colombia's squad. He left as the tournament's top scorer and one of the most sought-after players in Europe — Real Madrid signed him shortly afterwards.
Germany — Champions at Last
Germany won the final against Argentina 1-0 through Mario Götze's extra-time finish — a first-time volley after bringing the ball down on his chest. It was a goal of extraordinary technique, scored in the 113th minute, by a substitute who had been brought on specifically to change the match. Joachim Löw, who had managed Germany to the final in 2002 as an assistant, lifted the trophy as head coach.
It was Germany's fourth World Cup title and their first as a unified nation — the three previous had been won by West Germany. The celebrations in Berlin attracted over a million people.
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