Germany attack into Brazil’s left-back zone
In such a stunningly convincing victory, it seems strange to highlight one zone where Germany were superior. Everything went right for them, everything went wrong for Brazil – there wasn’t one single aspect where the hosts even competed, let alone were better.
Nevertheless, it’s easy to pinpoint Germany’s main area of dominance – down their right, in Brazil’s left-back zone. For the first half hour, the number of times Germany broke in behind Marcelo was extraordinary, and equally ridiculous was the fact Marcelo didn’t the hint, remain in his position for a few minutes, and allow Brazil to get a foothold in the game. Instead, he kept motoring forward, and the German attacks kept on coming.
There were so many examples in the first half, that it’s worth going through them one-by-one…
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3:17, Marcelo moves forward into the opposition half to close down Thomas Muller, but falls asleep when Germany win a throw. The left-back is caught badly out of position, and Sami Khedira sees the space, sprints into it, and Muller throws him the ball for a quick counter-attack.
Khedira plays in Miroslav Klose, and Germany have their first opportunity to break in behind because Muller has sprinted past Marcelo – who has fallen asleep for a second time in the same move – but Klose’s touch is poor, and the pass doesn’t come. Muller screams at Klose, frustrated he’s been denied a golden opportunity to break the deadlock, but he would have further opportunities. This was Brazil’s first warning sign, and this area of the pitch decided the game.
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6:50,
Marcelo is caught obscenely out of position as Brazil lose possession in midfield, and while Luiz Gustavo is attempting to cover, Muller has remained high up the pitch on the right flank, ready to break in behind. Khedira knocks the ball out to Muller, who has space to cross to the far post. He picks out Mesut Ozil, who unselfishly cuts the ball back to Khedira. His goalbound shot hits Toni Kroos.
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9:35,
Marcelo receives a short pass from Hulk inside the final third, tries a stepover and pass, but concedes possession and allows Khedira and Muller to break into space. Gustavo again tries to cover but is outmuscled by Khedira, and Marcelo actually recovers very impressively, sprinting back to tackle first Muller, then Khedira, atoning for his own error. Still, he raises his hand to apologise to his teammates, recognising how mistake.
As it happens, Germany took the lead from the resulting corner – Muller was unmarked after Germany blocked off his marker, David Luiz.
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13:22,
Muller tries to play a one-two with Khedira, but Marcelo blocks him and concedes a free-kick.
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16:40, Marcelo’s attacking play resulted in one of Brazil’s best moments, where he and Hulk combined. Marcelo races in behind Philipp Lahm – but the German captain produces a superb sliding tackle inside the box.
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18:35,
Marcelo plays a ball forward into attack, which is intercepted by Jerome Boateng. Marcelo had continued his forward run, so Muller is yet again unmarked on the right. Kroos switches the play to that side, but the ball is overhit and Muller has to scramble to keep it in.
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21:30,
Marcelo again darts forward in advance of the ball, but the move breaks down. Yet again, Muller is breaking in behind the half-covering Gustavo, and his near post cross is cut out.
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21:50, Lahm starts becoming involved in an attacking sense, and Hulk’s defensive deficiencies become clear. From a throw-in, he and Muller combine on the right. Then, Lahm moves the ball inside to Kroos, and Muller runs inside Marcelo and tees up Klose for the second goal.
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23:45, Ozil sees all the fun his teammates are having on the right, so drifts to that flank, further overloading Brazil. He combines with the overlapping Lahm, whose cut-back finds a Muller mis-hit, and the ball runs through to Kroos at the far post, who makes it 3-0.
By this point, other problems were taking over. The pattern of Germany’s final third passes before the 30min mark, and after that point, are very different – the right-sided bias is less obvious.