Germany through to final after historic 7-1 thrashing of hosts Brazil

Germany dealt shell-shocked Brazil a remarkable 7-1 thrashing Tuesday to advance to the World Cup final, in a match that quickly turned into a nightmare for the host nation.

Thomas Mueller struck 11 minutes into the game and from this point the Brazilian defence simply fell apart. Miroslav Klose added a second in the 23rd minute to become the top goalscorer in World Cup history, with 16 goals.

Toni Kroos bagged a three-minute brace and a goal from Sami Khedira put Germany 5-0 up by the 29th minute. Andre Schuerrle's second-half double added salt to the wounds, as Brazil's World Cup exit also equalled the five-time world champions' worst defeat ever. 

Brazil looked lost without star striker Neymar and captain Thiago Silva and a last gasp consolation from Oscar could not stop Germany easily progressing to meet the Netherlands or Argentina in Sunday's final.

The semi-final, as a contested match, lasted 22 minutes. It started with a fast tempo and seemed to be up for grabs, but the quartet of Mueller, Kroos, Mesut Oezil and Khedira soon proved too much for Brazil's slow defence and ran riot.

Brazil paid the price of leaving Mueller alone in the box in the 11th minute, and he calmly scored his fifth goal of a tournament off a corner taken by Kroos.

Marcelo appealed for penalty as Brazil tried to fight back, but Germany captain Philipp Lahm appeared to end his long run with a fair tackle inside the box.

That was the last time Brazil came close to getting back into the game.

Germany had managed to catch the Brazil defence off-guard several times, and the fast pace of Oezil and Mueller was soon to deliver more blows. Great work from Mueller and Kroos set up Klose, who shot and eventually scored off Julio Cesar's rebound.

By then, Brazil were staring into the abyss and Ronaldo had lost his place of privilege as the top scorer in the history of the World Cup.

Kroos's left-foot finish in the 24th minute was followed two minutes later by great play between himself and Khedira, along with awful defending in the box by stunned Brazil, which led to the former's second goal of the day.

In the 29th minute, Khedira himself found the net after some combination play with Oezil.

That, in effect, was the end of the match. The pace died down, and Brazil went to the changing room amid booing from the stands, in a match that had started with a thundering crowd rendition of the hosts' national anthem.

Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari brought on Ramires and Paulinho after the break and Brazil did appear to wake up a bit, though Germany clearly took their foot off the accelerator. 

"Rio de Janeiro, oh, oh!" Germany fans shouted. The hosts' harmless attacks did not find the net, and just in case, a right-foot shot from Andre Schuerrle made the score 6-0 in the 69th minute. Brazilian fans on the stands chorused "ole" as Germany played.

The pounding Brazil got in Belo Horizonte became the biggest win ever in a World Cup semi-final, surpassing three previous 6-1 scores.

Brazil remains, along with Spain, the only world champion not to have won the trophy at home. 

The match in Belo Horizonte was not as bad as the famous Maracanazo of 1950: Brazil had been expected to win that World Cup in Rio de Janeiro against Uruguay and only needed a draw to win the title, but they lost.

The hosts clearly missed Neymar and Thiago Silva, who are along with David Luiz the team's best players, but it seems hard to believe that having them on the pitch would have made the difference of leading them to the final on the evidence of this dismal display.