World Cup. Semi-finals. Brazil vs Germany preview. No Neymar, no party?

FootballTop previews the replay of 2002 World Cup final between Brazil and Germany.

The road to last four

The Pentacampeons have not cruised through the group stage and play-off round, but still made it to the semis. The very first match against Croatia showed the hosts would not have an easy walk through the tournament. They beat Niko Kovač’s team hugely courtesy of the Japanese referee Nishimura, who awarded a penalty for Fred’s dive. In the second match Brazilian stars failed to disappoint incredible Guillermo Ochoa and only grabbed a point. A comfortable victory over lacklustre Cameroon allowed selecao to finish atop of the group on goal difference.

In play-off round Brazil celebrated hard-fought wins over CONMEBOL neighbours Chile and Colombia. Chile fell in penalty shootout, while defenders Thiago Silva and David Luiz dragged Brazil past Colombia.

In both knockout stage matches Brazil only scored from set-pieces, which makes Neymar injury even more worrying. How they are going to create chances without their only star forward - we have no idea.

The road to last four

The German machine strated the championship with crushing Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal 4-0, with Thomas Mueller scoring a hat-trick. A modest 2-2 draw with Ghana followed. in the last group match Germany beat Juergen Klinsmann’s USA and finished at the top of the group.

Two narrow victories in play-off followed. In the last 16 it took Die Mannschaft 120 minutes to make it past stubborn Algeria. In the quarters Joachim Low outwitted talented, but vulnerable France. That victory looked so casual that Manuel Neuer’s saves did not look as impressive as they were.

Brazil news

By no means were Selecao the easy favourites on paper, but the two heavy losses could kill their hopes of making it past Germany. Their main star man Neymar was knocked down by Juan Zuniga in the last game, which resulted in fractured vertebra. The scale of national mourning can be judged from the picture taken outside the hospital, where Neymar is being treated:

To add to Brazil’s hard luck, captain Thiago Silva is suspended for the germany clash after receiving a second yellow card against Colombia.

Marcelo’s grandpa passed away one of these days and Real Madrid full-back left the squad for a couple of days. Willian has a hip injury, but could play in case of emergency.

Brazil is wounded and their fans are not quite optimistic. However, this could release tension from the hosts and make such footballers as Hulk or Oscar show their best in Neymar’s absence.

In other words, Brazil will need to show their best to make it past mighty Germany, but it is too soon to write off their chances.

Germany news

The only player missing for Germany is Shkodran Mustafi. All the rest are ready to fight.

German media are putting the players under pressure and demand to bring the trophy to the country for the first time since 1990.

History

Brazil and Germany have met 24 times, but only once in the final stage of the World Cup. Brazil won the 2002 final by 2-0 courtesy of a brace from Ronaldo.

Managers talk

Joachim Low asked the referees to pay attentional to Brazil's agressive physical style: "The physical energy in the match against Colombia went beyond the limits in Europe. When I saw that match ... in Europe, 22 players wouldn't have ended that match. There were brutal fouls".

Luiz Felipe Scolari conceded Brazil will play their own game of football on Tuesday night: "We respect them, but we have to enforce our style of play. We decide how to play just before each match.
"It doesn't matter how the other team play, we will play as we choose. I guess that is the way we are planning to play. It is going to be difficult for Germany, but let's see what happens."

Referee

The 40-year old Mexican referee Marco Rodriguez will serve the match. The one who failed to see Luis Suarez's antics against Giorgio Chiellini and who was brave enough to send off Claudio Marchisio.

Bookmakers

Accroding to leading bookmakers, the semifinalists have equal chances of success, with Brazil odds 2,75, and Germany having 2,60.

Provisional squads

Brazil: Julio Cesar, Dani Alves, David Luiz, Dante, Marcelo, Luis Gustavo, Fernandinho, Hulk, Oscar, Willian, Fred.
Germany: Neuer, Lahm, Boateng, Hummels, Hoewedes, Kroos, Khedira, Schweinsteiger, Ozil, Scuerrle, Mueller.

Photo: balls.co.uk, dailymail.co.uk, huffingtonpost.co.uk