Brazil vs Germany: Dante's Inferno - A defensive team that forgot defence

Neymar was supposed to be the major absentee for Brazil. But as the painful 30 opening minutes of the World Cup semi-final against Germany showed, if Brazil was a one man team, that man was Thiago Silva.

Without the captain and defensive marshal, Brazil gifted goals and allowed the Germans to play through them like traffic cones. Against Colombia in the previous round, Brazil benefited from an early Silva goal from a corner. They obliged to pass the gift on to Germany's Thomas Müller in identical fashion equally early on.  

If Brazil supporters had believed it was just a defensive lapse, the second goal would have made them realize that the fort would not hold. For the second goal, Germany waltzed through the heart of the Brazilian defense with unruffled ease, with nary a block or challenge. Miroslav Klose, who should not be allowed a sniff of goal in the box, was allowed two tries to score, and when he finally did to become the all time World Cup record goalscorer, the nearest defenders to him were fullbacks Marcelo and Maicon.  

Germany continued to be allowed to ping passes in their attacking third, a bizarre situation considering that Brazil fielded both Luiz Gustavo and Fernandinho in midfield, two strong advocates in the art of destruction. The back line could not have wished for a stronger shield. And yet they all stood off the Germans and allowed them time and space. Dante, getting his chance in the tournament in place of Silva, looked off the pace and indecisive. It did not improve in the second half, and Philipp Lahm was granted time in the box to pick out a pass to André Schürrle amid a mass of by-standing yellow shirts.

Scolari had fielded a line-up that went for safety, one that theoretically would have ensured compactness and solidity. Apparently the players did not know or failed to execute. Most unusually at such a level, it was a defensive team that did not defend.