Brazil-Germany: Quotes

Luiz Felipe Scolari, Brazil coach

It’s the worst moment of my football career and the worst day of my football life. But life goes on. Who is responsible for this result? I am, it’s me. The blame for this catastrophic result can be shared between us all, but the person who decided the line-up, the tactics was me. It was my choice. We tried to do what we could, we did our best – but we came up against a great German team. We couldn’t react to going behind. We got disorganised and panicked after the first goal and then it all went wrong for us. Not even the Germans can tell you how this happened – but it’s because of their skills and you have to respect that. We have to learn to deal with it. My message for the Brazilian people is this. Please excuse us for this performance. I’m sorry that we weren’t able to get to the final – and we’re going to try to win the third place match. We still have something to play for.

Joachim Low, Germany coach

After losing the semi-final to Italy in 2006, we know how Brazil, the players, Mr. Scolari and the fans feel, so we have to be modest and humble and take the next step. The emotions are great. We won, we’ve made it to the final. We coped with the passion of the Brazilians and we knew that if we played to our capabilities we thought we would win – but we couldn’t have expected this result. We took our chances well and they strained under the pressure caused by conceding. Both Argentina and the Netherlands have huge qualities and it will be a difficult match. For Miroslav Klose to break the record of scoring the most goals at the World Cup, it means a lot to us. It’s great for him and for the team. If you’ve scored the most goals in the history of the World Cup, you’ve had to earn it. He’s still playing at the highest level and scoring goals.

Toni Kroos, Germany midfielder and Budweiser Man of the Match

It was an impressive performance. It’s the best team performance for Germany I’ve been involved in. We started believing from the first minute as we thought that Brazil were a little bit hesitant in their decision-making and we took advantage of that. After we scored the first, the goals kept coming. Had someone had said we’d have won 7-1 I wouldn’t have believed them, but I thought we were outstanding, that’s all I can say. We’re here to become world champions, we’re happy and relieved to go through – but there’s still one game to go. No-one has won the World Cup in a semi-final.

Source:FIFA.com

Compiled by:M.D