Miroslav Klose became the World Cup's all-time top scorer as Germany hit Brazil for seven to reach the final.The 36-year-old, playing in his fourth World Cup, had already equalled Ronaldo on 15 goals with his dramatic strike in Germany's 2-2 draw against Ghana in the group stage before moving ahead on Tuesday in the match in Belo Horizonte.
The goal was his first in a World Cup semifinal and arguably one of his most important as it put Germany 2-0 up in the last four clash.
A humble man who plays for Lazio after earlier spells at Kaiserslautern, Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich, Klose is the best German striker of his generation whose tremendous sense of fair play has won him admirers in his homeland and in Italy.
The soft-spoken striker, who was born in Poland and spoke almost no German when he moved to Germany with his family as an eight-year-old in 1986, is the antithesis of flamboyant and the epitome of Germany's star-less World Cup teams.
Standing 1.82 metres tall, Klose is almost unstoppable in the air and is known for his superb timing and leaping ability having worked hard to develop those skills.
He has been consistently lethal in front of goal in the last three World Cups and contributing to his record-breaking tally has been the fact he has played in 23 matches due to Germany having reached the final and semifinals twice in that time. Germany will face either the Netherlands or Argentina in Sunday's final at Rio de Janeiro's Maracana Stadium, which was their immediate concern in the wake of their stunning semifinal win in Belo Horizonte.
The Selecao were put to the sword by the Germans in the emotionally-charged semi as they felt the loss of injured superstar Neymar and suspended captain Thiago Silva.
But the Germans quickly switched their attention to Sunday's final as they bid to end their country's 24-year wait for a fourth World Cup title.
"We haven't reached our goal yet, we will put our foot to the floor once again and put our heart and souls into it to win this thing", said Thomas Mueller, who scored Germany's 2000th international goal to kick-off the rout.
"We can't run away with ourselves, just as it was said that we were finished after the (last 16 win over) Algeria, now we'll be praised to the heavens.
"That's really the wrong approach -- we're really just a very good team."
Germany will now travel to Rio for their eighth World Cup final having avenged their 2-0 defeat to Brazil in the 2002 final in emphatic style.
Toni Kroos and Andre Schuerrle both netted twice, while veteran Miroslav Klose made history of his own by scoring his 16th World Cup goal to become the competition's all-time sole top-scorer.
"We played an unbelievable game - respect, but another game is yet to come," said man-of-the-match Kroos as Brazil suffered their worst international defeat.
"We have come here to be world champions and we're not there yet. Whatever happens, there is a top opponent ahead of us and we both have a 50:50 chance."
Centre-back Mats Hummels said the German dressing room in Belo Horizonte was eerily quiet after the final whistle and there is a determination to realise the dream of a fourth title.
"It was astoundingly quiet in the dressing room, but that was easy to explain as we knew we had the game won with an hour to play, not wishing to sound arrogant," he said.
"So there wasn't much emotion after the final whistle. This is really something special, especially when you think what each individual has done.
"Now we will try to give everything to make our big dream come true."
The goal was his first in a World Cup semifinal and arguably one of his most important as it put Germany 2-0 up in the last four clash.
A humble man who plays for Lazio after earlier spells at Kaiserslautern, Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich, Klose is the best German striker of his generation whose tremendous sense of fair play has won him admirers in his homeland and in Italy.
The soft-spoken striker, who was born in Poland and spoke almost no German when he moved to Germany with his family as an eight-year-old in 1986, is the antithesis of flamboyant and the epitome of Germany's star-less World Cup teams.
Standing 1.82 metres tall, Klose is almost unstoppable in the air and is known for his superb timing and leaping ability having worked hard to develop those skills.
He has been consistently lethal in front of goal in the last three World Cups and contributing to his record-breaking tally has been the fact he has played in 23 matches due to Germany having reached the final and semifinals twice in that time. Germany will face either the Netherlands or Argentina in Sunday's final at Rio de Janeiro's Maracana Stadium, which was their immediate concern in the wake of their stunning semifinal win in Belo Horizonte.
The Selecao were put to the sword by the Germans in the emotionally-charged semi as they felt the loss of injured superstar Neymar and suspended captain Thiago Silva.
But the Germans quickly switched their attention to Sunday's final as they bid to end their country's 24-year wait for a fourth World Cup title.
"We haven't reached our goal yet, we will put our foot to the floor once again and put our heart and souls into it to win this thing", said Thomas Mueller, who scored Germany's 2000th international goal to kick-off the rout.
"We can't run away with ourselves, just as it was said that we were finished after the (last 16 win over) Algeria, now we'll be praised to the heavens.
"That's really the wrong approach -- we're really just a very good team."
Germany will now travel to Rio for their eighth World Cup final having avenged their 2-0 defeat to Brazil in the 2002 final in emphatic style.
Toni Kroos and Andre Schuerrle both netted twice, while veteran Miroslav Klose made history of his own by scoring his 16th World Cup goal to become the competition's all-time sole top-scorer.
"We played an unbelievable game - respect, but another game is yet to come," said man-of-the-match Kroos as Brazil suffered their worst international defeat.
"We have come here to be world champions and we're not there yet. Whatever happens, there is a top opponent ahead of us and we both have a 50:50 chance."
Centre-back Mats Hummels said the German dressing room in Belo Horizonte was eerily quiet after the final whistle and there is a determination to realise the dream of a fourth title.
"It was astoundingly quiet in the dressing room, but that was easy to explain as we knew we had the game won with an hour to play, not wishing to sound arrogant," he said.
"So there wasn't much emotion after the final whistle. This is really something special, especially when you think what each individual has done.
"Now we will try to give everything to make our big dream come true."
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