Brazil-Germany Match Thread

And then there were four.

The semifinals are upon us at this World Cup. There has been shortage of drama in the tournament. From shocking upsets, to late winners, to the drama of penalty kicks. The Brazilians finally looked like Brazil against Colombia, while the Germans continued their methodical push through the World Cup.

Some match day links to get you ready:

In case you've been living under a rock, Neymar is out of the World Cup.

Can Brazil survive without Neymar? Yes says their manager.

Thiago Silva is still suspended, after FIFA rejected Brazil's appeal of his yellow card.

A quick aside: Silva has two yellow cards in five matches. His first yellow card came against Mexico in the group stage. His second yellow against Colombia was deserved and a stupid play on his part, but there is no way that two yellow cards in five matches should equal a suspension. In MLS, a player is suspended after five yellow cards. Now, I know they couldn't have that rule in such a short tournament, but two cards in five matches warrants a suspension? Let's use some math to illustrate this. Silva picked up 2 yellow cards in 450 minutes of game play, meaning he was booked once every 225 minutes (once every 2.5 games). I haven't taken into account any substitutions, as players can get carded on the bench. The math is simple for MLS, to get suspended in the same number of games, you'd have to be booked once per game, once every 90 minutes. But, if went the same amount of time played per booking as Silva, said MLS player would go 12.5 games before being asked to take a seat. To me, someone who picks up a card every three games (2.5, if you want to get technical, but since they don't kick you out right then and there, we'll round up), isn't an overly dangerous player. Now, if players were given three cards before suspension, to be suspended at this stage, they'd pick one up every 1.67 matches (booked once every 150 minutes). That to me is a player worthy of suspension (at that rate, a player in MLS would accumulate five cards in just over 8 matches).

That was a long way of saying that I'd argue that it should be three cards before suspension, or at the very least a player should have his cards not carry over at the start of the knockout round (I believe that players are given a clean slate after the quarterfinals.)

Germany's manager is also upset about the officiating, but not for the same reason.

Ryan Rosenblatt says it's time for Germany to drop Ozil.

It's a rematch of of the 2002 final, the aftermath of which saw a new direction for Germany.