Germany 7-1 Brazil: We’ll never see anything like it again

On July 8, 2014, Brazil and Germany played out a scarcely believable football match.

So brutal was the hosts' World Cup semi-final mauling that it will forever be known as simply "the 7-1". But it's easy to forget that right up until kick-off, it was just like any other semi-final at a major international tournament. To mark the first anniversary of the game, JOE has gone back in time to tell the whole story. The prelude came during Brazil's quarter-final four days earlier, with victory over Colombia coming at a cost. https://twitter.com/psharland55/status/486547263863275520 https://twitter.com/philmcnulty/status/486566655951392768 But the loss of two key players didn't prevent the Brazilian fans from showing up in high spirits, just like their German counterparts. https://twitter.com/AFP/status/486596768852103168 https://twitter.com/PurelyFootball/status/486595624448827392 The first worry for Brazil came when the team sheets were printed, with Paris Saint-Germain's David Luiz listed as a Chelsea player. Perhaps they should have seen it as an omen. https://twitter.com/ThisIsKen/status/486586093408886785 Still, it was all going according to plan for the hosts as the game got under way. https://twitter.com/Mantshut/status/486602432064262144 However with Thiago Silva missing, the Brazilian marking soon went to pot. On another day, Miroslav Klose's second - breaking Ronaldo's all-time World Cup goalscoring record - would have been the story of the evening. However, it was soon clear that Brazil's defenders would find a way to take the attention away from that particular stat. https://twitter.com/footballwheel/status/486644023671914496 https://twitter.com/footballwheel/status/486644372323442688 https://twitter.com/lifeatdeloitte/status/486611245265866752 A 5-0 scoreline at half-time launched a thousand comparisons... https://twitter.com/Priya8Ramesh/status/486609483825573889 https://twitter.com/fateiskind/status/486608539658768384 https://twitter.com/JamieCutteridge/status/486611801606733824 If we thought the Germans were going to ease off in the second half, we were wrong. André Schürrle was on, and he wanted to stake his claim for a starting spot in the final. Of course, we should have been prepared for this. https://twitter.com/Callum_TH/status/486611142320873474 https://twitter.com/footballwheel/status/486645237868404736 Brazil finally got on the scoresheet with seconds to spare, as Oscar showed some of the fighting spirit that was lacking earlier on. It might have just been a consolation, but it was enough to rile a couple of people. https://twitter.com/lukebushnellwye/status/486627468061978625 https://twitter.com/DTguardian/status/486634195679449089 At full-time there was a mixture of pride (from the German players), tears (from the Brazilians) and complete shock (from everyone else). It seemed like the defeated players just needed a hug, and thankfully this was one time that Thiago Silva's injury didn't stop him from contributing. https://twitter.com/cfc_story/status/486657573802610689 Even a year on, the shock hasn't really subsided for some. It will take a lot to surpass Germany 7-1 Brazil as the most momentous result in World Cup history. There's every chance that nothing will ever come close.