July 8, 2014: Brazil 1-7 Germany, the Mineiraço

I wonder if the old man in the upper right remembered 1950.

July 8, 2014: Even the most sadistic of Argentina fans could not have drawn up what happened to Brazil in the World Cup Semifinal.

This was the 2nd time Brazil had hosted the tournament. The 1st time, 1950, ended with a defeat that was treated as a national trauma. They thought they could do it this time. They had no idea they were staring at the most shocking game in World Cup history.

They certainly seemed like they had the lineup: Former Internazionale Milano stars Júlio César in goal, Maicon at left back and Hernanez in midfield; FC Barcelona stars Dani Alves at right back and Neymar up front; Paris Saint-Germain centerbacks Thiago Silva (team Captain) and Maxwell; Chelsea stars, centerback David Luiz, midfielders Oscar, Ramires and Willian; Manchester City midfielder Fernandinho; and Zenit St. Petersburg forward Givanildo Vieira de Sousa, known as Hulk due to an alleged resemblance to Lou Ferrigno, who played the Marvel Comics superhero on TV.

They opened the tournament on June 12, beating Croatia 3-1 at São Paulo. They were held to a 0-0 draw by a strong Mexico team at Fortaleza, before walloping Cameroon, 4-1 at Brasília. They needed penalties to beat Chile in the Round of 16, 3-2 after a 1-1 match in Belo Horizonte. On July 4, in the Quarterfinal, Brazil beat Colombia, 2-1 at Fortaleza. If they could beat Germany in the Semifinal, then everything would be set up for an epic Final against arch-rival Argentina.

Brazil and Germany took the pitch at Estádio Mineirão in Belo Horizonte. No one on either side, player or fan, was thinking it would be easy. However, there were two bad signs for Brazil: Thiago Silva was suspended due to a compilation of yellow cards, and Neymar had been injured in the Quarterfinal, with a fractured vertebra in his back. If Brazil were to win this game, Thiago would be available for the Final, but Neymar, the country's brightest star, would not.

A crowd of 58,141 saw the kickoff at 5:00 PM local time -- 8:00 PM in Germany, and 3:00 PM on the U.S. East Coast. Just 11 minutes into the game, Thomas Müller of Bayern Munich scored off a corner. Miroslav Klose of Bayern scored in the 23rd, off a rebound when Júlio César could only deflect this shot, not stop it.

That's when Brazil lost control of the game. Almost right after the kickoff, Germany got the ball back from Brazil, and a deflection from Philip Lamm, Captain of Bayern and Germany, went to Toni Kroos, about to be sold by Bayern to Real Madrid. He scored. Just 2 minutes later, Kroos caught Fernadinho in possession, and scored again. Just 2 minutes after that, Sami Khedira and his former Real Madrid teammate Mesut Özil, now with Arsenal, played a one-two, and Khedira scored.

In a span of 6 minutes, Germany had gone from 1-0 up to 5-0 up, and the game wasn't even half an hour old.

More scoring in the 2nd half? Surely, you can't be serious. I am serious, and it was André Schürrle, then with Chelsea, who scored in the 69th minute, and again in the 79th. Oscar scored in the 90th minute, but it was the smallest of consolations. Brazil walked off the pitch 7-1 losers, and the home crowd booed them off the pitch.

On Facebook, to people not familiar with how soccer goes, I wrote, "Yes, my fellow Americans: This was worse than the 43-8 shellacking the Seattle Seahawks gave to the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl the preceding February. The Brazilians got crushed on home soil at their sport."

Just as the 1950 Final defeat became known as the Maracanaço, "The Agony of Maracanã," so, too, did this one become known as the Mineiraço, "The Agony of Mineirão."

Four days later, Brazil lost the 3rd Place Playoff to the Netherlands. The day after that, Germany beat Argentina in the Final. No one from Brazil consoled themselves with the thought that they had been eliminated by the best team in the world.

All they cared about was that, for the 2nd time in a lifetime, 72 years, they had been humiliated, at their game, on their soil. Brazil have won 5 World Cups, more than any country; and hosted 2 World Cups, a record they share with Mexico, Italy, France and Germany; but they've never won one that they've hosted. It will be a long time before they're allowed to host another, and maybe they shouldn't seek to do so.

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July 8, 2014 was a Tuesday. These Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Cleveland Indians, 5-3 at Progressive Field in Cleveland. Trevor Bauer outpitched Masahiro Tanaka. Derek Jeter, in his final season, went 0-for-4.

* The New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves, 8-3 at Citi Field.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-3 at Fenway Park in Boston. David Ortiz went 0-for-4 with a walk. I guess the steroids weren't working.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Kansas City Royals, 4-3 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Cincinnati Reds swept a doubleheader from the Chicago Cubs, 4-2 and 6-5 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 14-5 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 9-7 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-4 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Houston Astros beat their cross-State rivals, the Texas Rangers, 8-3 at Globe Life Park (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres, 2-1 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Miami Marlins beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 2-1 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Los Angeles Angels, 4-0 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. How many Toronto pitchers does it take to pitch a 5-hit shutout? In this case, 3: R.A. Dickey allowed 4 hits over 7, while Dustin McGowan allowed a hit in the 8th, and Aaron Loup didn't allow any in the 9th. Former Met José Reyes went 4-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBIs.

* The Oakland Athletics beat their cross-Bay rivals, the San Francisco Giants, 6-1 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the O.co Coliseum).

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Seattle Mariners, 2-0 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle. Phil Hughes allowed no runs on 8 hits and no walks, striking out 8, over 7 1/3rd innings. Casey Fien finished the 8th and Glen Perkins pitched the 9th, allowing no more baserunners.

* And the Baltimore Orioles and the Washington Nationals, nearby Interleague rivals, were rained out at Nationals Park in Washington. The game was made up on August 4, and the Orioles won, 7-3.