Arguably the biggest and most eagerly-anticipated match of the World Cup so far; as the hosts Brazil come up against European powerhouse Germany in the first semi-final of the tournament.
It's win or bust for the host nation - who have been under an increasing amount of pressure in the past few weeks to succeed in-front of the home support, who are expecting them to win their first WC since 2002 on home soil, making for a sweet victory.
Unfortunately for them, they will have to battle on and do so without star players Neymar and Thiago Silva, who are both out of contention for the match for completely different reasons.
The golden boy Neymar was ruled out of action after breaking his vertabra during a high knee challenge by Zuniga in the previous match against Colombia, while Thiago Silva was booked for a silly foul on the goalkeeper half-way through the match.
It will not exactly be an easy test for Brazil though, coming up against a fierce opponent in the shape of Germany who are fairly bullish about their chances of progressing to the final and winning the World Cup this year, having got to the semi-finals in four consecutive tournaments - which just happens to also be a record.
Here are the teams' road to the semis:
And, here are the team line-ups for tonight's clash:
Brazil: Julio Cesar, Maicon, Dante, Luiz, Marcelo, Gustavo, Fernandinho, Hulk, Oscar, Bernard and Fred.
Subs: Jefferson, Victor, Dani Alves, Paulinho, Maxwell, Henrique, Ramires, Hernanes, Willian and Jo.
Germany: Neuer, Lahm, Boateng, Hummels, Howedes, Schweinsteiger, Khedira, Muller, Kroos, Ozil, Klose.
Subs: Zieler, Weidenfeller, Grosskreutz, Ginter, Schurrle, Podolski, Draxler, Durm, Mertesacker, Gotze and Kramer.
Referee: Marco Rodriguez (from Mexico)
20:53 - National anthems have begun, with Germany first.
20:55 - Who do I want to win? I want to see the best team prevail, but personally I think that Germany will have too much quality for Brazil over the 90 minutes.
20:56 - If it goes to extra time and beyond, who knows? Home advantage has helped them so far.
20:57 - Despite losing two of their star players, Brazil's team is still solid on paper. The question is whether they can gel together as a team without a few of their key players and overcome an impressive German side.
20:58 - Both national anthems have been sung, and Brazil go again with their noisy atmosphere - Julio Cesar and tonight's captain David Luiz hold aloft a shirt with Neymar on the back, you can tell how badly they need him.
20:59 - An unchanged side for Germany, with the same line-up that Joachim Loew picked in the 1-0 win against France.
21:00 - And it begins. This will be interesting to watch!
8: Nothing's really happened in the match so far, both sides are trying to find their shape and are tentative to go forward at the moment, waiting for the other side to make their move.
10: GOAL! Germany ahead! Well now something's happened! Sloppy defending from Brazil, as Muller slots a tap-in past Cesar into the net from a corner-kick.
13: Brazil are going to need to react, and quickly to this. 1-0 down, and Germany are not the sort of team to concede many goals. 1-0 to the Germans.
15: Brazil have started the game slowly just wow. Ball retention is poor, they are dragging players forward and not quick enough to track back and defend on the counter attack
16: Perfectly-timed tackle by full-back Phillip Lahm who slides in cleanly across on Marcelo, who goes down to ground in the penalty area appealing for a foul.
17: The referee points to the corner flag and nothing more, as Boateng reacts angrily to Marcelo's theatrics and the two sides clash to try and protect their players.
20: Germany look dangerous every time they go forward, Brazil are nervy at the back.
22: GOAL! A new World Cup record has been broken! Lazio striker Miroslav Klose doubles Germany's lead with a rebounded effort past a despairing Cesar to make it 2-0 to the Germans.
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| Klose breaks the World Cup record to score his 16th World Cup goal, the most ever! |
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| Poacher: Klose celebrates his strike, as Brazil struggle to wake up and concede again |
26: AND ANOTHER ONE! I'm not lying! 4-0 to Germany, thanks to another strike for Kroos.
27: This time, a bad touch by Manchester City defensive-midfielder Fernandinho is pounced on from Kroos who sprints past him, wins the ball back and passes the ball across to Khedira.
He jogs past his marker and slots the ball across to Kroos, who taps the ball into the net.
29: GOAL! I think that's enough for Brazil now, they have been put out of their misery tonight. 5-0 to Germany, Ozil with an unselfish pass across the box to Khedira who taps into the net.
30: From bad to worse to horrible for Brazil. 30 minutes gone, and they are 5-0 down.
32: That just proves how much they rely on their star players.
45: One minute of stoppage time to be added on, at the end of the first-half. Unbelievable half of football for both sides.
45+1: HALF-TIME.
Brazil 0 Germany 5 -
It could be 6 or 7 at the moment, I'm pretty sure most Brazil supporters are grateful that I haven't commentated on the last ten minutes or so but it has been one-sided from start to finish.
5-0 down at the break, it's obvious that they are only playing for pride now.
22:03 - Second-half has just begun, with a few substitutions for both sides.
Brazil: Hulk and Fernandinho OFF, Ramires + Paulinho ON
Germany: Mats Hummels OFF, Per Mertesacker ON
45: So the second-half has begun. 5-0 to Germany, I'm not lying.
46: Cameras show some glum Brazil supporters, not exactly surprised - they are in shock that they are losing so badly.
49: Desperate attempt to get forward from the Brazil players, but there is a chance that they could leave themselves exposed on the counter attack.
50: Chelsea midfielder Ramires' low cross into the box was parried away by Neuer, as Brazil attempt to play for pride and score a few goals.
51: Neuer will obviously want to have a clean sheet tonight if he can, good reactions by the Bayern goalkeeper to anticipate the danger.
52: GOOD STOP by Neuer! He does well to get down low and block Oscar's outside-of-the-foot strike from close range.
53: Another good save from Neuer with an acrobatic stop to deny Paulinho not once but twice from inside the area - and fair play to Brazil who have started the second-half well.
56: Good bursting run outside his box to retrieve the ball from Neuer, who intercepts the danger and clears the ball away before being tripped by the approaching run from Ramires.
58: Germany SUB -
Miroslav Klose OFF
Andre Schurrle ON
60: GOOD SAVE BY CESAR! He does well to push over a swerving effort over the bar and out for a corner from Muller's drive towards goal.
61: Something that you don't exactly want to see in football there - full-back Maicon is lucky not to be booked for simulation.
65: If it makes things any better, there is only 25 minutes left of the match to go. Germany are happy to keep this lead, but they could easily score again.
67: First yellow card of the match goes to Brazil defender Dante after a cynical tripped foul on Muller, who does well to win a foul on the centre circle.
69: GOAL! First of the half for Germany, and it's now 6-0. Another nice pass-and-move between the team-mates inside the Brazil area is finished off by substitute and Chelsea striker Andre Schurrle.
72: Brazil SUB -
Fred OFF
Willian ON
73: The ultimate humiliation for Fred, who has been quiet throughout and is being greeted by jeers and boos from the supporters in the ground.
76: Germany SUB - Sami Khedira OFF
Julian Draxler ON
77: Khedira has been unplayable tonight, top-quality throughout and walked past the Brazil defence with ease at times. Assisted, and also scored.
78: Julian Draxler gets his first taste of first-team international football; 10 minute run-out or so for the Schalke midfield startlet.
79: GOAL! Germany make it 7-0, with another goal from substitute Schurrle, who hits the ball powerfully into the roof of the net past a flailing Cesar, unable to stop the strike from beating him into the net.
81: As a neutral you don't want this match to end but I just feel sorry for Brazil at the moment, they don't know what to do!
85: 5 minutes plus a period of stoppage time to be added on at the end of the match, the supporters inside the ground are completely stunned.
87: "Ole" is the phrase vibrating around the stadium now, even the Brazil supporters are singing it as Germany are just taking them apart.
90: GOAL! A consolation goal for the Brazilians, as Chelsea's attacking midfielder Oscar gets past Boateng before slotting the ball beyond Neuer's reach into the net after Ozil misses a chance at the other end in a German counter attack.
90+2: FULL-TIME.
Brazil 1 Germany 7:
The Brazilians were simply just not up to scratch on the night as they were taken apart from start to finish in a rampant display from Germany.
The Germans took their chances with a clinical, ruthless edge to the game - but you can only feel bad for Brazil who would have never expected to lose so badly in a record defeat when it mattered the most in the semi-finals.
That emphatic result means that Germany have confirmed their place in Sunday's World Cup final, where they will either play against Netherlands or Argentina - they play tomorrow.
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