Brazil Crushed by Germany in Semifinals

TALES AZZONI AP Sports Writer

BELO HORIZONTE,

Brazil

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(AP) - It was a humiliating home defeat of record proportions that no

Brazil

ian could have seen coming.

With its defense collapsing early and nobody able to spark the attack,

Brazil

conceded four goals in a seven-minute span, trailed 5-0 at half time and was routed 7-1 by Germany in the World Cup semifinals on Tuesday.

"We got lost a little bit there,"

Brazil

's stand-in captain David Luiz said. Germany "realized the game was there for the taking and scored the goals. It's very difficult to explain right now. The dream is over, in a way that the people didn't want."

Without suspended captain Thiago Silva and injured star striker Neymar, the

Brazil

ian team appeared rudderless.

Fans were in shock, some leaving way before the final whistle.

Seven years after winning the bid to host the tournament, the five-time champions already know that they can finish no higher than third place. The playoff - some argue the cruelest of the World Cup matches - is Saturday against the loser of the Netherlands- Argentina semifinal.

It was

Brazil

's heaviest ever loss in terms of goals conceded, and equaled the margin of its previous worst defeat - the 6-0 loss to Uruguay in 1920.

Germany scored the most goals and the biggest margin of victory ever in a World Cup semifinal.