The flames of France came to an end at the Brazil 2014,
falling 1-0 to the ruthless German machines that did not waste time in
knocking off the French side that merely escaped defeat from the Super Eagles
last Monday.
The French side that had kept clean sheets in their last two
games lived up to their tradition as the Les Bleus have never managed to go
three World Cup matches without conceding a goal
The Germans will have the Man of the Match, Mats Hummels to
thank. His solitary goal in the 13th minute was the match decider. He headed
past French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris from a perfectly taken free kick by Toni
Kroos.
The Germans who move to the semi finals had a break from the
past. Since Brazil defeated them in the 2002 final match, Germany has lost
another three World Cup games, all at the hands of European sides. Their
opponents were Italy in 2006, followed by Serbia and Spain in 2010.
For Miroslav Klose, it was his 22nd World Cup match as he
moved up to second in the tournament appearance ranking for German players,
behind Lothar Matthaus (25) and one in front of Uwe Seeler.
The forward would be placed third in the overall ranking,
behind Matthaus and Italy’s Paolo Maldini (23)
