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Where does Brazil’s crushing defeat rank in all-time World Cup shocks?

By Joe Prince-WrightJul 8, 2014, 8:32 PM EDT
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Brazil 1-7 Germany.

Let that result sink in for a moment. Yeah, Brazil 1-7 Germany. In a World Cup semifinal. In front of the home fans in the host nation Brazil.

Okay, have you grasped the monumental nature of this yet?

[ VIDEO: Watch all seven goals for Germany ]

[ VIDEO: Klose breaks WC scoring record ]

It’s quite difficult to put this display from Germany into context. It is quite simply one of the most incredible results in World Cup history and a game that is destined for the history books as five-time world champions Brazil suffered their worst-ever defeat.

To try and put this result in its rightful place among the World Cups most shocking defeats, lets take a look back at these moments from years gone by to see where it should rank.

Germany beats Brazil 7-1 | How Brazil fell apart | Scolari takes blame | Luiz apologizes

Use the comments section below to discuss where Germany’s incredible win should slot in. Right now it seems like, and probably is given the enormity and importance of the match, the most shocking result in World Cup history.

USA 1 England 0, 1950

This is by far the most humiliating defeat in England’s World Cup history. The English were the favorites to win the entire tournament but found themselves 1-0 down in the 37th minute and they never recovered. Joe Gaetjens scored the game-winner for the U.S. and English soccer fans have had to live with this shock ever since.
North Korea 1 Italy 0, 1966
Going into this match it was a case of how many would Italy win by. At the end, it was a case of hanging their heads in shame as the Italians were beaten by Asian minnows North Korea. Pak Doo Ik scored the winner and the Italians were in shock.

Scotland 3 Holland 2, 1978

The Dutch made it to the World Cup final but lost to hosts Argentina. There’s no shame in that. However with the likes of Johan Neeskens in their prime and ‘total football’ in its pomp, there was certainly some shame in losing to Scotland. Archie Gemmill’s famous goal spurred the Scots on to win an epic clash 3-2 after everyone expected the Dutch to wipe the floor with their opponents.

Cameroon 1 Argentina 0, 1990

In just their second World Cup tournament Cameroon stunned the reigning champions Argentina in the opening match of Italia ’90. Reduced to nine-men after two red cards, the African nation looked doomed but Omam-Biyik headed home the winner as the “Indomitable Lions” made it all the way to the quarterfinals.

Republic of Ireland 1 Italy 0, 1994

Jack Charlton’s Ireland weren’t pretty to watch. Not at all. In Giants stadium the Irish stunned the runners up from 1990, Italy, as Ray Houghton’s looping effort gave the Republic of Ireland and unlikely win that they rode to reach the last 16. Somehow Ireland managed to keep Roberto Baggio and co. off the scoresheet as they produce a stunning win.

Spain 1 Netherlands 5, 2014

The depending champions were humbled in their opening group game. Humiliated, in fact. In a replay of the 2010 final, the Dutch used up all their pent up anger over the last four years to rip Spain apart. Robin can Persie and Arjen Robben both scored twice and Iker Casillas and Spain’s defense had a nightmare. They never recovered and crashed out at the group stage. Huge shock.

France 0 Senegal 1, 2002

It is hard to forget this one. France’s swaggering stars waltzed into Seoul for the opening game of the 2002 World Cup as the reigning champions… they then skulked out of the stadium with their tails between their legs as Senegal shocked the world. The reining World and European champions lost out after Papa Bouba Diop’s strike (cue the awesome dance around the corner flag celebrations) and they defended bravely to keep the French at bay. Incredible stuff.

UPSL playoff match abandoned after coach punches referee

Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images
By Nicholas MendolaDec 14, 2019, 5:05 PM EST
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A United Premier Soccer League playoff game was abandoned after a referee assault in Maryland on Saturday, the latest in a long line of referee abuse stories.

A player from Mass United had been shown a red card, and a member of the club’s coaching staff punched the referee.

The match between Mass United and World Class Premier FC (Maryland) was a Northeast Championship match, and would send a winner to the UPSL’s national finals in Miami.

[ MORE: Premier League schedule ]

The match was tied at 1 around halftime when the referee stopped play after a foul led to a skirmish between players.

According to a source, the referee mistakenly removed a red card from his pocket when he meant to show a yellow. Before the referee could correct himself, an assistant coach punched him in the face. The game was abandoned and the win awarded to World Class Premier.

The UPSL is considered to be the fifth-tier of the American Soccer Pyramid and is sanctioned by the United States Adult Soccer Association.

Referees in Berlin protested increased incidents of violence earlier this year, while Franck Ribery and Neymar have both been suspended for making contact with officials. In 2014, an American referee was killed after a player punched him in the face after a red card incident. The player was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Here’s how it looked from the local angle in Maryland, with The Montgomery County Sentinel reporter Carlos Alfaro Rodriguez on scene. He confirmed the incident with ProSoccerTalk.

Bundesliga wrap: Leipzig, BVB, Bayern all win in routs

Sancho Borussia Dortmund
Photo by Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Bongarts/Getty Images
By Nicholas MendolaDec 14, 2019, 3:43 PM EST
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Bundesliga has a new leader, at least for a day.

[ MORE: Bundesliga schedule  ]

RB Leipzig cruised to a win on the road and will now wait to see how Borussia Monchengladbach responds to bombing out of Europe.

Bayern and Borussia Dortmund also ran up the score lines on a busy day in Germany.

Fortuna Dusseldorf 0-3 RB Leipzig

Nordi Mukiele scored twice as Julian Nagelsmann’s men moved top of the table for at least a day. Patrik Schick also scored for Leipzig.

USMNT backstop Zack Steffen was under fire all day, making four saves, two high claims, and a clearance, but was at fault for one of the goals.

And ICYMI: Leipzig’s American midfielder, Tyler Adams, should return by the end of the month.

Bayern Munich 6-1 Werder Bremen

Milot Rashica supplied a surprise lead for the visitors, but it was all Bayern from the 24th minute onward. Philippe Coutinho scored the first goal of his hat trick in the 45th and Robert Lewandowski started his brace in stoppage time. Thomas Muller added a 75th minute goal as Bayern rose fourth, six points of Leipzig.

Mainz 0-4 Borussia Dortmund

Marco Reus and Jadon Sancho both had a goal and an assist for BVB, who pulls into third on the table. Nico Schultz and Thorgan Hazard also scored in the 0-save clean sheet for Roman Burki.

Hertha Berlin 1-0 Freiburg

Czech midfielder Vladimir Darida scored in the 53rd minute to help Jurgen Klinsmann to his first win as Hertha manager. Hertha is now three points clear of the relegation playoff spot, and the win comes over a Freiburg side flirting with the European places.

Elsewhere
Hoffenheim 2-4 Augsburg — Friday
Paderborn 1-1 Union Berlin — Rare point for the hosts
Koln 2-0 Bayer Leverkusen — Visitors finish with 9 men
Wolfsburg v. Borussia Monchengladbach — 9:30 a.m. ET Sunday
Schalke v. Eintracht Frankfurt — Noon ET Sunday

STANDINGS

Team GP W D L GF GA GD Home Away PTS
 RB Leipzig 15 10 3 2 42 16 26 4-2-1 6-1-1 33
 Mönchengladbach 14 10 1 3 30 16 14 6-1-1 4-0-2 31
 Borussia Dortmund 15 8 5 2 37 19 18 5-2-0 3-3-2 29
 Bayern Munich 15 8 3 4 41 21 20 5-1-2 3-2-2 27
 FC Schalke 04 14 7 4 3 25 18 7 3-3-1 4-1-2 25
 SC Freiburg 15 7 4 4 24 18 6 4-2-1 3-2-3 25
 Bayer Leverkusen 15 7 4 4 22 20 2 3-4-1 4-0-3 25
 1899 Hoffenheim 15 6 3 6 21 27 -6 3-1-4 3-2-2 21
 VfL Wolfsburg 14 5 5 4 15 14 1 2-3-2 3-2-2 20
 1. FC Union Berlin 15 6 2 7 19 20 -1 5-0-3 1-2-4 20
 FC Augsburg 15 5 5 5 24 28 -4 3-2-2 2-3-3 20
 Eintracht Frankfurt 14 5 3 6 24 22 2 4-3-1 1-0-5 18
 Hertha BSC Berlin 15 4 3 8 21 29 -8 3-0-4 1-3-4 15
 FSV Mainz 05 15 5 0 10 20 38 -18 3-0-4 2-0-6 15
 Werder Bremen 15 3 5 7 23 35 -12 1-2-4 2-3-3 14
 Fortuna Düsseldorf 15 3 3 9 16 32 -16 2-1-4 1-2-5 12
 1. FC Köln 15 3 2 10 14 30 -16 2-1-4 1-1-6 11
 SC Paderborn 15 2 3 10 18 33 -15 1-1-6 1-2-4 9

West Ham outlasts wasteful Southampton

Haller West Ham
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By Nicholas MendolaDec 14, 2019, 2:26 PM EST
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West Ham United allayed some of the pressure on manager Manuel Pellegrini by holding on for a 1-0 defeat of Southampton at St. Mary’s on Saturday.

[ MORE: Watch full PL match replays ]

Sebastien Haller scored the lone goal and Michail Antonio had one pulled back by VAR, but Saints missed myriad promising chances to draw level.

West Ham moves 15th with 19 points, while Saints remain behind 17th place Aston Villa on goal difference.

[ MORE: Premier League schedule ]

Three things we learned

1. Haller ends drought: Sebastien Haller’s early season honeymoon at West Ham was the thing of dreams. The big money Eintracht Frankfurt signing scored five times in seven matches. His chemistry with Felipe Anderson and company was wonderful. Then came eight matches without a goal and just one start in three matches. Manuel Pellegrini played him in attack with and not instead of Michail Antonio, and the pair delivered a goal.

2. Saints fail reward their own production: Southampton, quite frankly, should’ve claimed at least one point. Yes, West Ham also misused chances to score when it was 1-0 in its favor, but Saints had extreme problems in finishing what should’ve been great team goals. Ings hit the bar, which, yeah it happens, but Stephens and Hojbjerg’s second half chances have this 2-1 on another day.

There were similarities to their last outing, a 2-1 loss at Newcastle.

3. Antonio and Haller an answer for Pellegrini? Manuel Pellegrini likely bought himself more time with the win, but it wasn’t as convincing as it could’ve been had Antonio not been denied by VAR or Haller’s header not been saved by McCarthy. The big men were a problematic duo for the Southampton defense, and Pellegrini may opt to combine them again in future days.

Man of the Match: Antonio was a handful as usual, winning a half-dozen aerials and completed just as many dribbles.

Declan Rice had a first minute goal ruled offside (and properly so).

Sebastien Haller hit a glorious bass to Michail Antonio in the 17th minute, but the striker’s poor touch caused a handball.

Two West Ham players appeared to be fouled in the box on the same play, but Martin Atkinson saw nothing and VAR stayed with him.

[ MORE: Premier League stats ] 

The Irons took the lead on a well-worked team goal, Antonio crossing to the back post for Pablo Fornals. He headed back for Haller, who kissed the ball off the far post.

Fornals looked to have his first Premier League goal in the bag one minute after the break, but was defied by Alex McCarthy.

Antonio had it 2-0 for a moment, but VAR spotted his handling of the ball early in the dribble that led to his would-be marker.

Danny Ings struck a ball off the cross bar and Long butchered the rebound as Saints bid for an equalizer.

McCarthy made an outstanding save on an off-balance Haller header in the 78th, while substitute Andriy Yarmolenko couldn’t keep his 79th minute effort under the bar.

Jack Stephens made the least of a terrific set-up in the 81st minute, though he would’ve had to do well to level the score.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg was the next to miss a back post effort, wide of the frame.

Monterrey will meet Liverpool as Vangioni scores absolute marvel

Monterrey Vangioni wonder goal
Photo by Mike Hewitt - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images
By Nicholas MendolaDec 14, 2019, 1:33 PM EST
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Leonel Vangioni’s wonder goal may be a warning sign for Liverpool as Monterrey beat Al-Sadd 3-2 in a Club World Cup quarterfinal.

Vangioni, the former River Plate and AC Milan man, laced an aesthetic marvel to open the scoring, the ball rocketing around the back of the goal.

[ MORE: Premier League schedule ]

Another ex-River Plate man, Rogelio Funes Mori, scored before halftime to insure Monterrey’s advantage. Al-Sadd outscored Monterrey in the second half, but couldn’t get a late equalizer.

Monterrey meets Premier League powers Liverpool in a Wednesday semifinal. The Reds are bringing their best side to the tournament despite a League Cup date on Tuesday.

Liga MX has never put a team in the Club World Cup Final.

The other semifinal will see Brazil’s Flamengo meet Saudi side Al-Hilal.