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Brazil 1-7 Germany: Where are they now?

Germany ran
Germany ran riot against Brazil in the first half of the match

The FIFA World Cup is the most watched sporting spectacle on the planet, with a reported average viewership of over 3.5 billion per tournament. It's also probably the most prestigious trophy on offer in the sport.

The World Cup has given us several memorable moments - Maradona's "Hand of God", Gordon Banks' "save of the century" against Pele, Cameroon defeating defending champions Argentina 1-0 with 9 men in 1990.

But several years from now, you can say with a certain level of confidence that Germany's 7-1 demolition of hosts Brazil in 2014 will be right up there with them.

That match broke quite a few records - Germany's biggest win in a World Cup, Miroslav Klose became the World Cup's record goalscorer and Brazil's biggest ever margin of defeat among them.

To be fair to the hosts, they came into the match without Neymar and captain Thiago Silva but you can be excused for thinking that the game would be a close affair. After all, the Brazilians were playing on home turf, and they still had a squad decent enough to beat the Germans.

Instead, the 58,000 fans who turned up at Belo Horizonte witnessed a footballing humiliation unlike any other. The Germans were 5-0 up within 29 minutes, and added two more by the 79th minute.

Here we take a look at the players who took part in that historic match, and where they are now.

Brazil defence

Julio Cesar

Brazil v Germany: Semi Final - 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil
The semifinal against Brazil will probably not be his fondest memory

The 38-year-old goalkeeper is still on the books at Benfica, but it's fair to say that retirement is on the cards after having made only 3 appearances this season.

He's had quite the memorable career, having established himself as a world-class player at Inter, before losing his no. 1 status at QPR to the likes of Rob Green, and then again winning the Portuguese league's Best Goalkeeper award in 2015.

His 87 caps for Brazil shows that he is one of their best goalkeepers of this century, but his performance against Germany was probably one of his worst.

Maicon

AS Roma v Udinese Calcio - Serie A
Maicon also briefly played for Roma after leaving Man City

The right-back is another Brazilian Inter Milan veteran on the list, having made 177 appearances for them in 7 years. He's also represented the likes of Monaco, Manchester City, Roma and Cruzeiro in his career.

Maicon, at his peak, was one of the best-attacking fullbacks in the world, contributing equally to defence and attack with his insane work rate, crossing and pace.

At 36 years old, he currently plies his trade with Avai FC, a Brazilian top-tier club. He signed for them in May, marking his return to his home country 13 years after he joined Monaco from Cruzeiro.

David Luiz

Real Madrid CF v Paris Saint-Germain - UEFA Champions League
PSG signed David Luiz barely a month before the semifinal

Barely a month after joining French champions PSG from Chelsea for £50 million, David Luiz captained his country in that fateful match against the eventual champions.

The long-haired Brazilian was at fault for the opening goal, failing to mark Thomas Muller at the far post from a corner.

Thankfully for PSG, he had quite a successful career in France, winning consecutive Ligue 1 titles in his two seasons there. He returned to Chelsea in 2016 and is still an integral part of Antonio Conte's three-man defence.

Dante

Brazil v Germany: Semi Final - 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil
Dante hangs his head in dejection after a Germany goal

The only reason Dante played in the semifinal was because of Thiago Silva's injury. It's understandable that he has only 13 caps for Brazil, given that he plays in the same era as quite a few talented defenders like Miranda, Silva and Luiz.

He's perhaps best known for his time at Bayern where he won three Bundesliga titles and one Champions League title. He was almost consistently first choice at centre-back for them (especially during their treble-winning campaign) before moving to Wolfsburg in 2015

His slow pace has always been an issue and he was helpless against the likes of Muller, Ozil and Kroos.

He's currently with Nice and has established himself as the first choice centre-back for the French club. He's already 34 though, and probably has only a couple more years left.

Marcelo

Real Madrid CF v Getafe CF - La Liga
Marcelo is probably the best attacking fullback in the game right now

Possibly the best left back of his generation, Germany's narrow approach against Brazil effectively negated any contributions he could have made.

He joined Real Madrid from Fluminense in 2007 and has been tearing it up in Spain ever since. His pace, dribbling and crossing are better than that of most wingers and he provides an unlikely attacking outlet down the left whenever Real find themselves in a fix.

Real signed him as a long-term replacement for Roberto Carlos, and he's managed to deal with the pressure that comes with it very effectively.

At the age of 29, he's hardly shown any signs of slowing down, and still has a solid 3-4 years left in him.

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