Brazil coach Tite says his side are still haunted by “the ghost” of their 7-1 World Cup semi-final defeat by Germany four years ago.
The sides meet for the first time in Berlin on Tuesday since Brazil were humiliated at their home World Cup.
“This has a huge psychological meaning – no-one needs to fool themselves about that,” Tite told Kicker.
“The 7-1 is like a ghost, people still talk about it. The more you talk about it, the less this ghost disappears.”
Toni Kroos scored twice and Miroslav Klose broke the World Cup scoring record in 2014, when Germany went 5-0 up in 29 minutes.
For Tuesday’s Berlin friendly, Manchester City midfielder Fernandinho is expected to replace Douglas Costa in the only change from the team which beat Russia 3-0 in Moscow on Friday without the injured Neymar.
“I was watching the game [in 2014] at home in Sao Paulo with my wife and after the third goal went in, she started to cry,” said Tite.
“That started me off. It was a moment of great inspiration for Germany, every shot was a goal – stuff like that doesn’t even happen in video games.
“The wound is still open and the match in Berlin is a part of the process of closing it.”
Germany manager Joachim Low has rested Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil and Bayern Munich forward Thomas Muller for the game, with Kevin Trapp and Bernd Leno playing 45 minutes each in goal.
Low – whose side are favourites to retain their title in Russia this summer – said: “There might be three or four players in the starting line-ups from 2014.
“Of course, the Brazilians probably have a bit of desire for revenge, but you can’t turn the clock back.
“The 7-1 is the past.”
source:toptipz.com.ng
