By now it’s not news that
Brazilians have reacted badly to their national team’s 7-1 destruction by
Germany in the World Cup. From street rioting to headlines evoking a national tragedy,
the soccer-mad nation hasn’t taken well a defeat that marks its lowest moment
in the sport. But what about the people who inflicted on them the worst defeat
ever for a World Cup host country? What are the Germans saying of their
unexpected, unprecedented triumph?
They
are being restrained, in fact. And they are even proclaiming their support and
affection for the team they have crushed beyond any expectation. Immediately
after routing Brazil in Belo Horizonte on Tuesday in the most lopsided World
Cup semifinal of all time, the German players seemed to realize that what they
had done wasn’t normal -- and they adjusted their behavior accordingly. In a
stadium packed with tens of thousands of people they had just stunned, they cut
the theatrics from their celebrations. Arms held high, sure, but no jumping and
no screaming: pretty tame stuff, all things considered, for a team that had
just made the final of the biggest sporting event in the world.
And the next day, some of the German team’s top players and their
country’s soccer federation took to Twitter to express support for the
Brazilians. On Wednesday, forward Mesut Özil tweeted a picture of two
Brazilian fans on the verge of tears, with a heartfelt sentiment. “You have a
beautiful country, wonderful people and amazing footballers-this match may not
destroy your pride! #Brasil,” he wrote.
His words clearly struck a chord, getting retweeted more than 60,000 times and
counting.
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