Scolari secretive about lineup to face Germany

Brazil's national football team is pursuing an appearance in a World Cup final today (July 8) 5pm (local time) against Germany at the Mineirão stadium in Belo Horizonte. The last time the team made that far was in 2002, when it became the only five-time world champion beating precisely Germany.

The Brazilian team will have to do without Neymar, who suffered a back injury in the latest game and is out of the tournament. Yet another absence is captain Thiago Silva, who was booked for the second time in the tournament and will have to sit out today.

Coach Scolari is secretive about Neymar's substitute. One choice would be to fall back on Luiz Gustavo again following his suspension in the match against Colombia. Paulinho, his replacement in the game, could still be kept among the first eleven to make Brazil's midfield more offensive. Another possibility would be using William to replace Neymar, which would go in line with the team's standard line-up. The coach must decide between reinforcing its midfield to keep up with Germany's or ensuring speedy offensive power to exploit the opponent's slow defense.

On defense, there are fewer blanks up in the air. Defender Dante is almost certain to replace Thiago Silva. Dante plays for Germany's top team, Bayern Munich, alongside no less than seven players from the German national team.

Germany is coming from a plain win over France. The match was not particularly eye-catching but qualification came beyond doubt. Coach Joachim Löw has all of the team's main players to choose from. Schweinsteiger, Özil and Kroos are the prime movers in midfield and tend to dominate their area in the games. Forwards Thomas Müller and André Schürrle could as well be in initial lineup to give Brazil's defense a hard time.

Brazil and Germany had faced off only once in World Cups in the 2002 final, when Brazil won. The German star back then was goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, who was chosen the best player of the 2002 World Cup, even after conceding Brazil's first goal.

Translated by Mayra Borges