Semi-Final Crucible for Brazilians

Brazil are through to the semis but find themselves severely weakened after their quarter-final game with the Colombians. Do they have enough fortitude to get past the mighty Germans?

Celebrations were rampant after Brazil booked passage to the final 4 after their 2-1 victory over Colombia, but Brazilians must be particularly worried after Neymar was stretchered off with what looked like a very serious back injury.

Early reports suggest that Neymar would definitely miss the semis and maybe the rest of the tournament; which is a shame for one of the tournament's shining lights thus far.

On top of that, Thiago Silva will miss the semis with his second booking of the tournament, leaving the Brazilians without their captain and defensive lynchpin.

Of the two, Thiago Silva is probably the greater loss as his vocal organization of the Brazilian defence has been instrumental in keeping the Brazilian machine moving through these knockout stages where they have struggled to impress in offence.

In fact, all of Brazil's goals in the came from their central defensive duo against Chile and Colombia, both from set pieces.

Brazil can call on either Napoli's Henrique or Bayern Munich's Dante to assume his role, with Dante particularly familiar with the German attack considering his experience in the Bundesliga. But this will be first time the Brazilian central defence is broken up this tournament.

The player who looked most threatening upfront is also out of the picture, which will be a massive sigh of relief for Mats Hummels and company. 

There are alternatives on the bench such as Willian, Bernard, or Hernanes. Still, judging from their displays so far, Brazil have struggled to impress going forward.

Hulk has shown a willingness to work the channels and has tested the goalkeeper on a few occasions but seems to lack the finesse in finishing his buildup play deserves. 

Oscar has seemed to fizzled out ever since his heroics in the first game against Croatia, but has been a tireless worker in tracking back and assisting the full backs. 

Still the greatest disappointment comes from their centre forward, Fred. Where once you find fearsome strikers such as Ronaldo, Adriano, Luis Fabiano and Tostao leading the line, here you have Fred. 

With only one (offside) goal to his name from the group stage bullying of Cameroon, Fred has been a caricature of how not to be a lone striker - failing to hold off central defenders and hold up the ball, failing to stay onside, failing to link up play, and failing to act as a foil to the trio of attacking forwards around him.

At least he got rid of that ridiculous moustache (which I think is him trying to look more like Scolari).

If Scolari really wants to proceed with a recognized striker, there aren't that many options. Jo is also a liability upfront as he clearly demonstrated against Chile. Hulk seems to be a viable alternative, but Scolari seems to prefer him running between full back and central defender rather than playing with his back to goal. 

The Germans have more than enough experience with semi finals (the upcoming one will be their twelth), and will look to trouble the Brazilians on the counter attack. 

This is particularly dangerous as the Brazilians full backs tend to rampage forward leaving gaps in the back. Luis Gustavo, Paulinho or Fernandinho will probably need to sit deep and cover to track the likes of Mesut Ozil and Thomas Muller. 

It will be a true spectacle this coming Tuesday morning (4.00 am Malaysian time) of Brazilian passion clashing with German ingenuity. 

The semi-final will be a true litmus test for Brazil looking to shake off the idea that they are a one man team.

However, it may be the man with the armband on his sleeve which will be more sorely missed than the one with the fabled number 10 on his back.