Germany vs Brazil preview

The Samba boys of Brazil will take on the German machine in the first semi final of the on going FIFA World cup. The explosive encounter is scheduled to be played in Belo Horizonte on Tuesday.

Brazil defeated hard fighting Chile in the quarter final match that was played on Friday night. Thiago Silva and Neymar Junior will miss the clash between these two former champions. While Neymar will be out for the rest of the tournament, Silva will serve a match ban.
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The captain was booked in the last eight fixture against Colombia. On the other hand, Neymar had a fracture in his vertebrae. The Barcelona forward could have been paralysed for life if Zuniga had raised his leg by just 2.3cm.

Coach Luis Felipe Scolari is expected to name Willian as  Neymar's replacement.

The Joachim Low tutored German side will try and avenge the defeat the country suffered in the 2002 World cup final in Yokohama. Germany were beaten 2-0 by the Brazilians.

The Europeans overcame France by a lone goal on Friday afternoon. Matt Hummels was on target in that match and he is expected to be on the starting line up against Brazil. Thomas Muller will be opportuned to add to his four goal tally after the ouster of Colombia's James Hernandez.

Miroslav Klose will also have the chance to become the highest goal scorer in the World cup history. The Polish born striker has scored 15 goals in all appearances since 2002. Ronaldo da Lima of Brazil is the other player with the same tally.

Kick off time : 20.00 UTC

Our prediction: Germany 3-2 Brazil

Brazil mauls Spain in confederations cup final

The samba boys of Brazil have become the first team to win the FIFA confederations cup on three successive occasions. The five time World champions demolished Spain by 3-0 at the Maracana on Sunday.

The reigning World and European champions were a goal behind as early as the second minute of action. Neymar's cross led to a goal mouth scramble in the Spanish penalty box before Fred poked the ball into the net after losing his footing.

The Fluminese striker showed a lot of desire to ensure that the vociferous Brazilian fans were given an early lift.

Brazil closed up every available space to deny the Spaniards any chance of spreading the ball around in their normal 'tiki-taka' style.

Oscar missed a chance to double the lead of the Brazilians when his tame effort went agonisingly wide off a flick by Fred.

Tottenham Hotspur-bound player, Paulinho had his looping effort carefully saved by Iker Casillas some minutes later.

The Spaniards' first real sight of goal came from Andres Iniesta. The Barcelona midfielder fired a shot that was palmed to safety by Julio Cesar.

Sergio Ramos and Alvaro Arbeloa were yellow-carded after the duo committed fouls that could have led to their dismissal.

The Brazilians dominated the first half with great tenacity. Hulk's power play on the right and Neymar's flair on the left flank unsettled the Spanish team.

Pedro was denied a lovely goal after the Barcelona player dribbled Cesar,but David Luiz cleared the ball off the line with an amazing slide.

With about two minutes to half time, the new 'Pele' of Brazil-Neymar buttressed his arrival on the big stage when he stood onside to rifle the ball into the net with his left foot.

Second Half
The samba boys continued the annihiliation of Spain in the 47th minute. A lovely assist from Hulk was guided into the net by Fred's left foot to make it 3-0.

Vincent Del Bosque responded by introducing Jesus Navas. The Manchester City signing made an instant impact by winning a penalty that was missed by Sergio Ramos.

Gerard Pique was sent off for a rough tackle on Neymar in the 68th minute. The Brazilians missed more chances through Marcelo and Neymar.

Pedro's effort was saved by Julio Cesar towards the end of the match.

Brazil will be expected to return to the top 10 when the new FIFA rankings are released in July.

Who's next after AVB?

Andre Villas Boas has been relieved of his position as the manager of Chelsea FC of London. For the sixth time in three years Chelsea have parted ways with their manager. The London club announced this decision on Sunday afternoon, 24 hours after their 1-0 loss at The Hawthorns against high flying West Bromwich Albion who won their third straight match in the League for the first time in 76 years. Andre Villas Boas joined Roman Abrahamovic's side in June 2011. The Portuguese manager led FC Porto to the Europa League and the Portuguese league title last season but he has failed to show any sign of doing that at Chelsea. The 34 year old manager became the youngest Premiership manager when he took over from Carlo Ancelotti who is currently enjoying a good spell at PSG of France. Avram Grant was sacked at the end of the 2007/2008 season while Luiz Felipe Scolari was brought in as a replacement. The former World Cup winning manager was fired in February 2009 while Guus Hiddink was named as a temporary manager. The National team job of the Dutch man prevented him from taking the Chelsea job on a permanent basis and Carlo Ancelotti was hired to tinker the London club for the 2009/2010 season. The Italian tactician won a double in his first season before he was sacked for his failure to win trophies at the end of the 2010/2011 season. This paved the way for AVB who couldn't control his players. Senior players like Drogba and Lampard were rumoured to have been one of the players that made AVB to lose his job. The Portuguese could have had a different experience at the club if he had sold players like Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda. This view was echoed by Scolari when he left Chelsea. Now that AVB has been sacked, former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has been linked to the job. Barcelona's Pep Guardiola is another man that has been linked with the hot seat at the Stamford Bridge.
The question now is "Who is the next manager that will be fired at Chelsea?" Only time will tell.