‘We broke the opponent’ – Germany’s Thomas Muller revels in 7-1 win over Brazil

Thomas Muller, who scored Germany’s first in their 7-1 semi-final rout of hosts Brazil, said his team revelled against the flimsy Brazilian defence.

Speaking after Germany's record-breaking win, the striker said: "The spaces were bigger today than against defence-minded teams. We benefited from that overwhelmingly, at one point we broke the opponent.

"You couldn't expect that at all but you can see after that how different games can develop."

Striker Miroslav Klose, who tonight broke the tournament record by becoming the World Cup's highest goalscorer, was full of praise for his team-mates: "You could see in training that we harmonise greatly," said the forward.

"We are one unit and you can see that on the pitch. It was so important that our set-pieces worked."

The Lazio man also explained why he resisted celebrating with one of his trademark back-flips: "Toni [Kroos] put the ball exactly there where it belonged for me, but I was hit during my goal so there was no chance to do a flip.”