Germany was worried at halftime of its World Cup semifinal rout of Brazil.
Things were going too well.
“We just made it clear that we had to stay focused and not try to humiliate them,” German stars Mats Hummels said, according to the Daily Mail. “You have to show the opponent respect, and it was very important that we did this and didn’t try to show some magic or something like this.”
Germany, after leading 5-0 at the intermission, wound up with an emotionally devastating 7-1 win over the host Brazilians, the largest margin of victory in the semifinal round in the history of the World Cup.