Joachim Low’s side are wary of a Selecao team that committed 31 fouls in their quarter-final win over Colombia and called for a clamp down from official Marco Rodriguez.
Germany coach Joachim Low and defender Jerome Boateng have called for strong refereeing from Mexican official Marco Rodriguez in their side’s World Cup semi-final clash with Brazil on Tuesday.
Brazil’s players committed 31 fouls in their quarter-final win over Colombia on Friday and Low claims many of those were cynical actions which interrupted promising attacks.
“I saw the game between Brazil and Colombia and there were many fouls by both teams,” he said at the pre-match press conference at the Estadio Mineirao on Monday.
“There were many fouls where a player jumped on another’s back to stop his rival. The fouls I saw were not players chasing the ball and trying to win possession.
“There were brutal fouls. People blocking opponents however they could. It was really exaggerated. That’s what we saw on the pitch, so I hope these really brutal and crude fouls are stopped, or we won’t see players like Lionel Messi, Mesut Ozil or Neymar – we’ll just see players who go out to destroy.
“This is a World Cup that’s full of dynamism and physical force, but I have seen matches where the limits have been surpassed.”
The Germany coach then called for a strong performance from referee Rodriguez as his side attempt to silence the host nation.
“I hope the referee, Mr Rodriguez from Mexico, will clamp down on things,” Low added.
“That physical energy in the match against Colombia went beyond the limits in Europe. When I saw that match… in Europe, 22 players wouldn’t have ended that match.”
And Boateng said: “We saw a lot of tackles from behind in Colombia against Brazil and it went beyond what was acceptable.
