The Germans edged France in a low key encounter played in Rio de Janeiro.

The German National team last Friday, July 4 grab a fourth consecutive semi-final ticket after beating France 1 – 0. Playing at Estadio do Maracana in Rio de Janeiro under the auspices of Argentinian referee, Nestor Pitana, the Germans went into the lead as early as 12 minutes.

The breakthrough for the Germans came when Toni Kross whipped a free kick into the penalty box, Mats Hummels who was returning from an injury out muscled Raphael Varane and directed the ball with the head into the net leaving goalkeeper and captain Hugo Lioris dumbfounded.

From then on, the outcome of the match seemed inevitable even though the French mounted pressure up front creating a few scoring chances that were poorly exploited. They were however not lucky at the dying minutes of the game when Karim Benzema was denied the equalizer by German goalkeeper Neuer who employed all his experience to deflect a powerful shot by the Madrid attacker.

Though France was eliminated and left the competition sad, the Brazilian World Cup was a good forum for Les Bleus to repair their battered image four years ago, and start rebuilding a team for the next European nations championship. With a wide-open brand of soccer and a dozen of speedy young players, France unlike other national teams is on the right track for revamp.

It is the thirteenth time the Germans are qualifying for the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup after twenty appearances. They will be meeting host country Brazil on Tuesday.