Loew: Clamp down on brutal Brazil, ref
Germany coach Joachim Loew has pleaded with World Cup semi-final referee Marco Antonio Rodriguez to protect his players from Brazil.
Despite their reputation for flowing, attacking football, Brazil seem to have added an edge to their game at this World Cup.
The Selecao have been criticised for their roughhouse tactics on Colombia star James Rodriguez in the quarter-finals where they committed 31 fouls.
With glory in both teams' sights, Loew wants Mexican official Rodriguez to be strict to avoid the loss of any more key players like Brazil's Neymar, whose World Cup was cruelly ended after he broke a bone in his back during a clash with Colombia's Juan Zuniga.
The 54-year-old said: "I hope the referee Rodriguez will clamp down, because I have seen in the last few matches that Brazil's physical energy is going beyond of what we see in Europe.
"If the games had been played in Europe, none of the 22 players would have finished the matches.
"I believe we have to see that these brutal and rude fouls are stopped, because we won't see the talents of the likes of (Mesut) Ozil or Neymar.
"We will see players going out to destroy the opposition.
"I have seen at this World Cup that the physical limits of what is acceptable have been surpassed."
Source: AFP
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