How Germany did it

Germany's 7-1 destruction of Brazil was an epic result that was a decade in the making.

When Germany failed to emerge from their group at Euro 2004, intelligent, patriotic individuals looked to rescue the national team.

Wise heads at the Deutscher Fussball-Bund worked with the Bundesliga to foster talent through academies, not duelling with the paymasters - as is the case in many parts of the world.

The then national coach, Jurgen Klinsmann, his assistant Joachim Loew and the DF-B worked with club coaches to establish what football the national team should play, eventually reaching the conclusion of a fast, technical game, the type that ripped Brazil to shreds in Belo Horizonte on Tuesday night.

A footballing curriculum was created which Bundesliga clubs bought into. Players were inculcated with an attacking philosophy that Klinsmann's successor, Loew, has maintained.

So Germany were building for the future, for nights like these when they dismantled Brazil's tepid and disorganised defence.

Germany's fans stayed inside the Estadio Mineirao long after the final whistle, savouring the moment, although it was more to do with a police edict in case the locals turned nasty. Nonsense.

The Brazilian fans were keen to celebrate the sort of beautiful, winning football they themselves consider a birthright.

There was no animosity to the victors, simply respect. They had heard Loew talk of the long-term project that was required.

Brazil itself has embarked on a long-term building plan, but the plan is not nearly as advanced as the Germans.

The Germans take their football seriously, take their debate about the game seriously, and their discussions about solutions seriously, and enact change properly.

It has taken time, taking a procedure historians term "the inevitability of gradualness", towards Germany's stated goal.

The Germans scoured the land for the best prospects, bringing in the offspring of gastarbeiter, or guest workers who had arrived from other countries.

Many of Loew's stars, like Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil, worked through the under-21s, developing into a force

"We delivered a marvellous performance but we're here to become world champions, and we're not world champions yet," acknowledged midfielder Toni Kroos.

Germany have been preparing for this moment since 2004. It is hard to see them letting it slip now.

"Now we want to do the next step. We can't go crazy now. Now we have to get the fourth star," said Wolfgang Niersbach, president of the DF-B, of the 7-1 victory.

That star on the national crest would denote another World Cup - but it would also celebrate the hard work Germany has done in developing a winning generation.