BERLIN — Germans awoke on Wednesday to discover the 7-1 demolition of Brazil in their World Cup semifinal was not a delightful dream but a scarcely-believable reality.
The front-page headline in the country's biggest-selling newspaper, Bild, read simply: "7-1. No words for it!"
The paper dedicated its first six pages to pictures of the Germany players scoring and celebrating. And when it finally got to words, it declared the team "immortal" and wrote: "This 7-1 is worth as much as a title."
Germany legend Franz Beckenbauer, who won the World Cup as both player and coach, tweeted: "What was that? Hard to believe."
Thousands watched the match at Berlin's outdoor fan mile despite wet weather. Germany fan Tamara Beck said: "It's the best that can ever happen, that Germany scored seven times."