Germany's national team coach Joachim Low has called upon referees to stop brutality from teams ahead of his side's World Cup semi-final showdown with Brazil.
The three-time champions take on the host nation on Tuesday and Low is worrying over the level of officiating after seeing what occurred in Brazil's quarter-final clash with Colombia.
The last eight match, which led Luiz Felipe Scolari's team into the last four, saw a record 54 fouls committed in the space of 90 minutes, with a whopping 31 coming from the Selecao, resulting in a serious injury to Neymar.
This has Die Mannschaft's boss fretting over the safety of his players as he demands stronger officiating from the referees.
“Colombia against Brazil was a real fight,” said Low ahead of their Brazil encounter, a game which will be overseen by Mexican referee Marco Rodriguez, the man who missed Suarez's infamous bite on Chiellini.
“I hope the referee, Mr Rodriguez from Mexico, will clamp down on things. That physical energy in the match against Colombia went beyond the limits in Europe.”
Joachim Low is worried about his players safety after witnessing the brutality that occurred in the Brazil vs Colombia game
It was a clash that saw Neymar break a bone in his back
“If that match had been played in Europe, 22 players wouldn't have ended that match. 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 Messi, Ozil or Neymar, and we'll just see players who go out to destroy.”
"You have to protect the players when you're a referee. That's something that's important for everyone working in football. You have to protect the attackers."
The German boss insists European standards are far better, and calls for tougher referees to insure player safety
This feeling was echoed by German and Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng, who looks guaranteed to feature in the starting eleven, stating:
“I share the coach's opinion. We've never seen as many fouls like in that match, especially from behind. Quite a lot of things went beyond what is acceptable.”
The five-time World Cup winners have conceded the highest number of fouls at the tournament out of any team, currently at 19.2 fouls per game here (per the Telegraph).
That sums up to a total of 96, earning 10 yellow cards. Although coming under a lot of criticism, Scolari has constantly defended his team's tactics and a change in his side's approach looks highly unlikely.
