Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella sought to take the pressure off his side going into Wednesday's World Cup semi-final against the Netherlands in Sao Paulo, claiming that they had 'already won'.

"Our intention was to go as far as possible, and to try to get in among the best four teams. Having reached this stage, we will never settle for losing now, but for me this group of players have already won," Sabella said.

Brazil's humiliating exit from the World Cup is as close as it gets to a national trauma in a football-mad nation whose identity is closely associated with its team.

The country of 200 million people had hoped to win the title at home and erase memories of its 1950 World Cup defeat to Uruguay in Rio de Janeiro, the notorious "Maracanazo" at the Maracana Stadium.

"Brazil have Neymar; Argentina, Messi; Portugal, Ronaldo. Germany have a team."

Brazil's World Cup dream was smashed into oblivion as majestic Germany ran riot to win an extraordinary semi-final 7-1 and send the South American hosts crashing to their worst ever defeat in their 100-year footballing history.

Sixty-four years after Brazil was plunged into national mourning after their loss in the 1950 final, the hosts were torn apart in a defeat likely to be every bit as traumatic as the fabled "Maracanazo."

Spaniards flocked to pay homage on Tuesday to Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano, one of the world's greatest footballers, who inspired millions of fans during the dari days of the Franco era.

Hundreds of people queued around the block by the towering walls of the club's Santiago Bernabeu stadium where Di Stefano's body lay in state, a day after he died following a heart attack, aged 88.

Former Italy coach Cesare Prandelli signed a two-year contract Tuesday to become the new manager of the Turkish club Galatasaray, two weeks after resigning following the Azzurri's disappointing group stage exit at the World Cup.

Prandelli, who guided Italy to the final of the 2012 European Championship, announced he was stepping down immediately after the team's 1-0 loss to Uruguay on June 24 knocked it out of the World Cup.

A senior executive with the official World Cup corporate hospitality provider was arrested Monday in the plush beach-side hotel where FIFA President Sepp Blatter is staying, as part of a Brazilian police investigation into illegal ticket sales.

Ray Whelan, a director of MATCH Services, was arrested at the Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro, the hotel used by senior FIFA officials during the World Cup.

Neymar helped Brazil get this far at the World Cup. Now it's up to the rest of the team to win for its injured star, coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said Monday.

Neymar will miss Tuesday's semifinal against Germany because of a fractured bone in his back, an injury that ruled him out of the World Cup and dealt a huge blow to the nation's hopes for a title at home.

Tributes flowed as quickly as the news of Alfredo Di Stefano's death spread across continents, with Pele joining modern stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi among the thousands praising the Real Madrid great as a luminary of the game.

Di Stefano, the Argentine forward who helped lead Madrid in its glorious era in the 1950s and 60s, passed away on Monday aged 88, two days after he was hospitalized following a heart attack.

At this point, the top Tour de France sprint star might be called Sir Marcel.

Marcel Kittel, the German with a French first name, led a bunch sprint to win Monday's Stage 3 with a finish on the doorstep of Queen Elizabeth's Buckingham Palace. Two days earlier, he courted royal attention as Prince William and Kate saw him win Stage 1 in Yorkshire in another sprint.