Soccer Laduma Blog By Joe Crann

Today I got the good news that I've been approved for my media pass ahead of the Brazil v Germany semi-final, so I'll be right in there amongst 58,000 other football fans like me as the Selecao and Die Mannschaft battle it out for a place in the final.    Belo Horizonte is pretty quiet right now, it seems like the calm before the storm, though it will no doubt get much more lively over the course of the next two days.   Matchday in Fortaleza when Brazil were in town was incredible, a mass of yellow jerseys as far as the eye could see, and I expect to see exactly the same thing once Tuesday morning arrives.    As you can imagine, Neymar is the name on everybody's lips at present. There was even talk in Brazil of him taking painkillers in order to play in the final should his team make it that far, though his family have since denied that that would be the case.    Personally I'm glad. As much as it must be awful for him watching his teammates go into one of the biggest games of their lives, he's only 22 and painkillers/injections could be incredibly detrimental to his increasingly promising career. I'd rather have Neymar gracing the game for years to come than see him struggle through a 90 minutes that could end things for him.    It's safe to say that Brazilians are worried about the loss of both Neymar and Thiago Silva (whose ban they are now appealing), they know the role that the pair of them have in Felipe Scolari's side, and that their absence could prove to be crucial.   Though he's their captain, Silva's ban is the lesser of the two worries given the fact that they have the impressive Dante to deputise, though their options of Fred and Jô up front are far from reassuring.   Belo is actually a really pretty little city with many extremely beautiful buildings, some which date back to the 1800s, and I managed to sample some of Minas Gerais' famous cuisine as I wandered around yesterday.    Also, in other news, I managed to get my hands on an Atletico Mineiro jersey with Ronaldinho's name and the number 10 on the back… That'll be taking pride of place in my jersey collection when I'm home.   Right, that's it from me for now, I'm off to watch Germany train later this afternoon, I wonder what kind of shape they're in ahead of Tuesday's momentous occasion…   Mas que nada,   Joe   For live updates on my trip, follow me on Twitter: @YesWeCrann