Dante threatens to punch Muller if he doesn't stop the 7-1 jokes

Dante tussling for the ball with Thomas Muller

Bayern Munich’s Brazilian defender Dante has warned his team-mate, Thomas Müller about cracking jokes on Brazil’s 7-1 semi-final defeat to Germany at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. A continuation of it would result in a punch, he added.

The 31-year-old centre back said that he endured a ton of jokes about the defeat from his Bayern team-mates, who were a part of the German side that faced Brazil at the Belo Horizonte. However, he made it clear that Muller was generally the catalyst to most of them.

Talking to the Brazilian TV channel Globoesporte, he said: “The Germans joked about it, especially just after the game, up to the moment when I said it was the time to stop. The 7-1 was something more serious than people realised. We can joke about anything, but not about this. Not all the Germans were like this, but Thomas is the big joker. I told him, If you don’t stop, I’m going to hit you in every training session.”

“This doesn’t make me laugh and when someone doesn’t laugh, it means they are annoyed.”

The defender said that the defeat has changed people’s perception of him and has since received little support from the fans.

He said, “I felt that people have sort of pushed me to one side since then, in restaurants, in the street. I only think when you are sad and have endured this sort of upset, you need some affection from people who are close to you, to help recover your self-esteem.”