Germans proved their dominance over world soccer by beating Argentina by 1-0 in a close finish. The final was full of exciting ups and downs, in fact, until the extra time, score was leveled and match was heading towards the penalty shootout but then sub Mario Gotze’s amazing chest down shot to Andre Schurrle’s pass gave die Mannschaft their fourth FIFA title. Though, Argentina was impressive throughout the game but just one bad shot debarred them from their world cup glory. Even captain Messi could not help his team sustain initial lead; however, more credit goes to solid defensive line of Los Gauchos who did not let firing German strikers to even come close to their goal post. Remember, how devastatingly they crushed Brazilian defense in the semifinal! Actually, it was like missing a confirmed title for the La Albiceleste coz they got many good opportunities to score the goal – more than Germans- but they could not capitalize on any of them otherwise match could have ended in its normal time. More than one hundred thousand spectators were in the ground including tens of thousands Argentineans who especially travelled in last few days to South American state to watch their national team triumphs their long awaiting world title.
For many, it was the classic recall of 1990 world cup final when Germans took the revenge of their 1986 world cup loss to Diego Maradona powered Argentinian side. This year was significantly different than two previous meetings among the two toughest sides in the world and one of them was obviously Messi and team spirit Germans had showed throughout the tournaments. Though, there were no big names in this European side, but they all showed a fine tuning among them and reached into the final and then won it.
“It’s incredible. The team did it beautifully. At some point we’ll stop celebrating but we’ll still wake up with a smile,” said German goalie who was rewarded best goalkeeper of the tournament.
Similarly, on the other side, Argentinean players take it as a lost chance for them in the final, midfielder Javier Mascherano said, “This was our chance, and we felt that way. We couldn’t do it. We have to lift our head and suffer the pain. Obviously, the pain is tremendous. We wanted the cup for Argentina.”
Meanwhile, Klose role would be remembered for a long time for his form and performance he shown in semis especially his two shots against the hosts. His long running world cup journey ended when he was replaced by Gotze in the 88th minute.