Germany became the first European side to win the FIFA World Cup on South American soil with a dramatic late goal in a 1-0 victory that prevented Argentina claiming victory in the spiritual home of their biggest rivals.
After 113 minutes of powerful, but scoreless play, 22-year-old wunderkind Mario Götze caught the ball to his chest and caught Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero off guard with his fantastic goal to bring his team up 1-0 in the FIFA World Cup final.
Germany’s win over Argentina is their fourth World Cup title since 1990. Germany is the only European team to win on South American soil and Götze was the first substitute to ever score a goal in a World Cup final. These figures were not lost on the legions of Brazilian fans watching, who often cheered for the European team rather than their South American rivals.
Solid defending throughout the game brought a complete deadlock of missed chances from both sides. The game didn't offer any of the drama from the historic 7-1 Germany game against Brazil, or the winding finesse from Argentina’s early matches.
Key players like Thomas Müller and Lionel Messi both missed fine chances to hammer in goals in the second half, which could have lead to a dramatic finish.
Argentina played well throughout the game, but a crucial offside goal by Gonzalo Higuaín dampened spirits. Higuaín did fit in enough time to celebrate before realizing his mistake, to which the Internet responded with memes and jokes, both mean and funny.
The team played better during the latter half of the game, but couldn’t quite get it past the tough Manuel Neuer, who won the Golden Glove for his outstanding goalkeeping during the tournament.
Neuer was consistently tough/ telegraph
Javier Mascherano and Pablo Zabaleta did much of the heavy work; however, eyes were on Messi to deliver his finest performance. Unfortunately. the icon wasn't on his game last night.
The Argentine’s last chance came on a free kick in the 123rd minute, which went over the bar. It was a sad sight to watch the finale, where Messi was expected to make big on his mission to bring home the cup after Diego Maradona in 1986.
Germany simply outplayed Argentina, with a consistent performance and concrete attacking. Marcos Rojo and Enzo Pérez were fighting tears as they watched the German team raucously celebrating around them.
Messi collects Golden Ball award/ independent
It was a bittersweet match for Messi, who was given the Golden Ball award. Messi dolefully collected his trophy from Brazil President Dilma Rousseff and FIFA President Sepp Blatter.
German players celebrate winning the final match/ globalnews
In the end, Argentina had the world’s best player, but Germany had the more cohesive team. What was your favourite moment of the match? Let us know in the comments below.
Featured Image: guardian
Rumnique Nannar
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Rumnique Nannar is a new journalist with a passion for all things pop culture, film, and art. Rumnique was born in London, with a predilection for devouring English chocolate with her Vogue, ANOKHI, and Glamour magazines in tow. She is currently in her Journalism Masters at UBC. Connect ...