German wins 2014 Rio World Cup!

Germany became the first European side to win a World Cup on South American soil with a late, late goal that stopped Argentina claiming victory in the spiritual home of their biggest rivals.

An exhausted looking Angela Merkel stood to applaud as Germany’s substitutes poured onto the pitch when substitute Mario Götze chested down an Andre Schurrle cross deep into extra time and volleyed it past Sergio Romero.

It secured Germany’s fourth World Cup and their first major tournament victory since 1996, relieving the pressure on Joachim Löw and sparking wild celebrations.

A Brazilian World Cup that started amid fears over protests and corruption but became a paean to the best of international football concluded with a tense final that failed to live up to what had gone before.

With Argentina’s Lionel Messi unable to seize the moment on the biggest stage and Germany unable to hit their earlier heights, it took a moment of quality to broke the deadlock and equal the largest number of goals ever scored at a World Cup finals at 171.

Germany, so impressive in beating the hosts Brazil 7-1 and plunging the nation into a bout of soul searching, found Argentina much tougher .

A German side that had gone into the final as favourites following their jaw-dropping 7-1 semi final victory over the hosts found Lionel Messi’s Argentina a sterner proposition.

There were chances for both sides within normal time but, as has been the trend in recent years, the game’s showpiece was short on goals and drifted towards extra time with the score deadlocked at 0-0. It was not the final the watching president, Dilma Rousseff, or 200 million Brazilians had dreamed of. Indeed, as gloating Argentinians poured into Rio, they feared it could become their worst nightmare. But the Barcelona striker, pivotal in the group games but anonymous in the semi-final victory over Holland, flitted in and out of the action thereafter.

Centre forward Gonzalo Higuain missed a glorious chance to score following a mistake by Toni Kroos and then had a goal disallowed for offside during a first half when Argentina had the better of their European rivals.

The final became attritional, with yellow cards flourished and a string of injuries as the juddering challenges flew in.

Both sides had chances but nerves took hold as the game drifted towards extra time. The Argentinean fans tried to rouse their players with endless choruses of their signature song that began: “Brasil, Decime Qué Se Siente/Tener En Casa Tu Papá”.

Source: theguardian.com