8 groups, 32 teams, 6 different coutnries, 64 matches, 55 wins, and 9 ties its all it took for the FIFA World Cup to take place this year in Brazil. 32 teams went against each other from June 12-June 26, 16 teams went against each other from June 28-July 9 and only two teams survived and made it to the final of the FIFA World Cup held in the Maracana on Sunday. Germany went against Argentina in the FIFA World Cup Final in Rio de Janeiro. History was made between these two groups who have met twice before in the Final of the FIFA World cup, both teams winning once before, but this time it was Germany who took the win with a late goal from Mario Gotze. Many people were hoping to see Lionel Messi lift the World Cup on Sunday but the dreams were shot down to a late winner from Mario Gotze. Both teams fought hard, both teams played tough, great defense and offense came from both sides but you could also see how tired every player was. But they had to get through the first 90 minutes and also took an extra 30 minutes to decide who the winner was going to be.
As the first half kicked off, both teams went at it. Germany and Argentina looked stronger than ever as they started attacking in the first half. The game started with Kramer replacing Khedira due to a late hamstring injury during warm up. Argentina had no Di Maria but looked to warm up as well with hopes of him coming in the second half. As the game went on, we saw Higuain with a chance to put Argentina in the lead. With a mistake from Toni Kroos heading it to the defenders, it was Higuain who was able to find the ball and being alone against the goalkeeper, you thought he would put his team in the lead but instead deflected the ball to wide left.
In the 23rd minute, we saw a scary hit from one of the Argentinian defenders hitting Christoph Kramer in the face and causing an early substitution for Germany. Later in the 30th minute Messi crossed the ball to Higuain but as he tried to stay offsides, he was still found offsides as the ball went in. Higuain was celebrating his goal and didn’t realize till after that he was called offsides by the sideline referee. In the 37th minute, Schurrle had an opportunity as well for Germany. With a pass from Kroos, he found the net but Romero was too quick and saved Argentina. With the game ending, Germany was giving a corner kick and as Kroos crossed it to the box, Höwedes was able to find it with his head but the ball hit post then deflected off Muller who was called offsides.
The game stayed scoreless in the first half with both teams having many opportunities, but the second half was also filled with many opportunities. Early in the second half Messi had a chance to get Argentina in the lead but the ball went to far to the right and kept the game tight and scoreless. The second half was a bit more quiet than the first half with both teams playing a lot of great defense and offense but it wasn’t enough that the final had to go to overtime.
As extra time was kicked off, you could see the fatiguness of both teams, players and even the goalkeepers. Schurrle had an early chance to get in the lead as well during the first half of extra time. He went one on one against goalkeeper Romero and as he kicked to the goal Romero blocked and denied Schurrle the goal and lead. The rest of the first extra time was pretty quiet except for Palacio’s chance he had versus the goalkeeper who chipped it over Neuer but wasn’t enough to give Argentina the lead. Like I mentioned, you could see how tired the players were, especially since they had played a game 4 and 5 days ago. Their legs were giving up on them and you can tell they couldn’t run as much anymore. As the second half of the extra time took place, it was Germany who dominated the majority of the game. In the 113th minute, it was the substitute Mario Gotze who became the hero for Germany. Schurrle ran from the half line on the left side of the field and passed it to Gotze who controlled the ball with his chest and then kicked it in for goal to give Germany the 1-0 lead and the game-winning goal.
Many people thought this game would be going to penalties, the game would be decided on the shootout but Gotze shot those hopes down and got the win for his country and his team and the whole Germany organization. Four years ago it was Andres Iniesta who scored in the 116th minute against Netherlands that got them the winning goal and this time it was the 22-year-old Mario Gotze who scored in the 113th minute for the German team.
At the end, we saw captain Phillip Lahm and Germany lift the 13 Karat gold cup and crown themselves 2014 FIFA World Cup Champions of the world. Messi won the golden ball for the best player in the world cup,
Manuel Neuer won the golden glove for the best goalkeeper and it was James Rodriguez who won the Golden boot with 6 goals in 6 matches.
The FIFA World Cup in Brazil was filled with many surprises, tears, cheers, defeats, tough teams exiting early, one team being Costa Rica being the surprise of the FIFA World Cup. Brazil was manhandled in their hometown 7-1 against Germany and then again versus Netherlands for third place. Many key players weren’t at their best form, many injuries took place, but only one team was meant to cry tears of joy. This year’s FIFA World Cup will be a tournament never to be forgotten. Many people will talk about what happened in this tournament, which teams surprised us all , which teams and players were a disappointment, but only the main talk will be about Germany and how they were the better team this FIFA World Cup.
Photo by: Getty Images
Photo by: Mario Gotze-Getty Images; Lionel Messi-Getty Images; James Rodriguez-Getty Images; Manuel Neuer-Getty Images
