Day 32 - Germany v Argentina

Pre-Match Thoughts
In which, we reach the conclusion, a repeat of both the 1986 and 1990 finals, though Germany had the "West" prefix back in those days.

The big news is that German midfielder Sami Khedira got himself crocked in the warm up and is replaced by a guy, Christoph Kramer, who has only put in 12 minutes on the pitch so far. Yikes! Khedira has been a huge part of the engine room of his team and his loss will be felt.

Argentina, again, will look to Messi to be the icon that Maradona was in 1986. The Dutch spent most of their game plan fighting his influence, to the detriment. Mascherano, the former Liverpool man, has done a lot of their donkey work and it was his last ditch tackle in the semi-final that might well have seen them reach this game.

On Friday, I was backing a 2-0 win to the Germans, though with the last minute tactical switch, the South Americans may fancy their chances more. Got to stick with my original thoughts, though!

Drink?
Despite work tomorrow, it's the World Cup final, so fuck it. Only comes every four years.

First Half
Despite the lack of goals, there's been plenty to watch. Germany have perhaps have the bigger share of possession, but it's their opponents who have had the best chances. Messi has been mainly quiet, but been able to waltz through a couple of times.

The usual reliable Toni Kroos made a disaster of a header that put Higuain clean through, though the Argentine somehow managed to spanner it wide. To compound his misery, he then had a goal (correctly) disallowed.

It perhaps should have been one up to the Germans, seconds before half time, Howedes should have put away a ball from a corner, but managed to conspire to head it at a weird angle, hitting the post.

Sadly, poor Kramer got sparked out in a bad accident early on, ruining his big night. The poor guy looked totally lost, as if he had done 12 rounds in a boxing ring, forcing more unwanted changes for the Germans.

More of the same from both will see goals.

Second Half
The game has reduced, somewhat, to a slugging match with two teams tiring quickly. Neither goalkeeper has been tested to any real level. Germany perhaps just looked the most dangerous, though Messi squandered a good chance early in the half.

Into extra time, then.

Extra Time
Go Germany, then. Extra time looked for a long time like it would go the distance, to penalties.

In the end, it took a moment of top class not from Messi, not from any of the big name players hyped before the World Cup started, but a 22-year-old who only got on the pitch as a sub. Mario Gotze goes down in history as scoring the winning goal in the World Cup final, and a superb goal it was too. Gotze has shown plenty of promise in his career so far and a moment like this could see him rise to the top.

Germany are the World Champions in 2014. Looking back, perhaps they deserve it. No other team was as well organised and worked as a team as well as them, the Algeria game aside. Their 7-1 drubbing of Brazil will long stand in memory and the relative youth of their squad will make them favourites for the 2016 European Championships.

And the Bad News Is...
No more football worth mentioning till August 16th. Fuck.