Mario Götze scored a superb extra-time winner as Germany beat
Argentina 1-0 to become the first European team to win a World Cup held
in South America on Sunday. Bayern Munich star Götze struck in the 113th
minute to finally break Argentina's resistance as Lionel Messi's dream
of emulating Diego Maradona ended in defeat.
The decisive moment of a World Cup brimming with wonderful goals came
with penalties looming in front of 74,738 fans at Rio de Janeiro's
famous Maracana Stadium. Andre Schürrle burst clear down the left flank
and crossed for Götze.
The 22-year-old took the ball on his chest and then volleyed past
Sergio Romero to spark delirium amongst the largely pro-German crowd.
Argentina and Messi were left squandering a handful of gilt-edged
chances, including one that fell to Messi in the second half.
Messi was largely anonymous for most of the evening and his miserable
evening was summed up when a late free-kick to equalise sailed over the
bar. An absorbing first half saw Germany forced into a reshuffle
moments before kick-off with inexperienced Christoph Kramer replacing
Sami Khedira after the Real Madrid star injured a calf in the warm up.
With Bastian Schweinsteiger running midfield the Germans laid siege
to Argentinian territory, passing smoothly and denying Messi a route
into the game. Yet for all Germany's early dominance they created little
in the way of clear chances.
And it was Argentina who were presented with a glorious chance to
open the scoring. Toni Kroos misdirected a header back to Manuel Neuer
to send Gonzalo Higuain racing through on goal. But with only Neuer to
beat the Napoli striker dragged his shot wide to disbelief from fans and
team-mates.
Germany continued to probe for openings, and a Philipp Lahm pass
almost put Thomas Müller clear. The pace of Argentina on the
counter-attack continued to unsettle Germany however.
Schweinsteiger picked up a yellow card for bringing down Ezequiel
Lavezzi just after the half hour mark. Moments later, Argentina had the
ball in the net only to see the goal disallowed for offside. Messi
released Lavezzi down the right who swept in a low cross for Higuain who
drilled his finish past Neuer before wheeling away in delight.
Higuain's roar of celebration was cut short however after Italian
referee Nicola Rizzoli whistled, correctly, for offside. Germany's
personnel problems deepened when Khedira's replacement Kramer himself
limped off, prompting the introduction of Andre Schürrle.
The Germans remained unfazed by the setback however, and quickly set
about reimposing their control of the game. Schürrle drew a fine
near-post save from Romero on 37 minutes with a rasping shot after
Müller's cutback.
But the latent threat of Messi meant Germany could never entirely
relax. Messi burst away down the right and raced into the box, toe-poked
past Neuer only for Jerome Boateng to clear. On the stroke of half-time
Benedikt Höwedes came within inches of scoring, crashing a header from a
Kroos corner against the post.
The second half followed a similar pattern, Germany controlling
possession but Argentina often threatening on the break. Messi
squandered another golden Argentinian chance two minutes after the
restart, latching onto a pass from Lucas Biglia but scuffing his shot
wide of Neuer.
The hard-fought nature of the contest led to a flurry of cards from
referee Rizzoli, who cautioned Javier Mascherano and Sergio Aguero in
quick succession for fouls on Miroslav Klose and Schweinsteiger. The
remainder of the half saw neither stride able to get on top.
Germany controlled possession without really testing Romero, while
Argentina were unable to pass a German defence superbly marshalled by
Mats Hummels and Boateng. Schürrle came closest to breaking the deadlock
in the first period of extra-time, forcing Romero into a desperate
block.
Penalties looked to be the likeliest outcome, but Goetze had other ideas.
Source : dfb.de