Maracana, Rio

Germany 1
Goetze 113;
Argentina 0

(after extra-time)

Germany were crowned world champions for the fourth time thanks to a stunning extra-time winner from super-sub Mario Goetze, yesterday.

Argentina were preparing for a penalty shoot-out in the Maracana, but in the 113th minute Goetze chested down Andre Schuerrle’s cross and volleyed home to cap a historic victory for the jubilant Germans.

It will take a while for Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain and Rodrigo Palacio to forget this defeat.

They were all guilty of missing good chances to give Argentina what would have been a glorious win in the home of their fiercest rivals Brazil.

Tens of thousands of Argentinians had flooded Rio hoping to see Messi inspire his team to their third World Cup win.

This was Messi’s chance to put himself on a par with his idol Diego Maradona.

But unlike in 1986, when Maradona captained Argentina to victory against the Germans, this was the Mannschaft’s night.

And there would be few who would argue they did not deserve it.

Ever since they swept Portugal aside 4-0 in their opening match, Germany have looked destined to lift the famous trophy inside this famous stadium.

Blessed with talent from one to 23, they are a brutal attacking unit also capable of keeping things tight at the back.

The 7-1 destruction of Brazil in the previous round proved as much.

And in Joachim Loew they have a coach who has answered his critics by becoming the first man to lead a European team to World Cup glory in South America.

It did not take for this game to live up to its pre-match billing as the ball flew from one end to another amid a backdrop of raucous noise, particularly from the Argentinians.

Higuain shot wide from a tight angle early on and Messi used his trickery to prise open the Germany defence, but Bastian Schweinsteiger put in a block.

Miroslav Klose came agonisingly close to heading home Philipp Lahm’s cross at the other end.

Higuain then missed a glorious chance. Toni Kroos headed the ball over his own back four towards Higuain, who watched the ball drop perfectly on to his right foot.

Despite being two yards ahead of the chasing Mats Hummels, the Napoli striker dragged his shot wide. Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella was stunned.

Substitute Sergio Aguero was so embarrassed for his team-mate that he pulled his training top over his head.

Higuain thought he had made amends when he tucked away Lavezzi’s cross, but he was offside.

Cristoph Kramer, who had taken a knock to the head earlier, hobbled off and was replaced by Schuerrle.

Kramer had been drafted into the team at the last minute after Sami Khedira suffered an injury during the warm-up.

The first half came to a dramatic conclusion.

Messi squeezed the ball past Neuer, but Jerome Boateng cleared off the line.

And Benedikt Howedes hit a post with a header from Kroos’s corner.

Less than 90 seconds after the restart Messi found a way through the Germany defence, but he dragged his shot a foot wide when he should have scored.

Neuer had to revert to the sweeper role he performed against Algeria as he came right to the edge of his box to punch a long ball by Zabaleta, taking Higuain in the process with his knee.

A dazed Higuain, holding his head, demanded a penalty, but the referee waved play on.

Mesut Ozil and Schuerrle lost control of the ball in the box with the goal gaping.

As the clock ticked towards 90 minutes, both teams started to take fewer risks.

Even a moment of magic from Messi was foiled by Neuer who came racing off his line to smother the ball after the Argentina captain has skipped past four defenders.

With nine minutes left Kroos placed a low shot wide, much to the annoyance of Loew.

Klose’s record-breaking World Cup career ended when he was substituted for Goetze in the 88th minute.

Goetze sent a weak shot into Sergio Romero’s arms and the game then petered out until the referee blew to signal the end of 90 minutes.

Sabella tried to fire his men up with a motivational team-talk just before extra-time but it was Germany who came out stronger.

Argentina were almost a goal down when Mueller returned Schuerrle’s pass and he fired a strong drive which Romero did well to parry.

Argentina had their big chance moments later when Hummels failed to clear a routine cross. The ball fell for Palacio, but his lob went wide.

Aguero drew blood from under Schweinsteiger’s right eye as they jumped for the ball.

Then the killer moment came that won the Germans the World Cup.

Unlike many of his team-mates, Schuerrle still had plenty of energy left in the tank.

He raced down the left-hand side past three Argentinians and crossed for Goetze who cushioned the ball on his chest and swept it past Romero from close range.

It was a wonderful strike worthy of winning any tournament.

The Argentinians inside the Maracana fell silent... their party had been gate-crashed.

Germany: 1-Manuel Neuer; 16-Philipp Lahm, 20-Jerome Boateng, 5-Mats Hummels, 4-Benedikt Hoewedes; 7-Bastian Schweinsteiger, 23-Christoph Kramer (31 9-Andre Schuerrle), 13-Thomas Mueller, 18-Toni Kroos, 8-Mesut Ozil (120 17-Per Mertesacker); 11-Miroslav Klose (88 19-Mario Goetze).

Argentina: 1-Sergio Romero; 4-Pablo Zabaleta, 15-Martin Demichelis, 2-Ezequiel Garay, 16-Marcos Rojo; 14-Javier Mascherano, 6-Lucas Biglia, 8-Enzo Perez (86 5-Fernando Gago), 10-Lionel Messi; 22-Ezequiel Lavezzi (46 20-Sergio Aguero), 9-Gonzalo Higuain (77 18-Rodrigo Palacio).

Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (Italy).

The World Cup finals...

Year	Final	Score	Venue	Country	Att.
1930	Uruguay vs Argentina	4-2	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo	Uruguay	80,000
1934	Italy vs Czechoslovakia	2-1	Stadio Nazionale, Rome	Italy	50,000
1938	Italy vs Hungary	4-2	Stade Olympique, Paris	France	45,000
1950	Uruguay vs Brazil	2-1	Maracana, Rio	Brazil	174,000
1954	W. Germany vs Hungary	3-2	Wankdorf Stadium, Bern	Switzerland	60,000
1958	Brazil vs Sweden	5-2	Rasunda Stadium, Solna	Sweden	51,800
1962	Brazil vs Czechoslovakia	3-1	Estadio Nacional, Santiago	Chile	69,000
1966	England vs W. Germany	4-2	Wembley Stadium, London	England	93,000
1970	Brazil vs Italy	4-1	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City	Mexico	107,412
1974	W. Germany vs Netherlands	2-1	Olympiastadion, Munich	West Germany	75,200
1978	Argentina vs Netherlands	3-1	Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires	Argentina	71,483
1982	Italy vs W. Germany	3-1	Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid	Spain	90,000
1986	Argentina vs W. Germany	3-2	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City	Mexico	114,600
1990	W. Germany vs Argentina	1-0	Stadio Olimpico, Rome	Italy	73,603
1994	Brazil vs Italy	0-0	Rose Bowl, Pasadena	USA	94,194
	(Brazil win 3-2 on penalties)
1998	France vs Brazil	3-0	Stade de France, Paris	France	80,000
2002	Brazil vs Germany	2-0	International Stadium, Yokohama	Japan	69,029
2006	Italy vs France	1-1	Olympiastadion, Berlin	Germany	69,000
	(Italy win 5-3 on penalties)
2010	Spain vs Netherlands	1-0	Soccer City, Johannesburg	South Africa	84,490
2014	Germany vs Argentina	1-0 aet	Maracana, Rio	Brazil	74,738

World Cup awards

FIFA announced its individual award winners at the World Cup in Brazil, last night.

■ Golden Ball: Lionel Messi (Argentina).
■ Golden Boot: James Rodriguez (Colombia).
■ Golden Glove: Manuel Neuer (Germany).
■ Young Player Award: Paul Pogba (France).

Semi-finals
Brazil vs Germany - 1-7
Netherlands vs Argentina - 0-0 (Argentina win 4-2 on pens)

Third place play-off and the final
Play-off: Brazil vs Netherlands - 0-3
Final: Germany vs Argentina - 1-0 aet

The top scorers

6 goals: Rodriguez (Colombia).
5 goals: Mueller (Germany).
4 goals: Neymar (Brazil), Messi (Argentina), Van Persie (Netherlands).
3 goals: Benzema (France), Robben (Netherlands), E. Valencia (Ecuador), Shaqiri (Switzerland), Schuerrle (Germany).