God will have a problem who to listen to tonight, Auxiliary Bishop Charles Scicluna quipped, as the World Cup final between Germany and Argentina pits Pope Francis against retired Pope Benedict.
Mgr Scicluna was contacted by The Sunday Times of Malta following comments which took the social media by storm, focusing on the fact that Pope Francis is Argentinian and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is German.
One of the questions football fans have been asking is whose prayers God will answer.
“I think it’s all in the players’ hands now. Any prayers will be neutralised out,” laughed Mgr Scicluna. He said it was natural the two popes would support the teams from their respective home countries.
He himself held great admiration for both sides.
Mgr Scicluna admitted though that he was very impressed with the German team’s performance.
His views are shared by football analyst Antoine Dalli, who explained that Germany started as favourites to lift their fourth World Cup – their first since 1990 – by gaining revenge over Argentina, which had claimed the 1986 title at their expense.
“Germany put in an outstanding performance against Brazil and with the way things developed in Tuesday’s semi-final, they have more energy and avoided injuries. In contrast, Argentina played 24 hours later and needed extra time and penalties to oust the Netherlands.
“Argentina are a crafty team because they can slow the game down and dictate the pace. Moreover, the South Americans are not easy to break down.”
If Germany prevail tonight they will become the first European side to win the World Cup in South America.
Mr Dalli cited Italy, England, Spain, Portugal, Russia and Brazil as the biggest disappointments of the month-long tournament.
“I was also disappointed by the fact that the three Italian coaches involved in the 2014 World Cup finals did not manage to get past the group stages – Cesare Prandelli (Italy), Alberto Zaccheroni (Japan), and Fabio Capello (Russia).”
Making predictions about tonight’s winner would be unwise, according to Times of Malta’s sports journalist Kevin Azzopardi.
This World Cup, he explained, will be remembered for the shock results which have made a mockery of pre-match forecasts. “Who would ever have imagined that Germany would hammer Brazil 7-1 in the semi-finals?”
On the back of their rout of Brazil, Germany were being widely regarded as favourites to win the World Cup tonight but, Mr Azzopardi added, he wouldn’t rule out Argentina.
I think it’s all in the players’ hands now. Any prayers will be neutralised out
“They also have a strong team, and in Lionel Messi they have a player who can win a game with a touch of genius. It could go either way but Germany appear to have a slight edge.”
So what are the memorable moments of this World Cup?
Luis Suarez’s bite on Giorgio Chiellini was “weird” according to Mr Azzopardi. But he liked the gesture of Cristiano Ronaldo who hugged the young escorts before the game against Ghana.
Another heart-warming moment, he added, occurred at the end of the Brazil-Colombia quarter-final when Brazil defender David Luiz not only consoled a tearful James Rodriguez but also signalled to the crowd to show their appreciation to one of the stars of the World Cup.