Joachim Löw's Germany etched their names into history on Sunday the 13th of July when they beat Argentina 1-0 extra-time to bring an end to an absolutely thrilling World Cup tournament in Brazil.
In the 20th World Cup final, held at the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, neither side could find a goal in normal time despite Gonzalo Higuaín and Benedikt Höwedes having fantastic chances in the first-half. After the break, Argentine Lionel Messi could have scored from the edge of the box but was guilty of a lack of composure. The game eventually stretched to extra-time, where Rodrigo Palacio could have given his country in the lead in the first 15 but Neuer's tremendous goalkeeping, but it was Mario Götze who settled the game after terrific technique inside the six-yard box, bringing the ball down on his chest and volleying it past Sergio Romero to give his nation the lead and hand Germany international football's most glittering prize.
Löw was forced to reshuffle his starting side late on when Sami Khedira picked up an injury in the pre-match warm up, forcing the Germany manager to bring in 23-year-old Christoph Kramer for his first start of the competition.
Marcos Rojo's clumsy foul, clattering into the back of Thomas Müller, gave the Germans a decent opportunity to get off to a strong start in just the 3rd minute. Several players conversed over the set-piece, but after an elaborate training ground costless-kick, Die Mannschaft fired into the wall. Argentina countered, with Ezequiel Lavezzi dispossessing Mats Hummels and feeding Gonzalo Higuaín, who strode forward into the area but the Napoli forward's angle was unfavourable, and he could only fire across the face of Manuel Neuer's goal.
The Germans started brightly, but Lionel Messi exposed their back-line, bursting past the trailing Hummels before seeking Enzo Pérez in the box, but his cross was crowded out and cleared by Bastian Schweinsteiger. They continued to enjoy some costlessdom down the right flank, after superb individual play by Manchester City man Pablo Zabaleta. He surged forwards towards the box before pulling a ball back in from the byline but no-one could connect with his cross as it trailed behind Higuaín and Lavezzi. La Albiceleste were much more vivid going forward than in previous games, and looked like taking the lead.
Very little of the game was being played in the centre of the park, with the match almost resembling an 'attack - defence' training drill in the early stages, but both defences were sturdy. Phillip Lahm's cute cross almost found poacher Miroslav Klose on the penalty spot, but Martin Demichelis just did enough to put the forward off. He was guilty of a late-timed tackle only seconds later, hauling down the striker on the left flank, gifting Toni Kroos the chance to send an inswinging delivery in towards the box, but it was dealt with well by Zabaleta. His defensive partner Ezequiel Garay was in the centre of the action shortly afterwards, coming across to thwart Klose before accidentally connecting heavily with Kramer's head - momentarily putting him onto the floor.
Higuaín was gifted with a golden opportunity in the 20th minute, when Kroos made an error by heading back towards goal, but Higuaín was lurking behind the German back-line in waiting and the pass went straight into his path. He took the ball, spun around and began bearing down on Neuer's goal. It looked as though Argentina were about to take the lead as he set himself up, but the no.9 got his technique all wrong as he caught the top of the ball and dragged his shot wide when he certainly should have given Alejandro Sabella's men the lead. It was a let-off for the Germans and the Real Madrid midfielder in particular, and they looked to respond immediately. After a number of intricate passing triangles deep into enemy territory, Lahm, with acres down the left, fired a ball into the Argentine box and Klose got a clever touch onto it, pulling the ball away from a number of defenders, but Zabaleta nicked it from his feet and managed to get the ball out of the danger area.
Kramer had to come off after half-an-hour, despite coming into the side minutes before kick-off. The midfielder was replaced by Chelsea's Andre Schürrle after being visibly dazed from the collision he suffered ten minutes prior. Both sides came extremely close to open the scoring soon after, but both times the player in question was guilty of being offside. Lahm's smart through ball found Müller inside the box, who fired a shot towards Sergio Romero in the Argentine goal, but he was offside. Up the other end, it seemed Higuaín had atoned for his error minutes earlier, when he had the ball nestling into the far corner. Lavezzi found himself with plenty of room down the right flank, before curling an exquisite ball into the unmarked Higuaín. Just five yards from goal, he sent Neuer the wrong way with a composed first-time side-footer into the far corner before wheeling away in celebration. It was a wonderful finish, but the linesman correctly called it offside after the forward shown as being at least two yards ahead of the German defence.
Lavezzi continued to look lively, as Argentina continued to trouble Jogi Löw's side. He meandered down the left side before cutting inside and playing the ball to Messi, who had teammates to his left and right but rather than feed the PSG winger, he opted to try and find Higuaín with a thread-of-the-needle, but couldn't quite pull it off as Schweinsteiger blocked it and sent it out for a corner. The game's vibrancy meant a wealth of chances for both sides, and Schürrle tested Romero well. Müller found the 23-year-old with a neatly slipped ball inside, and the forward opted for a powerful inside-of-the-foot shot which looked destined for the back of the net until the goalkeeper tipped it round the corner of the post for a corner, but it was not to count with Özil adjudged to have affected the effort from an offside position.
Next, it was Messi's turn to shine again as he exposed a strangely delicate German rearguard. He worked his way down the right flank, finding himself with a difficult angle, but he managed to poke it past the outcoming Neuer, until Jerome Boateng recovered to clear before Messi or Lavezzi could bundle it over the line. The game was frantic, and Kroos found himself with another good opportunity with only a few minutes left of the first-half. The tireless Müller found space on the right flank, before rolling it to Özil who then superbly crept through a few bodies before feeding the Bayern Munich man 20-yards out, but his effort was too tame and it fell straight into Romero's grasp.
That man Müller was creator again, winning himself space down the right before firing a delicious ball towards the back post, begging for a touch to poke it home. Unfortunately, Klose was a few yards away from getting onto the end of it. Then, in stoppage time of the first-half, Benedikt Höwedes struck the post with a powerful header from a corner when he could quite easily have given his side the advantage going into the interval. Kroos' wonderful ball into the near post fell straight in front of the unmarked Schalke defender and he managed to connect with it firmly but could only direct it towards the woodwork. The rebound led to a frenzy inside the six-yard box, as it deflected off of Müller and trickled onto the line before Romero claimed, but the linesman was on hand again to correctly flag the striker for being offside.
Somehow, the game went into the break goalless, despite Higuaín and Höwedes finding themselves with glorious opportunities to put their respective nations ahead. It had been an energetic first 45 minutes in Rio de Janeiro, and Germany had enjoyed plenty of joy down their right side, especially through Müller's magnificent movement and creativity. Meanwhile, Argentina looked very dangerous on the break, and their biggest threat came down their right flank with Lavezzi's pace causing problems for Germany's lacklustre back four, but ultimately neither side had found the breakthrough.
The game started as exciting as it had finished, with Sergio Agüero coming on to replace Lavezzi despite his impressive first-half. Argentina almost reaped the rewards of their slow left side, with Higuaín pouncing on a clever Mascherano through ball but Höwedes was let off after the offside flag was again raised. Just a minute later, Argentina almost opened the scoring again. This time, it was Messi who was guilty of wasting a chance, after Lucas Biglia set him through on goal from the inside left-channel, but he agonisingly pulled his left-footed shot just inches wide of the post, when you would have expected him to have score from inside the area.
Die Mannschaft found themselves with another good chance after the referee played advantage. Schürrle had danced towards the edge of the box before Zabaleta's trailing leg tripped him, but Nicola Rizzoli allowed play-on and Müller tried to find a teammate in the area, but had to settle for a corner after Garay got in the way. Referee Rizzoli was at the centre of the storm again, when Neuer and Higuaín raced towards the ball on the edge of the area. The towering goalkeeper managed to rise above the forward and punch the ball clear, but his knee collided heavily with Higuaín and sent him crashing to the floor. Miraculously, it was the Argentine deemed to have been guilty of a foul after Neuer had jumped high and clattered into him.
After a short lull, Germany finally began to ease back into the game and Klose got his first shot on target after climbing well to direct a header towards the back post from six-yards, but Romero managed to gather the effort due to a lack of power. They continued to push forward, and Lahm's intricate reverse pass almost connected with Müller in the box but the striker's twisting turning runs meant he was too far away from the pass. By the hour mark, the score surprisingly remained level but it continued to be an enthralling affair.
The heat of the 1990 World Cup final meeting between the two seeped in, with a number of players hauled down by poor tackles. Mascherano's cynical tackle on Klose and Agüero's mistimed challenge on Schweinsteiger earned them both cautions, as both sides looked to steal the lead with just 20 minutes remaining of normal time.
The game opened up with every passing minute, but both sides were lacking the neat creativity in the final third. There were certainly less opportunites for either side in comparison to the first-half as a majority of players became fraught with nerves. Messi, in particular, had been quiet after a few promising flashes earlier in the game, but he had yet to show that he was ready to fire his country to the world's biggest prize. Yet as the commentators wrote him off at their own peril, he came alive in the 74th minute. The Argentine talisman's superb close-control helped earn him the chance to wrap a left-footed shot towards the far post from the edge of the 18-yard box, similarly to the goal he scored against Iran, but he could only curl it wide of the post.
He showed great technique and flair a few moments later. After finding possession on the inside-right from a poked pass in towards him, he danced past a number of incoming sliding tackles before clipping a ball in for Agüero but he couldn't get to the end of the pass before Neuer. Argentina should have been made to pay for their lack of clinical prowess, as the German keeper started a counter attack with inch-perfect distribution. Höwedes received the ball on the penalty spot but he couldn't get it under control and the chance was squandered after Argentinian defenders swarmed him. Next, substitute Schürrle tried a first-time right-footed effort from outside the box which trickled just wide of the post after Özil had teed him up.
Neither side could find find that finish, despite building pressure from the Germans. Löw introduced exciting attacking playmaker Mario Götze on with his final throw of the dice of normal time, switching Müller into the centre to shake up his attack as extra-time loomed. Klose made way, in what was the 36-year-old's final appearance at a World Cup and he took the walk off to a standing ovation after becoming the all-time top goalscorer with 15 goals just last week.
Three minutes was added on, before the prospect of an additional 30 minutes extra-time and both teams tried to steal the game. Messi did well to steal possession and avoid a number of challenges, before trying a spectacular long range through ball to Agüero, but the pass was scuppered by Neuer who had raced off his line. Biglia was guilty of a lazy ball back to his defence, which was latched on to by Götze tried a shot, but it was a 30-yard daisy-cutter that failed to trouble Romero.
Nor Argentina or Germany could find a winner, and extra-time was needed to try and break the deadlock after just three shots on target throughout the 90 - with Germany hitting all three of those on target.
The start was blistering, after a superb break from Germany. Romero was on hand to save Schürrle's effort inside the area after he was afforded too much room, and the South Americans looked to mount a break of their own but Boateng superbly managed to thwart Agüero's run after a loose pass when a two-on-two had looked to be developing in Die Mannschaft's half. Agüero posed a threat again shortly thereafter, powering down the left with pace and trying a goal from the byline after a lack of viable options. The shot fizzed through the box and out of play, but both sides had clearly been boosted by their team-talks as they looked to avoid the possible cruelty of penalties.
Sabella's substitute Rodrigo Palacio brought down Marcos Rojo's splendid pin-point deep cross after it eluded Hummels' header, but his control meant the ball was a step too far away from him. He did manage to flick it over the impending Neuer who had impuslively raced off his line and managed to close down the angle, but the Inter man's scoop over the keeper went wide of the goal after being shepherded out by the German defence.
The goalless deadlock remained into the second-half of extra-time despite both nation's best efforts. With quarter of an hour remaining, each team significantly tired and chances seemed to dry up. Germany dominated possession with clever triangular passes, and Biglia and Mascherano's tandem tackle on Schweinsteiger gave them a chance to put the ball into the box. The fouled man stepped up to take it, but the veteran midfielder's ball failed to beat the first man.
The Bayern Munich midfielder was hauled to the floor again within a minute, when Agüero's flailing arm caught him under the eye and drew blood. Somehow, the Argentine escaped a booking after replays showed a blatant foul and Sabella kept 11 men on the field. However, his side were one nil down in the 113th minute, when Schürrle's committed run drew a number of blue shirts towards him on the left flank. He lifted up his head and hooked the ball into Mario Götze who nonchalantly brought the ball with his chest with absolute brilliance before poking a left-footed effort past Romero into the far right corner. The technique was almost perfection, and it was a worthy World Cup winning goal as Die Mannschaft held off the South Americans for the final minutes to finally claim that fourth star above their crests.
Alejandro Sabella's Argentine team looked visibily devastated and understandably so, after all it could have been so different. They had perhaps the best opportunities of the game, but they couldn't even manage a single shot on target. It was not to be for Messi and co. and Germany were the ones crowned World champions on a brilliant night - the first time the Europeans have won the World Cup since it's reunification, and the first European side to win the tournament in the Americas, and deservedly so. The Germans were simply the best collective side in the tournament, and it showed.