Tonight was the end of the World Cup for another four years. The final saw Germany playing Argentina.
Argentina was on a wave of public joy after they saw their bitter enemies Brazil trounced 7-0 by the German team. Even if they lost the final, they could still bask in the glory of doing better than them. I don’t know why they hate them so much but, apparently, there’s a lot of racism in Argentina and it seems they don’t really like anyone…maybe that’s it. Not that it’s one sided. The Brazilians hate the Argentinians as well.
This rivalry went so far that during the final, any Brazil fans in the crowd (and there were a lot) were right behind the German team.
On the other hand, the German team was all machine-like and driven. They didn’t care who liked or disliked them. They just wanted to win.
It was a tough tussle with a lot of end to end action and shots going anywhere but in the goal (apart from one that was off side and another off the cross bar). It was 0-0 after the full 90 minutes and the commentators were already talking about penalties. They seemed to have forgotten there was still another 30 minutes of extra time to drag tired legs through.
It was in the dying moments of the the extra 30 minutes that a young lad called Mario Gotze ripped the hearts out of the Argentine fans and stamped on them in a goal scoring celebration that would have raised the roof…had there been one. At only 22 years of age, Gotze clearly ignored the fact that around a billion people were watching him, some biting their finger nails others screaming at him and a few looking away from their tellys at the wrong moment.
It was a wonderful moment for the Germans as they returned to the game. Then, with mere seconds left to play, Argentina won a free kick just outside the area. Lionel Messi stood behind the ball, ready to give his team the chance to go level in the dying embers of the game. The crowd was expectant, after all this was what Messi does all the time at Barcelona. The ref blew his whistle and with grim determination scoured on Messi’s face, he kicked the ball about 30 feet over the top of the goal. And it was all over.
So, Germany (deservedly) won the 2014 World Cup 1-0. It’s the first time a unified German team has won and the fans were very pleased. Angela Merkel (my favourite politician in the whole world) was hopping about she was so excited. During the presentation she kissed and hugged every member of the German team. I don’t know if she actually likes football but she certainly looked like she does.
And so it all ended. Of course I don’t have to wait four years for more international football, Euro 16 is just around the corner…
