Germany defeat Argentina in the World Cup final (1-0)

Germany are the new World Cup champions. A goal from Mario Götze on 113 minutes, when everything looked as though it was going to penalties, decided the match against Leo Messi and Javier Mascherano’s Argentina. This is the fourth World Cup won by the Germans in the country’s history.

The two FC Barcelona players, both of whom started and played the entire 120 minutes, came close but were unable to lift the hallowed trophy that’s eluded Argentina since 1986.

They come close

The opening minutes lived up to everyone’s expectations. Germany were the team with possession while Argentina waited to hit on the counter. The South Americans had a couple of excellent chances to take the lead, first after an error from Kroos, which Higuaín missed, and then through a play fabricated by Messi and Lavezzi which ended up in the back of the the but was called back due to a previous offside position from Higuaín.

Argentina were a compact defensive team and capable of creating chances on the other end of the pitch. Messi and Lavezzi were nightmares for the Germans, a team that was conditioned by the loss of Khedira to injury and the bookings of Schweinsteiger and Höwedes.

In fact, it was Höwedes who had the best chance for the European team when he headed a corner kick to the woodwork.

Messi gets a chance

Argentina continued to throated Germany’s goal in the second half. Messi received the ball at the top of the box and unleashed a shot that went just wide of Manuel Neuer’s goal.

After Messi’s chance and another that fell to Higuaín, the match fell into higher tempo and pace. It was more intense, but there were fewer chances. The panorama of the match didn’t change until the 75th minute, when both teams defended more rigorously due to the threat of losing the title. Full time came with 0-0 on the scoreboard.

Götze breaks the deadlock

Extra time started with both teams swinging for the knock-out blow. Two clear chances fell to Schürrle and Rodrigo Palacio, but neither managed to score the go-ahead goal. Finally, in the second period of extra time, Götze latched on to a cross from Schürrle and fired passed Romero to make it 1-0. The goal was worth a World Cup title.