32 teams. 64 matches. More than 5,760 minutes of only the best football the world has to offer, and it all ended with a familiar footballing power reaching glory through its youth. Germany defeated Argentina last night at the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final in Rio de Janeiro’s Estádio do Maracanã. We were blessed by the football gods with quite the match, as both sides evenly attempted to settle the score, both keeper fought tooth and nail to keep their nets untouched, and the stalemate took more than the regular 90 minutes. This was the third consecutive final that needed additional time, and it did not disappoint. Die Mannschaft, after 23 minutes of extra time, prevailed as substitute Mario Götze scored in the 113th minute of additional extra time. Götze, commonly known as the future star of German football, replaced the now legendary Miroslav Klose, and became the first-ever substitute to score in a FIFA World Cup Final. Despite Italian referee Nicola Rizzoli’s questionable decisions during the match, and despite Lionel Messi and Los Albicelestes’ best efforts, Germany finally won its fourth star, its first since Italy 1990, and joined Italy as the nation with the second-most amount of World Cup trophies. More than millions of fans took the streets as Germany became the first European team to win football’s highest prize in a tournament held in the American continent. The end of the tournament rewards were also a point of debate for fans, as Lionel Messi won the FIFA Golden Ball, as the tournament’s best player. Colombia’s sensation, James Rodríguez, took home the FIFA Golden Boot with 6 goals in 5 matches. Manuel Neuer easily won the FIFA Golden Glove award for the tournament’s best goalkeeper, despite superb performances by Mexico’s Guillermo Ochoa and Costa Rica’s Keylor Navas. Brazil 2014 may be over, but it definitely has left a lasting memory on us. So we can only hope that the next 1,430 days go as quickly as possible, for Russia 2018. Until then, Deutschland… ist die Weltmeisterschaft.
-E.Fuentes
Illustrát Collection 