Could this be a repeat of the Italia 1990 final where Germany conquered Argentina through Andreas Brehme’s late penalty or will the Argies finally avenge their loss in that awesome final and also the consecutive (2006 & 2010) quarter final losses to the Germans? On paper the Argentines should be the one with a point to prove after that distasteful loss to Germany in 1990 but please pardon my choice of words, it was the first ever football game I saw and I really wanted Argentina to win because I had heard a lot about Diego Maradona at the time. On the other hand Germany has been the most consistent team at the last three World Cup tournaments appearing in one final and playing in two loser’s final ending up as runners up to Brazil in 2002 and winning Bronze medals in two third place games beating Portugal and Uruguay in 2006 and 2010 respectively. Could the Germans win a fourth trophy come Sunday or does Argentina have what it takes to pip the Mannschaft to the coveted trophy?
The Argentines got this far winning all of their games with the match against Netherlands being the most difficult hurdle faced which was in the semifinals. Penalty shoot outs decided the tie. A 2-1 victory over Bosnia Herzegovina, a lone goal seeing off Iran, a 3-2 triumph against African champions Nigeria, a slim edge over Switzerland and Belgium (1-0 respectively) showed how hard they had to dig to grind out results winning all games by the odd goal. Could they have been saving their goals for the final? Only time will tell. How can you talk about Argentina without making reference to Lionel Messi? The little man hasn’t been too fantastic (we all know what he can do on a good day) at this tournament but he has stepped up to be counted when push came to shove. He has scored 4 goals in 6 games already but for me Javier Mascherano has been the main man for Argentina, however this is a story for another day. Joachim Loew the German coach is a fantastic manager and has to be the coach of the tournament, forget his impeccable dress sense he is a master tactician, no disrespect to Aleanjadro Sabella, Louis Van Gaal, Felipe Scolari and other coaches out there.
The German team is filled with a core that have been playing together for a while and judging by the string of wonderful performances at this World Cup, which has seen them amass a total of 17 goals with 7 of those goals scored in the 7-1 bashing of Brazil. Thomas Mueller has been the man for the Germans scoring 5 goals already taking his total World Cup (2010 and 2014) tally to 10 goals in 13 games but Miroslav Klose is however the German that has sealed his legendary status of being the all-time leading goal scorer in World Cup history with 16 goals beating Brazilian legend Ronaldo Luis Nazario De Lima who’s record stood at 15 goals before the World Cup 2014 started. How can I forget the brilliance of Toni Kroos and Phillip Lahm? Argentina beware.
The World Cup final has been the core of this post but how can we forget about the third place game between hosts Brazil and the Netherlands. I think it’s going to be an epic clash and if you flash back to the last 3 third place games the goals return have been high and less isn’t expected from this encounter. Brazil would still be without Neymar Junior but skipper Thiago Silva should make a return to the team after missing the semifinal no thanks to suspension. The Brazilian side might probably want to get their pound of flesh back from the Oranje men after losing to them in the quarter finals of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The Dutch side have not been as solid as they were during the 1st round games and it looked like they only came to the tournament to get revenge for their 2010 loss to Spain whom they beat 5-1 in their first group game. Remember it was Spain that stopped the Dutch from winning the 2010 World Cup.
Conclusion
This is the part where I state my mind on the outcome of the games. The third place game will end in Brazil’s favour with the hosts beating Holland 2-1. Yea I know it’s not reading a high score line like I said earlier but remember I am not GOD. In the other game Argentina will nick this one by the odd goal. I am shocked myself that I am on Lionel Messi’s side. I have never found myself supporting any team he plays for but hey this is football. It doesn’t mean I don’t respect him.
Its sad that the World Cup ends this weekend but glad the EPL would be back in a bit.
Thanks for your time and please do have a fabulous weekend. Remember to air your views by dropping your comments.
