FIFA World Cup 2014 – Postscript
As the Final between Germany and Argentina entered the second-period of extra-time, I desperately wanted a goal from either side to settle the contest rather than it go to penalties. The reason? Brazil 2014 has been a memorable tournament and it needed to be sealed with something special.
Thankfully it arrived on 113 minutes, Schurrle (who had done well whenever he came off the bench for the Germans), bustled down the wing before delivering a ball inside where another substitute, Gotze, controlled it beautifully on the chest before volleying home. A wonderful finish to a brilliant competition.
My memories of World Cup Finals stretch back to 1978 and I can’t remember there being a better tournament for the quality of games, the drama and the shocks. Who saw Italy and Spain not making it out of the Groups stages? Did anyone see Portugal being dismantled so easily by the Germans? Costa Rica in the Quarter-Finals?
Of course the competition could so easily have been remembered for the Suarez biting incident, and it therefore needed an even bigger story to wipe away the tawdry behaviour of the disgraced Uruguayan and thankfully it duly arrived as Germany humiliated the host nation Brazil 7-1. That was and will always be a significant moment in football history; nobody who watched it will ever forget it. The Brazilians with the ghost of the 1950 loss to Uruguay embedded into their psyche now have added a skeleton that would fill a mansion never mind a cupboard.
The fear from the media and perhaps even from within the country, was that going into the tournament, Brazil off the pitch was not ready to host the biggest competition in football. The irony is that actually it was on the pitch that Brazil weren’t ready.
Of course we all know that it is the World Cup Final between Argentina and Germany tonight. However, at Adidas Headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, there will be celebrations whatever the outcome as the winning team will be wearing kit made by the German company. Nike had to make-do with their two big-hitters (Brazil and Netherlands) squabbling over the play-off fixture yesterday.
Ahead of the 3rd & 4th Place Play-off game later today, Dutch coach Louis van Gaal has said, “this match should never be played. I’ve been saying that for 10 years – it’s unfair…there is only one award that counts and that is becoming world champions.”
The second Semi-Final was always going to struggle to shine after the events of Tuesday night and indeed the ninety minutes of normal time were as damp as the weather conditions in Sao Paulo.
What that result does is keep alive my images of 1974; British referee Jack Taylor, that first minute penalty, Cruyyf, Beckenbauer and Gerd Muller – the incredible structure that was the Olympic Stadium in Munich. It was the first Final I remember watching and it will always take me back to a time of youthful innocence.
The only fixture between these sides previously in a World Cup tournament was in the 2002 Final held at the International Stadium in Yokohama. The Brazilians triumphed with two goals from Ronaldo scored in the 67th and 79th minutes as the country won their fifth World Cup.
The substitution by Dutch coach Louis van Gaal of goalkeeper Ajax’s Jasper Cillessen with Newcastle United’s Tim Krul for penalties was seen as a tactical master-stroke. The reasoning for the switch was that Krul had a better height and reach which could prove crucial in the penalty shoot-out. And of course as we know, the Dutch No: 2 became the hero as he saved two of the Costa Rican penalties.