How Germany stole the dreams of Neymar and Messi  !!!

          

32 days… 32 teams… 12 locations… With the participation of more than three million viewers, in Rio de Janeiro at the Maracana stadium, the 20^th FIFA World Cup came to an end with a grand closing ceremony.

In the final match Argentina lost to Germany for 1-0. This is the first victory of a united Germany. That is after 24 years. Germany claimed the massive prize money $35 million. This is the biggest prize in the FIFA World Cup history. International media reported that about three billion people watched the game live on television. After 64 years Brazil got the opportunity to host the World Cup. The only hope of 200 million of Brazilians was to win the championship in their motherland. However, for the Brazilian super player Neymar’s unexpected injury and as the team captain Thiago Silva lost the semifinal, the twelve year record they had set on their motherland collapsed. This is the worst loss the Brazilian team experienced against Germany. It was 7-1. This is also the highest score reported in a semifinal match.

In 1986 and in 1990 Germany and Argentina battled in the final battlefield. Argentina in 1986 and Germany in 1990 became World Champions.  International media reported that critics had predicted that final match of this series would take a very competitive form. Argentina team was led by Lionel Messi who is considered the best football player in the world whilst the German team was led by Philip Lam. Both teams consisted of great players from renowned sports clubs of the world.

Since both teams failed to score a goal during the given time period of 90 minutes, extra time was given at the end of the match. During this extra-time (in the 113^th minute) the reserve player Andrew Shuler led the ball misleading the opposing team and sent the ball to Mario Gotze who successfully controlled the ball with his chest; who entered the field replacing the great German player Miroslav Klose . Gozte’s immediate left kick sent the ball into the net shattering the hope filled hearts of Argentina fans. By this time there were only 7 minutes left from extra-time. That is how Gotze turned upside down the game of which, not only viewers but also the players thought the winner will be decided by a penalty. Thus even the final game of the series became another game under the rule of reserve players. This is also the first victory achieved by a goal from a reserve player. It should also be mentioned that it is the reserve players that showed the best performance throughout the FIFA series 2015. 
Gotze’s goal is the 32^nd goal kicked by a reserve player. Accordingly reserve players are responsible for 19% of goals in the series. That is a record too. 171 goals have been recorded in the series.

Following the goal Germany scored, when the game was about to end, Argentina got the opportunity to score a goal as a result of the unruly behavior of the German player Mesut Ozil. Messy took a long time taking the aim for this kick which stopped the heartbeat of millions of Argentina fans. Messy should have kicked the ball like that many times. But he must have never been under pressure as in that moment, taking the aim for the crucial goal. The ball went above the net, unexpectedly shattering all hopes of Argentina.

The German players were eagerly waiting till the umpire whistles the whistle closing the game. Then the party began! Players as well as their spouses, lovers and children celebrated while the runners up; the Argentina team including the captain was seen in tears. President of the hosting country – Brazil and the German chancellor Angela Merkel were present at the final match and they joined also the award ceremony. The award ceremony was led by the president of the International Football Association Sepp  Blatter. As Germany claimed the victory it was recorded as the first occasion that a Latin American country won the FIFA World Cup. Also it was recorded as the first time that a country from a foreign hemisphere won the championship in a series held in a Latin American zone.

Argentina team’s captain Lionel Messi won the Golden Football for the best player of the series whilst the award for the best goal keeper was reserved for Manuel Neuer from Germany. The special award of the series, Golden Boot was claimed by the Colombian player James Rodriguez who scored the highest number of goals. He has scored 6 goals in the series. Now, Germans are the football champions. It is the reality that will not change for another 4 years. Another chance for a world cup will be open only in 2018. That is in the FIFA World Cup that is decided to be held in Russia.

Lahiru Attanayake CC.