As the Sunday night moon shone down on the Maracana, the stars on the field were not twinkling quite as had been hoped.
Argentina’s stubborn defence had kept the attacking thrust of Joachim Low’s Germany at bay for 90 minutes and the World Cup Final looked to be dragging towards a penalty shoot-out.
Even extra-time brought no respite, with the Germans pressing early but coming up short, and the South Americans remaining unable to trouble Manuel Neuer whenever they fashioned an opportunity on the counter attack.
That was until a darting run from substitute Andre Schurrle allowed him to find substitute Mario Gotze, whose first touch allowed him a second before sending his volley across Sergio Romero into the net, sending Germany into raptures over their first World Cup triumph in 24 years.
Gotze’s late cameo was yet another pointed illustration of the depth in Die Mannschaft. His shining moment in the final was just the latest case of one German player standing up to be counted when his side needed him most.
Every game has brought a different challenge and, even if it took a while for Low or his players to get there, every time that challenge has been met.
The first match against Portugal belonged to Thomas Muller, the Bayern Munich man showing the best and worst of himself as his reaction to Pepe’s indiscretion saw the Portuguese player sent off before the German went on to complete a hat-trick. Although Muller went on to score more goals in the tournament, that game remained his best performance.
The second group match against Ghana ebbed and flowed until was finally turned on a goal from Miroslav Klose as the only striker in the squad came up with the goal that stopped the Black Stars in their tracks and turned the game back in Germany’s favour.
In the final match against the United States, no single player shined but then again none needed to. Mesut Ozil produced his most lively showing of the tournament, but both sides seemed to settle for the result from a long way out.
Once through to the second round, the tests became harder and Manuel Neuer was the hero against Algeria as the Fennec Foxes surged repeatedly towards his goal, only to find the goalkeeper playing in a sweeper role – a ‘False Five’ as some of the German newspapers described it. He spent almost as long out of his area as in it, but in doing so, created a smaller pitch on which his side were able to win on.
That victory led to a quarter final battle against France which saw Mats Hummels score his second goal of the tournament before giving a masterclass in defending to deny Les Bleus, including a glorious sliding block to deny Karim Benzema during the second half.
While not the only statistic by which defenders can be measured, it is striking that Germany’s opposition managed a shot on target every 13 minutes in the time the Borussia Dortmund man was absent while, when he was on the field, that figure rose to a shot on target every 40 minutes.
The champions defence was noticeably stronger with him in it, as evidenced by the fact Argentina failed to get a shot on target during the final.
Although Toni Kroos netted twice in the semi final thrashing of Brazil, that game represented a return to form of Sami Khedira. Khedira’s World Cup was patchy despite featuring in five of Die Mannschaft’s seven games, before missing the final through injury.
However against Brazil he was instrumental in the first half, ensuring that there was a solid base for the flowing attacks to work from, starting a number of those attacks himself and even finding his fifth international goal.
The final saw only one goal scored as it was a match dominated by tight marking and bullish defending. The opening section of the game was dominated by two defensive midfielders in Bastian Schweinsteiger and Javier Mascherano.
Both have come under fire at times but both proved their worth during a 90 minute spell that saw neither side look like World Cup winners, and neither side particularly threatening to claim that title.
It took the introduction of two substitutes for Germany to wrest the crown from Argentina as Schurrle and Gotze combined to clinical effect. Schurrle has had a productive tournament from the bench, scoring three goals, but the night will long be remembered for Gotze’s magical strike.
The youngster’s star shone brightest on the most important night after following in the footsteps of his teammates and their exploits from earlier in the tournament. With a simple flick of his right boot he wrote his name into World Cup history, and while the record books will record only his name, he was but one more hero in a squad full of them.
In each game, a different German was on hand to ensure his country came out on top. As a result, while they may have only played thrilling attacking football on occasion, the fact that they could draw up all their reserves, and could boast so many game-changing players meant that no other team could keep up with them.
The depth and the range talent at Low’s disposal ensured Germany were worthy winners and, looking back, the only real candidates to become the first European nation to win in South America.
That is whyGermany, the best team in the world, are the champions of the world.
