Germany 1-0 Argentina World Cup final 2014

For one last moment, Lionel Messi’s face loomed on the stadium screens as he stood over a free-kick that was, by anyone’s estimations, too far out and too wide of goal to consider shooting. But then this was the best player in the world, a goal down in the World Cup final with two minutes remaining and history slipping through his fingers. He skied it and so went the chance of what will probably be his lifetime. Messi, named player of the tournament, will probably never have that gold trophy to set on the table alongside Diego Maradona’s from 1986. He will have to make his peace with that. As for the rest of his team, this was a marvellous Argentina performance but they were up against the most impressive group of international footballers of this generation. Germany have taken the place of Spain as the pre-eminent world team and the fourth World Cup of their history, although the first for a unified Germany, is richly deserved. They have worked towards this with ingenuity and patience and Mario Gotze’s goal deep into extra-time, was reward for all the years of planning and the laudable belief that a proper football nation should develop, not import its best footballers. This is not a Germany team to blow your mind, as Spain could be at their best. In fact there were long periods of the game when they looked second best to Argentina, but the character of Joachim Low’s team came shining through. They were led by Bastian Schweinsteiger, bloodied by an elbow from Sergio Aguero in extra-time but back on his feet and relentless in his pursuit of this title. He was repaired on the side of the pitch like a proto-Robocop and sent back into battle.