Germany wins the 2014 FIFA World Cup

Germany defeated Argentina in extra time 1-0 to take home their fourth FIFA World Cup title! This is their first championship win since they beat Argentina back in 1990. It was substitute player Mario Gotze who scored the game-winning goal for his country. He was subbed in the 88th minute and then in the 113th minute, Andre Schurrle hit a cross that bumped into Gotze’s chest and then he immediately kicked it in the side of the net for the win. Before Gotze was brought on the field, his head coach, Joachim Loew gave him some motivation.

“I said to Gotze, ‘Show to the world that you are better than Messi and you can decide the game.'” (Credit: SB Nation)

What a moment! As for Argentinian superstar Lionel Messi, he ended up winning the Golden Ball award, which is given to the World Cup’s best player. However, it wasn’t near as satisfying as what all of the Germans are experiencing now. Staying with awards, German goalie Manuel Neuer was voted the tournament’s best goalkeeper. The thought of winning his first World Cup has still not sunk in yet for the world’s elite goalie.

“It’s incredible. The team did it beautifully,” said Neuer. “At some point we’ll stop celebrating but we’ll still wake up with a smile.” (Credit: ESPNFC.com)

Lionel Messi and Argentina had multiple chances of scoring, but the chemistry was a little off for the offense as they failed to score a single goal. Their defense was able to keep them in the game, but sooner or later, The Machine of Germany was bound to score at least one goal and they did at a perfect time.

Mario Gotze’s goal in extra time won the FIFA World Cup for Germany.
Credit: podcoost.com

Germany started the tournament with a 4-0 rout of Portugal. That was a sign of greater things to come from the Loew’s team. They defeated Algeria 2-1 in the first round of the knockout stage. Then they shutout France 1-0 on the 4th of July. After that, they shocked the world by destroying Brazil 7-1 in the semifinals. Now they stand on top of the world for the next four years as FIFA World Cup champions.

Germany led all countries in goals with 18 and their superstar striker Thomas Mueller was second in the tournament with five goals. He was also second in assists with three, while his fellow teammate Toni Kroos led all players with four assists while also adding in two goals. Gotze finished the World Cup with six appearances and two goals. His rise to fame will surely continue as he is only 22 years old. Watch him in the future to develop into an elite player.

I always knew Germany was going to win, but Argentina put up a good fight. Unfortunately, Germany has a better overall team than Argentina does. It doesn’t matter if you have the best player in Lionel Messi, if you don’t have a supporting cast around him, he won’t win a whole lot of games. That is why Germany came out on top. With players like Mueller, Neuer, Kroos, Klose, Schurrle, Hummels, Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira, Lukas Podolski, Per Mertesacker, Julian Draxler, Philipp Lahm, Gotze, Jerome Boateng, Christoph Kramer and Bastian Schweinsteiger, there’s no way this team could lose. They played together and functioned as one great unit. That is why they are World Champions. Now we will have to wait till 2018 when Russia will host the next FIFA World Cup. I’m looking at you USA!

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The FIFA World Cup Final is Set

Argentina just defeated Netherlands 4-2 in a penalty shootout after both teams went scoreless in regulation and extra time. Netherlands defense was able to shut down Lionel Messi and company, but they couldn’t score a goal themselves. Their defense did great, but their offense did not. Yesterday, Germany defeated Brazil in a heartbreaking 7-1 blowout. The Germans ended the first half 5-0 and they just couldn’t stop scoring the whole game. Neymar was absent because of a back injury and Thiago Silva was suspended because he picked up too many yellow cards. Those two players were the main reason why Brazil couldn’t deliver in the semi-final.

Thomas Muller and Germany will try to win their fourth World Cup Championship against Argentina.
Credit: http://www.dailystar.co.uk

Now it is Argentina and Germany meeting in the FIFA World Cup Final for a third time. The first time they met was in 1986 and Argentina won that round 3-2. Then the very next World Cup in 1990,  Germany got their revenge  and beat the Argentinians 1-0. Argentina has a total of two World Cup championships while Germany has three. Now it will be best two-out-of-three in this meeting for the World Cup Final.

Germany has scored the most goals out of any team in the World Cup this year with 17. That last match with Brazil probably helped out a little bit. Thomas Muller is second among all players with five goals to his name and is also credited with three assists. He will be the player that Argentina has to look out for. Miroslav Klose has a record 16 World Cup goals in his career, scoring two of them in this World Cup. Andre Schuerrle has three goals for Germany and Toni Kroos has two for his team. With a stacked team like Germany to face, Argentina will have a lot to deal with defensively.

As for the Argentinians, they have arguably the best soccer player in the world on their team, Lionel Messi. The 27-year-old superstar has four goals and an assist in this year’s World Cup. He has carried his team all the way to the Finals and now it’s time to see if he can do it one more time. He hasn’t had much help on offense, so he will have to rely on his defenders to keep Argentina in the game.

It’s going to be tough to call this one, but after seeing Germany destroy Brazil in the semi-finals, I have to go with them to win the World Cup. Look for Germany to score early and put Argentina in a position where they have to make hurried decisions in order to catch up. Argentina’s bad decision-making and lack of depth will be their downfall in the upcoming match.

USA Loses to Belgium in Extra Time

The United States have been knocked out of the FIFA World Cup by Belgium in the first round. Both teams were scoreless by the end of regulation, but Belgium was able to score two and the U.S. only scored one and after the dust settled, the final score was 2-1. The loss was a heartbreaking one after expectations were set pretty high for the men’s national team. In the 93rd minute, Kevin De Bruyne scored for Belgium to take the lead and then substitute striker Romelu Lukaku kicked one in 12 minutes later. The U.S. fought back when their substitute striker, 19-year-old Julian Green, knocked in his first international goal on his first touch to give his team a spark of hope. However, time ran out for the United States and their World Cup journey has come to an abrupt end.

Superstar goalkeeper Tim Howard had one of the best performances of his career with 16 saves. That’s the most by any goalkeeper in the World Cup since 1966! However, he couldn’t do it all by himself and the United States’ offense couldn’t produce anything during regulation time after both Clint Dempsey and Chris Wondolowski had chances to score late in the game.

The U.S. team will have to wait another four years and hopefully Tim Howard will remain in good form by then. He is currently 35 years old and is getting near the end of his soccer career. Clint Dempsey should definitely return, but he will be 35 by the time the World Cup comes back around in 2018 at Russia.

One of the biggest struggles facing the men’s national team was Jozy Altidore’s hamstring injury in the first game against Ghana. Latest news says that he will be good to go for Sunderland’s next match. In 2018, Altidore will have to emerge as America’s top soccer player at the age of 28. For now, he is a 24-year-old looking to make his impact in the world of soccer. Other players like Graham Zusi, Michael Bradley and John Anthony Brooks will definitely return for the next World Cup and will be a big help for the United States in other international matches. Hopefully next time, the U.S. will have a good solid foundation to work with against other international clubs.