MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — At the start of the second half of extra time, the match between Argentina and Germany was so close that it seemed like a penalty shootout would decide the result of the Brazil 2014 World Cup. But Mario Götze had something else in mind.

With an amazing left-footed volley in the 113th minute of the match, the young German midfielder from Bayern München gave Die Nationalmannschaft, the German national team, its fourth World Cup.

Despite the loss, praise should be given to Argentina’s coach Alejandro Sabella for his tactical approach to the game. The defensive system he proposed with two solid lines of four men was successful in stopping most of the German advances. Sabella's squad gained several scoring chances throughout the match in the form of counterattacks, which, unfortunately for the Argentine team, turned into costly misses.

The first clear chance of the match came in the 20th minute of the first half. A mistake on behalf of Toni Kroos gave Argentine forward Gonzalo Higuaín a chance to score by leaving him with only the keeper to beat. The Napoli forward crumbled under the pressure and sent the shot wide. This miss was a great relief for the Germans, showing them that complacency in defense could lead to an Argentine goal.

It seemed that Higuaín would have his revenge just minutes after his miss. After an amazing cross by Ezequiel Lavezzi, Higuaín sent the ball to the back of the net and celebrated, only to have his joy struck down by the linesman who correctly declared him offside.

These two near-goal experiences seemed to wake up a lethargic German side, who started proposing more incisive passes to break up the Argentinine wall of defense commanded by midfielder Javier Mascherano. The first half of the match culminated in a bullet header from the corner by Benedikt Höwedes, which struck the post.

After the start of the second half came a much-questioned decision from Sabella. By subbing off the Argentine winger Ezequiel Lavezzi and sending in Sergio Agüero, the South American side lost its balance on the field. Lavezzi had been working hard at stopping the German advances by marking the fullbacks’ runs up the pitch and providing attacking support to Lionel Messi and Higuaín. Agüero, a player with a more central role on the pitch, was unable to perform any of these duties.

Immediately after resuming the match for the second half came a chance for Messi to score in a one-on-one situation against Manuel Neuer, but incredibly, Messi put the ball wide.

Tensions ran high for the remainder of the half and the referee whistled after a goalless 90 minutes, which meant only one thing: extra time.

The first half of extra time saw Rodrigo Palacio – who came in for an inaccurate Higuaín – miss a great chance in the seventh minute after chipping the ball just wide over Neuer.

All of Argentina’s missed chances would come back to haunt them, as the 22-year-old Götze sealed the fate of the match through a much-needed goal in the dying moments of the match, which ensured his status as a German football hero.

This victory gave Germany an edge over Argentina in  the history of World Cup finals, with West Germany having lost the 1986 World Cup in Mexico but coming back and winning in Italy in 1990. As a result, Germany is now equal to Italy as the holder of four World Cup titles, running just one behind Brazil and two ahead of both Argentina and Uruguay.

 

Pablo Pacareu is a contributing writer. Email him at news@thegazelle.org.