They were labelled as two of the favourites of the tournament and they have made their road to the final. Argentina and Germany will face each other tonight at 21 (CET) to earn their glory at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Purely based on statistics, no European team has ever won the Cup when the Championship was held in the American continent.
Germany and Argentina play a very different concept of football. Argentina probably has the strongest player in the world, la pulga (flea ed.) Lionel Messi. Germany, instead, worked as a collective and was not depending on one player. “Being champions is really something very important for a country and also for the players, who have sacrificed so much to get here”, says the Argentinian coach Alejandro Sabella. “Become champions in Brazil would be an even greater pride”. From his side, Joachim Löw, Germany’s coach, says that “Argentina is not only Messi, this team is better than four years ago, much better organized. But if we exploit our quality, we will win”.
In fact, this is not the first time Germany and Argentina will face each other in the final. In Mexico 1986 it was Argentina who won 3-2 and four years later, in Italy in 1990, Germany took his revenge winning 1-0. Today, it is the third final that both teams will play in the legendary Estádio Maracanã with the Italian Nicola Rizzoli chosen as the referee. Five is the number of World Cups currently owned overall by both teams (three for Germany, two for Argentina).
But what happened during the direct elimination matches?
Round of Sixteen
Brazil won over Chile 4-3 (after penalties) in a very well-balanced match. Colombia showed their strengths (and confirmed themselves as one of the surprises of the tournament) after beating Uruguay 2-0 thanks to two goals by James Rodríguez, one of the best players seen in the Cup. Mexico was initially winning against Netherlands, but Wesley Sneijder and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar overthrowed the results. Ticos from Costa Rica beat the Greek team after penalties, and lead the American team to the quarterfinals. Germany and France defeated the surviving African teams, 2-1 against Algeria and 2-0 against Nigeria, respectively. Argentina won 1-0 after extra-time to Switzerland, whereas the last qualified for quarters was Belgium, who beat the US after extra time on 2-1, reaching their first quarterfinal since 1986.
Quarterfinals
Germany – France, the great European classic, finished with a 1-0 result that allowed Germans to reach their thirteenth semifinals in the FIFA World Cup history (the fourth in a row). The Colombian dream came to an end against Brazil after losing 2-1. But the Seleção (Brazilian team nickname ed.) paid a very high price: Neymar was hit by Zuniga and rushed to the hospital. For him, the Cup was over and Brazil lost his most promising player.
Argentina- Belgium was already written and the Albiceleste won for 1-0. The last quarterfinal saw the favourite Netherlands struggle to win against the ‘cinderella’ Costa Rica. After the extra time, the result was still 0-0 and the Dutch coach Louis van Gaal replaced the goalkeeper Cillessen for Krul in the very last minute. Krul saved two penalties, and brought the Netherlands to the semifinals.
Semi-Finals
Brazil and Germany, a déjà-vu for most football lovers, finished in the most unexpected way: 7-1 for Germany. Five goals from the Germans in 30 minutes against a Brazil that seemed far away from the field. Without Neymar, Brazil appeared disband and unable to finalize anything.
Exciting as the first semifinal was, the second one was dull and soporific instead. The game was not decided either in the regular time or within the 30 additional minutes of extra time, and closed at 0-0. During penalties Argentinian goalkeeper Sergio Romero neutralized the penalities kicked by Ron Vlaar and Wesley Sneijder. On the other hand, Argentinians did not miss a shot, winning 4-2 and heading to the finals.
Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Venezia