The culmination of four weeks of soccer will finally come to an end on Sunday. It is the game that we have all been waiting for. The single biggest sporting event in the entire world. For ninety or so minutes, the world will hold its collective breath as Lionel Messi and Argentina face off against Thomas Mueller and Germany in the World Cup Final.
Despite the tournament only lasting four weeks, it seems as though these teams have been on their journey for months. Germany came out top in the “Group of Death” to the surprise of no one only to almost suffer one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history to Algeria a few days later. After narrowly defeating France 1-0 on a sublime header from Mats Hummels, the Germans displayed 90 minutes of some of the most dominant soccer the world has ever seen when they faced Brazil in the semifinal a few days ago. Now they are here, facing a team that will be trying to carry out what would be any Brazilian’s worst nightmare.
For almost any fan of “A Selecao”, the only thing that would be as bad as having the home team lose in a fashion like they did against Germany, would be to see Lionel Messi raise the trophy at the Maracana. It will be the Germans that stand in the way of “La Albicileste” as they look to continue to ride their wave of confidence after trouncing the hosts 7-1 a few days back. But anything can happen in a cup final and “Die Mannschaft” cannot and do not expect to trounce the Argentines like they did the hosts.
Towards the front end of this tournament, there were some questions about whether or not Jogi Loew’s tactics and lineup selections were the right ones. The German coach has silenced those critics though as he has been spot on in his tactical choices against both France and Brazil. He will need to get his tactics right again on Sunday as stopping Argentina goes far beyond just stopping “La Pulga.”
Look for Germany to come out with the same lineup that they did against Brazil. Phlipp Lahm has featured in his normal right back role in the previous two games and will feature there once more, as Sami Khedira has been instrumental in the holding midfielder position. The Real Madrid man will most likely have two key rolls. The first one being to never leave Messi’s side when Argentina are on the ball, and the second one being to try and control all 50/50 balls in the midfield.
Bastian Schweinsteiger and Toni Kroos will compliment the big German in the centre of the pitch as the two Bayern Munich men will be the ones who try and unlock the Argentinean defense. It will be interesting to see if Loew elects to start Miroslav Klose, who just became the World Cup’s leading goal scorer, up top; or decides to go with Andre Schuerrle, who has been superb in all of his World Cup performances, instead. By using a real striker up top, Loew has been able to put Thomas Mueller on the wing, where he is much more of a threat.
There is no doubt that this German team bolsters the talent and depth that not many teams in the tournament had the luxury of having. This team is at its best when the players are playing in their regular roles, and Jogi Loew finally realized that after the shock they got against Algeria. Having Lahm at right back, Khedira in the middle, Mueller out wide and a pure striker on top takes full advantage of the German’s arsenal.
It was the confident passing, creative movement off the ball and physical presence in the midfield that was the key to the Germans victory against Brazil. If they play with the trust and confidence that they showed in each other on Sunday, I think this German team is as good as there ever was. They showed it against Brazil and will try and show it once more against Argentina.
The game is set to kick of at 3PM EST and can be seen on ABC, Univision and streamed on WatchESPN here if you prefer to live stream the game in Spanish you can do it here. Germany will be searching for their fourth world title, while Argentina will be looking to carry out any Brazilian fans nightmare. As is always with a final, scores are very hard to predict, one thing is certain though; both teams will step out onto that pitch on Sunday carrying the weight of a nation with them.
My prediction: Germany takes it 2-1
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