Redeemed
by rick olivares pic by getty images
Occasionally, they get the script right.
That the best team wins the World Cup.
In 2006, Germany played Italy in the semifinals at
Stadion Dortmund. Then Germany coach Jurgen Klinsmann’s men were clearly the
better side but stout Italian defending held the match scoreless… until Andrea
Pirlo picked out Fabio Grosso unmarked on the right side of the box. Grosso
fired to the far post past Jens Lehmann who earlier turned back a power shot by
Pirlo. That was on the 119th minute with a minute to go before
penalty kicks where the Germans were imperious.
Two minutes later, in stoppage time, Alessandro Del
Piero knocked in a second goal to seal the win and the Azzurri were on to the
World Cup Finals against France.
Four years later, also at the same stage of the World
Cup this time in South Africa, Germany played Spain. For some reason, they
adopted a more defensive stance rather than the attacking style they played all
throughout. Perhaps Joachim Low had seen Spain pick opponents apart with their
tiki taka and so he opted to hit on the counter. La Furia Roja was clearly the
better team and in the 73rd minute, Carles Puyol headed in a corner
kick by Xavi to stun the Germans in the 73rd minute.
Germany knows heartache and heartbreak. And if you
really are a masochist, you could even go as far at the 1999 UEFA Champions
League Finals where Bayern Munich represented Germany against England’s
Manchester United.
Bayern scored first before the Red Devils scored two
goals in the final minutes of stoppage time to take the trophy.
Today, with a chance to ease all that failure,
Germany came through after Mario Gotze, introduced as a late substitute by
Joachim Low, volleyed from the left past keeper Sergio Romero for the match’s
only goal that propelled Die Nationalmannschaft to its fourth World Cup title.
Gotze rode the bench after a series of poor play was
redeemed. And he will be a national hero for his efforts.
Up to the finals, Low’s squad had the fewest yellow
cards – three overall despite having played six matches. They picked up three
in the finals to hike it to six.
In the runner-up to match day against Argentina, the
team revealed that they were instructed to try and not embarrass Brazil any
further after posting a 5-nil lead at the half. The Germans pulled back but
scored three more to prevent the hosts from gaining any confidence. They
celebrated post-match but spoke of tempering any celebrations because there was
one more to go – the finals against Argentina. That belied a team with unerring
focus and it served them well.
The sent the home team packing in one of the most
lopsided matches in World Cup history then knocked out the last undefeated team
in the tournament. Prior to the Finals, Argentina was 6-0-0 while Germany was
5-1-0.
They didn’t commit the mistake of the Dutch who in
their semifinals against Argentina played conservatively from the start. The
Germans were aggressive on the ball and forced La Albiceleste to sit back and
this time take their chances on the counter and pounce on any mistakes.
This must have been the supreme irony for Argentina’s
Lionel Messi who as a part of Barcelona has repeatedly with their sleight of
feet and ability to find holes in even the stingiest of defenses. Germany
controlled 60% of the possession! While it doesn’t follow that more possession
will mean a win, history will record the following trends that stayed true up
to the end.
The top scoring team won
In their World Cup Finals history Argentina and
Germany, the team that scored more goals won out in the end.
Country
|
Total GF
vs. GA 1986
|
Total GF
vs. GA 1990
|
Total GF
vs. GA 2014
|
Argentina
|
14-5 = +9
|
5-4 = +1
|
8-4 = +4
|
Germany
|
8-7 = +1
|
15-5 =
+10
|
18-4 =
+14
|
Can one man really lift a team to glory?
Country
|
Goal scorers
2 or more goals
1986
|
Goal
scorers 2 or more goals
1990
|
Goal
scorers 2 or more goals
2014
|
Argentina
|
Maradona,
Valdano, Burruchaga
|
Caniggia
|
Messi
|
Germany
|
Voller,
Allofs
|
Matthaus,
Brehme, Klinsmann, Voller
|
Muller,
Schurrle, Gotze, Hummels, Klose, Kroos
|
More domestic players = better chemistry
Country
|
1986
|
1990
|
2014
|
Argentina
|
15*
|
8
|
3
|
Germany
|
22
|
17
|
16
|
This is just a theory that I have about players
plying their trade domestically having better chemistry during competitions.
Despite Argentina having 15 players --- seven less than West Germany – in the
World Cup, that meant the core still played at home.
Let’s break that down further:
Country
|
Sets of
Domestic Teammates
1986
|
Sets of
Domestic Teammates
1990
|
Sets of
Domestic Teammates
2014
|
Argentina
|
3 River
Plate
3 Boca
Juniors
3
Independiente
2 Argentinos
Juniors
|
2 River Plate
2 Independiente
|
2 Boca Juniors
|
Germany
|
4 Bayern Munich
3 Koln
2 Stuttgart
2 Hamburg
|
5 Bayern
Munich
4 Koln
2
Borussia Dortmund
2 Werder
Bremen
|
7 Bayern
Munich
4
Borussia Dortmund
2 Schalke
|
If you look at Germany’s starting XI of the 2014
World Cup Finals, here are the sets of teammates:
Bayern
Munich: Manuel Neuer, Philip Lahm,
Jerome Boateng, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Muller, and Toni Kroos
Argentina: None of the Boca Juniors players started: backup
keeper Agustin Orion and midfielder Fernando Gago.
Correlating this to the 2010 World Cup champions
Spain, here is the breakdown of the 19 players who suit up in La Liga:
7 Barcelona
5 Real Madrid
4 Valencia
The Dutch side they played had only 3 Ajax and 2 PSV
Eindhoven players.
The 2006 Finals protagonists saw the entire 22-man
Italian team playing in the Serie A.
5 MIlan
5 Juventus
4 Palermo
3 Roma
2 Lazio
In comparison, the French side they faced featured 11
playing in the Ligue 1.
5 Lyon
2 Marseille
So maybe chemistry and familiarity helps especially
after a long football season.
What does this all mean?
It’s validation for the German program and the
success, strength, and quality of the Bundesliga.
Furthermore, it’s redemption for a team that had to
undergo painful defeats before breaking through. And what a break through as
Miroslav Klose broke Brazilian Ronaldo’s World Cup scoring record, with 16
goals to the 2002 World Cup winner’s 15.
Germany must be worthy winners to end Brazil’s
uncanny unbeaten home stand that dated back to 1975.
And in the finals, they scored against an Argentinean
team that never conceded in extra time making them the first European team to
win on South American soil.
Sometimes, the script turns out be just right.
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