MUMBAI: In a nail biting finish, after 64 matches spanning a period of one month, Germany on Sunday night was crowned FIFA World Cup 2014 champions. It won thanks to a lone goal, courtesy from substitute Mario Goetze who scored smoothly during extra time, anointing the Germans as the first European team to win the title on South American soil.
In the 113th minute, Gotze took a pass from the left from Andre Schurrle, trapped it on his chest and swiveled it past Sergio Romero and effortlessly kicked it into the net. This was enough for the Germans to start celebrating and Argentina to begin wailing.
For Goetze it was dream come true as he expressed "I'm more than happy and I'm happy with the team and what happened here in Brazil. I guess it's more or less indescribable how I feel. It is absolutely sensational."
While Messi and the Argentineans’ had the best early chance, the Germans were too strong in every way with the best all-round collection of players. But for Messi there was some rejoicing, as he was declared the Best player of the Tournament receiving the Golden ball. Germany’s Manuel Neuer received the Golden Glove as he was declared the best goalkeeper.
In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh both tweeted about the World Cup match. While Modi wished both Argentina and Germany for the final, Yuvi congratulated Germany and said it brought back the 2011 world cup final memories for him.
The most mentioned players on twitter from the winning team were, Mario Gotze, Manuel Neuer, Christoph Kramer. From the Argentinan team it was Lionel Messi, Gonzalao Higuain and Javier Mascherano.
This wasn’t the first time the two giants have met in a final. In 1986, Argentina beat Germany in the final in Mexico. Four years later, Germany was crowned world champions after beating the South Americans in Italy. Sundays match again saw the two lock horns with Germany winning their fourth title besides winning in 1954, 1974 and 1990.